Research Assistant in Neuroscience Ref 20977

School/department: Life Sciences/Neuroscience
Hours: part-time considered up to a maximum of 0.5 FTE / 18.25 hours. Requests for flexible working options will be considered (subject to business need).
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Contract: fixed term 12 months
Reference: 20977
Salary: starting at £32,411 to £36,333 per annum, pro rata if part-time
Placed on:  26 June 2023
Closing date: 31 July 2023. Applications must be received by midnight of the closing date.
Expected Interview date: To be confirmed.
Expected start date: 01.09.2023 (flexible)

Job description

The Schroeder Lab at the University of Sussex, UK, offers a part-time position (50%) for a Research Assistant funded by the BBSRC for the duration of 1 year.

The lab’s goal is to determine how the brain integrates visual information with information about behaviour and internal states like arousal. Ultimately, we want to understand the purpose of integrating visual with behavioural and internal state information and how it benefits visual processing and the animal’s behavioural demands. In our studies, we use mice as animal model and focus on visual processing in the superior colliculus, the retina and visual cortex. We use two-photon imaging and electrophysiology with silicon probes (Neuropixels probes) to record activity of hundreds of single neurons in awake mice. At the same time, we measure the behaviour of the mice and relate it to the neural activity.

In your role, you will primarily support team members in the lab to conduct their research activity, but you will also be able to develop your own skills and experience. The support role includes:

  • the management and care for our mouse colonies (breeding, health checks, data management)
  • keeping stock of lab consumables and managing purchase orders depending on the needs of lab members
  • training mice in behavioural tasks
  • assisting in the performance of experiments with mice including the recording of neural activity using two-photon imaging and electrophysiology
  • assisting and performing lab work like histology, imaging brain tissue, preparing solutions

Depending on your interests and skills and on available time, you may learn and take on further tasks such as performing brain surgery on mice, processing and analysing experimental data, developing and building experimental equipment, and performing small research projects.

The integration of the lab within Sussex Neuroscience gives you the opportunity to collaborate and benefit from the excellent expertise of other labs in fields like the visual and other sensory systems, mouse behaviour, techniques of two-photon imaging and electrophysiology, and computational neuroscience.

The Schroeder lab is located just outside the vibrant city of Brighton at the coast of South East England, one hour away from London. The campus of Sussex combines award-winning architecture with green open spaces and is surrounded by the South Downs National Park.

Please contact Dr. Sylvia Schröder (s.schroeder@sussex.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.

The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex. 

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

You can find out more about our values and our EDI Strategy,  Inclusive Sussex, on our webpages.

Download Job Description and Person Specification 20977 [PDF 133.75KB]

The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed from the UK. 

Visa Sponsorship Queries:

"This role may be eligible for sponsorship. For a job to be eligible for sponsorship it needs to be assigned an eligible SOC code & meet minimum salary requirements and be full time. Please contact HRCompliance@sussex.ac.uk so they can check if this role can be assigned to an eligible SOC code and meets the minimum salary requirements. You can also consult our Skilled Worker Visa Information page for further information

“Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship.”

How to apply

Download our professional services application form - Dec 2020 [DOC 203.00KB] and Personal Details and Equal Opportunities Form [DOCX 65.11KB] and fill in all sections.

You must email your completed application, and personal details and equal opportunities form, to jobapps@sussex.ac.uk

You should attach your application form and all documents to the email in PDF format (we are unable to accept applications as google.docs or .pages) and use the format job reference number / job title / your name in the subject line.

You can also send your application by post to Human Resources Division, Sussex House, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9RH.

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