Research Assistant

Salary: £30,619 to £32,411 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 23 June 2023

The Role

The movement laboratory, led by Prof Stuart Baker, is looking to recruit an outstanding research assistant to join an exciting NIH-funded project to study stroke synergies in non-human primates.
Damage to the motor cortex after a stroke produces immediate weakness. Although this weakness may recover with time, the functional recovery of patients is often limited by the development of unhelpful co-contractions called synergies. The aim of this project is to understand the neural circuits that underlie synergies, with the goal of shaping the future of stroke rehabilitation.

The successful applicant will work within an experienced and enthusiastic team to perform daily electrophysiological recordings of neural and muscle activity in non-human primates. In addition, there will be the opportunity to assist in sterile surgeries, develop data analysis and programming skills, learn about animal training and behaviour, contribute to the preparation of manuscripts for publications, and present findings to the academic community. This is a challenging role but presents an excellent training opportunity for a recent graduate interested in pursuing an academic career, or for a more experienced researcher to hone their electrophysiology and analytical skills as part of a cutting-edge project.
This post is full time and fixed term for one year, with a possibility of renewal until the project end in February 2026.

For informal enquiries contact: stuart.baker@ncl.ac.uk

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here.

Find out more about our Research Institutes here.

Key Accountabilities

• Perform daily electrophysiological recordings in non-human primates
• Assist with sterile surgeries and behavioural training
• Perform data analysis, using programming languages such as MATLAB
• Attend and present at weekly lab meetings
• Contribute to the preparation of manuscripts for publication
• Keep up to date with the relevant literature
• Contribute to the general running of the project, and any other additional duties as may reasonably be required
• Demonstrate strong commitment to Reduction, Replacement and Refinement (3Rs) and animal welfare
• Undertake relevant training and development activities to develop capacity

for taking on wider responsibilities

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• An excellent record of academic achievement
• Experience of conducting experiments in a research environment
• Ability to work well as part of a team
• Ability to rapidly acquire new skills
• High level of analytical and problem-solving skills
• Subject knowledge in the neural control of movement
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems

Desirable

• Experience of working with laboratory animals
• Experience of electrophysiological recordings
• Programming experience
• Flexibility to work occasional weekends and evenings when required
• Home office personal animal licence
• Masters degree in Neuroscience

Attributes and Behaviour

• Enthusiastic problem solver
• Strong team player
• Conscientious and meticulous attention to detail

Qualifications

• Good honours degree (or equivalent) in Neuroscience or other relevant discipline

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 25543