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What’s in it for you? 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.

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Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global 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 our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

Salary:
Research Assistant : £29,619 to £31,411 per annum
Research Associate : £32,348 per annum

Closing Date: 28 February 2023

The Role

You will work in the Auditory Cognition Group at Newcastle University ( https://www.auditorycognition.org/ ) under the supervision of Professor Tim Griffiths.

The work is funded by an MRC programme grant in which the group will examine brain mechanisms for auditory cognition.

The programme includes behavioural work and EEG studies in Newcastle, fMRI at 3T and 7T at UCL, and human direct neurophysiological recordings carried out at the Human Brain Research Laboratory at Iowa University. The programme will address mechanisms for fundamental auditory pattern analysis in the cortex, which are a critical determinant of speech-in-noise perception: the most common complaint of subjects with hearing loss. The MRC-funded work is carried out in normal-hearing subjects but informs other work carried out by the group on hearing impaired subjects supported by NIH(USA). The group within the three centres collaborates closely based on several weekly meetings and there are opportunities for collaboration with the other sites.

You will develop new paradigms to assess auditory pattern analysis and run EEG experiments in the Newcastle lab to assess the brain basis. The work will inform the design of work in the other centres based on fMRI and neurophysiological recordings.

This post is full time, fixed term for 2 years

For informal enquiries contact Professor Tim Griffiths, email: tim.griffiths@ncl.ac.uk

Key Accountabilities

• You will be an essential member of the team contributing both methodological expertise and ideas for development
• You must be a good communicator and show the initiative that is required to work flexibly within a multi-centre project
• You will be able to analyse and assess research findings and suggest further plans for investigation
• You will write, present clearly and prepare manuscripts for publication and presentations at research conferences including Association for Research (USA) and Society for Neuroscience (USA)
• You will be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and a PhD student working within this programme
• You will start to develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment
• You will contribute to the media and web presence of the group and the University
• You will need to work with the support colleagues and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute.

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of research in sensory neuroscience with clear transferable skills
• An interest in and detailed subject knowledge of auditory neuroscience
• Familiarity with Matlab is essential for auditory signal processing, experimental execution and analysis of behavioural and brain data
• A high level of analytical and problem solving capability
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others
• Presentations at conferences and/or high quality publications
• Awareness of GDPR requirements

Attributes and Behaviour

• Awareness of the ethical issues involved in research work
• Engaging and motivating attitude to research subjects including patients
• In a position to bring individual skills and insights to the research

Qualifications

• A PhD in psychology, physiology, biomedical sciences or a related discipline is required (for Research Associate Level)
• Good honours degree and be close to submission of PhD for Research Assistant level
• We encourage enquiries from candidates with a background in physical sciences who have transitioned to neuroscience

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 24994

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