Research Assistant at Wolfson SPaRC

About us

About the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre

The Wolfson SPaRC (Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre) is one of four departments in the School of Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. The department, formerly known as the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, is located on the Guy's Campus in a dedicated building which was generously supported by the Wolfson Foundation.

Research in the department spans three main themes: Chronic Pain & Migraine, Spinal Cord & Brain Repair, and Hearing Loss & Sensory Systems. Our fundamental mission is to understand the biological mechanisms behind these neurological and sensory disorders and harness this knowledge to develop new therapeutic strategies. We have world-leading experts who interrogate these conditions at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and whole systems level. Cross-cutting strengths lie in our world-leading expertise in neuroplasticity, interdisciplinary neuro-immune research, high-throughput sequencing technologies, drug discovery and advanced therapeutics. We have excellent facilities to support our parallel use of pre-clinical cell and in vivo models, alongside human cellular models, which provide an essential platform for us to forward- and back-translate our fundamental research to and from the clinic.

About the School of Neuroscience

The School of Neuroscience is UK's 2nd largest Neuroscience school with over 500 researchers and 200 PhD students. It is one of three schools at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. We are ranked 4th in the world for the total number of publications in neuroscience, 4th for the number of publication outputs in top 5% citations in neuroscience, and 4th for top 5% citations in neurology.

Our academic and research staff are integral to our school. Their work is supported by a group of Professional Services staff members within the departments as well as at the school level. We support staff members requiring flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments. Upon consultation at the points of recruitment and onboarding, we will strive to provide the best adjustments for you.

We strongly encourage our staff to dedicate time to their professional development through training courses and participation in working groups and networks. We also encourage our staff to seek mentoring outside their direct line management. Mentoring, both via formal and informal arrangements, allows individuals to fully explore their career situation and development. Our weekly school circular regularly captures and promotes opportunities open to all staff.

About the role

We are looking for a Research Assistant to join the Swire and Tribble labs within the Wolfson Sensory, Pain and Regeneration Centre (SPaRC), in the School of Neurosciences at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London.

The successful applicant will conduct research across both groups. In the Swire lab, research is focused on how oligodendrocytes and myelin contribute to neuroplasticity in health and disease. The Swire lab uses basic research tools to address these questions with the goal of developing therapies aimed at supporting neuronal function throughout life.

In the Tribble lab, research is focused on mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection driven by neuro-metabolism and neuroinflammation, particularly in the eye. The Tribble lab uses a bench-to-bedside approach to develop clinically translatable therapies for neurodegeneration including nutraceuticals and gene therapies.

The candidate should demonstrate enthusiasm toward fundamental and translational research and aim to contribute to these research programs. The candidate will be responsible for general mouse colony management, as well as performing and assisting in in vivo and ex vivo mouse experiments and downstream laboratory experiments. The candidate will record, analyse and write up the results of experiments, as well as support and assist other lab members. As such, we are looking for a dedicated researcher with enthusiasm towards high quality research, teamwork, and effective organisation. This represents an excellent opportunity to gain experience across diverse lab settings.

We are committed to embedding the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion into all our activities. To find out more about King's commitment to diversity and inclusion, visit

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract from late January (or as soon as possible thereafter) until 31st July 2027.

Research staff at King's are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers , applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• Undergraduate and/or Master's degree in neuroscience or related subject area
• Experience working in a lab environment (>6 months) and in a range of general laboratory techniques
• Excellent planning and organisational skills including the ability to work to and meet firm deadlines
• Commitment to high quality research
• Excellent interpersonal skills to develop and maintain effective working relationships
• Ability to work under own initiative and to recognise when to seek guidance from others

Desirable criteria

• A Home Office Personal Licence
• Experience of laboratory mouse handling, genotyping and colony management
• Experience of histology, immunolabelling and microscopy
• Experience of cell culture (continuous and/or primary)
• Experience of basic molecular biology techniques (WB, qPCR etc.)
• Experience with Good Documentation Practices (GDP)

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our 'How we Recruit' pages.

This post is subject to an Occupational Health clearance.