Overview
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Transdiagnostic Artificial Intelligence – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
About us
King’s College London is a world-renowned university that delivers exceptional education and world-leading research. We’re committed to creating positive and sustainable change in our local and global communities through outstanding education, impactful research, and genuine service to society.
The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a leading centre for mental health and neuroscience research in Europe and the largest in the UK. From its earliest years, the IoPPN has been fundamentally changing and shaping how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness and other conditions that affect the brain. The legacy, ethos and drive of the IoPPN has ensured its position at the forefront of mental health care, redefining mental illness, its treatment and its place in society.
The Department of Psychosis Studies is one of the world’s leading centres for research into psychotic disorders. It is part of the School of Academic Psychiatry. Our mission: we aim to advance the understanding and treatment of psychotic disorders across all stages to improve the lives of patients and their families. Our ethos: we take an inclusive approach that respects diverse opinions and backgrounds and includes patient and carer views to support staff and students in our mission. Our staff include clinical and non-clinical scientists with a wide range of expertise. Their research has been recognised by over 100 research awards, and multiple members of staff have been named by Web of Science as amongst the leading researchers in the world in psychiatry/ neuroscience. We have many research programmes involving national and international partnerships, often with our department acting as the lead site in multi-centre collaborations.
We have been identified as the leading schizophrenia research institution in the world based on impact. Our findings have influenced national and international guidelines and policies to improve the care of people with psychosis.
About the role
We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Lab with Dr Paris Alexandros Lalousis and Professor Nikolaos Koutsouleris and work at the intersection of AI, neuroscience, and mental health, contributing to cutting-edge efforts to predict and understand psychosis and affective disorders.
We welcome applicants with a background in psychology, psychiatry, biomedical engineering, or related disciplines who are passionate about applying machine learning to real-world clinical challenges. The successful candidate will lead the development and validation of predictive models using multimodal data including neuroimaging (structural and functional MRI, spectroscopy, PET), omics (genomic, proteomic, cytokine markers), and digital phenotyping (ecological momentary assessments, passive sensing).
In addition, the postholder will play a key role in building a predictive modelling platform within the Department, designed to host, test, and deploy machine learning models for transdiagnostic comparisons, external validation, and eventual integration into stratified clinical trials.
This is a full time (35 hours per week) role, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/06/2028.
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
- PhD in neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, biomedical engineering, or related discipline.
- Documented expertise and an established track record in machine learning across different data domains of mental and/or neurological disorders.
- Experience in analysing high-dimensional data such as structural and/or functional neuroimaging or omics information, and/or temporal data as recorded using smartphones and/or wearable devices
- Excellent statistical and coding skills with demonstrated ability to apply and combine methodologies across MATLAB, Python, and/or R.
- Highly motivated and enthusiastic researcher with a strong and documented interdisciplinary interest in mental health
- Strong evidence of potential to build an academic career trajectory, including track record of publishing in scientific journals and participation in research projects, grants, and fellowships
- Interpersonal and communication skills with demonstrated ability to work within a geographically distributed networks of collaboration
- Proven experience in developing and implementing machine learning models and algorithms, ideally in the healthcare or mental health domain
Desirable criteria
- Track record of successful research grant applications, or attempts to obtain grant funding.
- Previous development of ML-based software such as recommendation systems, computer-aided decision support systems
- Previous experience with using deep learning models (e.g., convolutional neural networks, autoencoders, transformers) for academic research
- Documented experience in using coding and data management systems such as e.g. GitHub, DataLad, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure.
- Demonstrated ability to co-supervise and mentor students at PhD and MSc levels.
Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.
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.
IMPORTANT: Before applying for this role, please make sure you have the right to work in the country where the role is based. Unless it clearly stipulates within in the job advert above that the hiring company is looking to or able to sponsor applicants it is deemed that the hiring employer will only consider applications from those able to comply with and work in the country where the role is based.
