Research Assistant/Associate in Computational Neurology

Salary:  

Research Assistant: £32,546 to  £34,132 per annum

Research Associate:£33,882 to £42,882 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: 13 August 2025

 

The Role

 

As part of the project “Assessing and controlling seizure-modulating fluctuations (ACORN)”, we are excited to recruit a motivated individual with research experience in a relevant subject area to work with us on this exciting project at the CNNP Lab. 

 

The aim of ACORN is to understand the role of biological rhythms (chronobiology) in epilepsy and develop time-adaptive therapies. This project is funded by UKRI and is a collaborative project that spans multiple continents.

 

You will contribute to the development of new chronobiological analytics on existing data, design experiments to collect novel chronobiological data, engage with a wide network of stakeholders, and explore new avenues for medical applications. For ongoing work and publications on this project, please see our website: www.cnnp-lab.com.

 

This is a 12-months position initially and is expected to be held full time and in person.

 

You will join the CNNP Lab, which is well supported with recent funding of over £3M. The lab is based in the School of Computing at the Newcastle Helix site in Newcastle City Centre, with state-of-the-art facilities. Extensive career support and mentoring is available to all team members, and a generous budget for travel and computing equipment will be provided.

 

We follow the Researcher Development Concordat. We enable all staff to fulfil their research potential regardless of career stage. This commitment secures our thriving research culture and vibrant research environment. Our offer to each individual and their researcher development involves: mentoring, annual research planning discussions, pooled research funding to support career development and research activities, peer review support for the development of research and innovation funding applications.

 

As an UKRI-FLF funded role, the successful applicant may be eligible for the Endorsed Funder Route of the Global Talent Visa. We can provide an interest free loan scheme to support applicants who need to apply for a visa.

 

Please contact Prof Yujiang Wang yujiang.wang@newcastle.ac.uk for specific questions.

 

For more information about the School of Computing, please click here

 

To apply, please complete an online application and upload a plain text copy of your CV (2 pages) and covering letter (1 page) only. In your covering letter, you should evidence how you meet or exceed the essential and desirable requirements for the role. Please note, any other ‘Additional Document’ you upload may not be received by the reviewing panel.
 

Key Accountabilities

•    To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications
•    To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences
•    To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator
•    To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals
•    To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator
•    To work with the Principal Investigator and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio
•    To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator and offering creative or innovative solutions
•    To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration
•    To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects
•    To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate
•    To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students
•    To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect
•    To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline

 

The Person 

 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

•    You will have substantial technical experience in time series analysis, ideally either in neurophysiology data or wearable sensor data
•    You will have experience of at least one of the following analysis techniques (multiple preferred): normative modelling, dimensionality reduction techniques, machine learning, deep-learning, state space modelling, advanced statistics 
•    You will have experience in experimental design to collect time series data
•    Evidence of being able to conduct research in the area of medical data analysis or modelling
•    Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked interdisciplinary journals
•    Demonstrable ability to present research papers at national/international conferences and communicate complex information to specialists and within the wider academic community
•    Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals, commensurate with stage of career

Desirable
•    Extensive experience in multivariate time series analytics, or multi-resolution, or multi-timescale analytics
•    Experience in collecting EEG or wearable data from participants
•    Experience in running experiments in free-living condition under long timescale (weeks-months)
•    A track record of presenting research at conferences, symposia, or meetings, commensurate with stage of career
•    Demonstrable ability to develop research proposals and designs in collaboration with other academics
•    Evidence of experience in contributing to collaborative research projects

 

Attributes and Behaviour

•    Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings
•    Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines
•    Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work with patients, members of the public, and present as a representative of the lab at national and international scientific events 
•    Demonstrate strong mathematical and computational abilities
•    Demonstrate excellent programming ability in languages such as MATLAB or Python
•    Excellent communication skills across multiple disciplines
•    Excellent academic writing skills
•    Excellent time and project management skills
•    Demonstrable commitment to the values of equality and diversity in all aspects of your work

Desirable
•    Demonstrable ability to plan and manage independent research
•    Ability to set research goals, be self-motivated and proactive
•    A keen eye for visual presentation, software design, and in writing clear, concise, elegant code
•    Strong interest in interdisciplinary research

 

Qualifications

Research Assistant
•    Honours degree in (Biology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related area) 

In addition for Research Associate
•    PhD in any related areas, preferable in an interdisciplinary topic (e.g. Computational Neuroscience, or Biomedical Engineering) 

 

 

 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.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

 

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

Requisition ID: 28246