Position now closed.
Post-doctoral Research Associate in Psychiatric Epidemiology
UCL Division: Division of Psychiatry
Specific Unit: PsyLife group
Grade: 7
Salary: £33,353 – £37,152 per annum (inclusive of London allowance)
Duration: Up to 3 years, subject to UCL probationary period
Application deadline: 17th May, 2015
Application process: Via UCL main vacancies site Closed
Line Manager: Dr James Kirkbride (CI, PsyLife group)
Duties & Responsibilities
An enthusiastic, motivated individual is sought for this exciting early-career (postdoctoral) research opportunity in psychiatric epidemiology, available for a fixed period of 3 years in the PsyLife group, Division of Psychiatry at UCL. Our group’s interests include understanding the role of social and economic determinants on risk of psychotic disorders over the life course, with specific focus on societal or neighbourhood-level effects and risk amongst migrants and their descendants.
The post-holder will conduct research using two major epidemiological datasets (Swedish National Register data and the ALSPAC birth cohort) to investigate the social, spatial and life course epidemiology of psychotic disorders. There will be scope within the role for the post-holder to formulate their own research questions for analysis, concomitant with the interests of the PsyLife group. The post-holder will be expected to contribute to all major aspects of epidemiological research, including data preparation, study design, analysis of longitudinal and multilevel epidemiological data, critical interpretation of results, manuscript preparation and dissemination of research findings for peer-reviewed publication and translation to public, policy and clinical settings.
In addition to research duties, the post-holder will be expected to support junior colleagues in the PsyLife group and assist with some epidemiological teaching on our MScs in Clinical Mental Health and Mental Health Research.
The appointment is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society.
Key Requirements
The successful applicant will have a PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics or a closely related discipline, as well as experience in conducting statistical analyses of large, epidemiological datasets, and in working with longitudinal or multilevel data. The post-holder will have demonstrable evidence of publication in peer-reviewed journals; candidates with a research profile approaching the national level are particularly desirable. The successful applicant will be experienced in aspects of database management and have a thorough working knowledge of at least one major statistical package (i.e. Stata, M-Plus, R, SAS or equivalent).
About the Division of Psychiatry and UCL
UCL is the leading UK university in terms of research power in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, and is an international leader in biomedical science. Our Division is in the Faculty of Brain Sciences which has the highest level of ISI citations in Europe, is ranked second worldwide in neuroscience & behaviour and first nationally according to research power (REF 2014). We have an outstanding, multidisciplinary environment for research study, with internationally renowned experts in areas relevant to this proposal, including psychiatric epidemiology (Lewis, Kirkbride, King, Johnson, Osborn), health services research (Killaspy, Johnson), social psychiatry (Bebbington) and biostatistics (Lewis, Kirkbride). We have strong links with other Divisions, including Epidemiology & Public Health, Primary Care & Population Health, the Institute for Clinical Neuroscience and the newly-formed Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology. This will place the student at the heart of our multi-disciplinary approach to psychiatric epidemiology. We have an excellent Divisional track record in postgraduate training with approximately 35 new taught MSc students and 3 new PhD students per year. Our on-time completion rates average above 90%, well above the Research Councils’ projected figure for PhD completion at any time (80%).