Job Description

Ref Number

B02-09555

Professional Expertise

Research and Research Support

Department

School of Life & Medical Sciences (B02)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

36,433-41,833

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Working Type

On site

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

19-Oct-2025

About us

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The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (SWC) brings together world-leading scientists to investigate how brain circuits process information to generate perception, form memories and guide behaviour. Developed through the vision and partnership of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Wellcome, and with substantial investment from these partners, the mission of the SWC is to generate experimentally testable theories of brain function.



The Akrami Lab is generally interested in the neurobiology of cognition. Our approach integrates cross-species experiments (in rats, mice and humans) and computational modelling, to understand complex cognitive processes related to working memory and statistical learning. Our lab is a diverse group, both in scientific training, ranging from fields such as engineering, psychology, and biology, and in cultural backgrounds, with members coming from countries all over the world, as befits a modern systems neuroscience lab located in a world-class neuroscience department in a metropolitan city. To this end, we are collaborating with several labs at the SWC, including the Erlich and Saxe lab.



The Erlich and Saxe Labs are generally interested in the theories of cognition and learning. We study mice, rat, human and synthetic agents to investigate how real and artificial neural network generate behavior. What sets us apart from many other labs studying behavioral and computational neuroscience is that we use a highly automated facility to train hundreds of rodents per day. This facility uses modern tools from the information technology industry: databases, web dashboards, pub/sub messaging frameworks, deployment tools, version control, issue tracking and project management software.

About the role

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We are looking for a motivated and organised Research Technician to train rats and mice in our high throughput facility.



The main purpose of the role will be the care, handling and training of animals. You will work closely with the members of the Akrami, Erlich and Saxe labs in monitoring the behaviour of animals in the experiments, including attending group meetings of the Akrami lab (and/or others). You may also be the responsible person (PIL holder) for animals. The role is physical, in that it involves transferring animal cages from holding rooms to moveable racks and transporting those racks to the behavioural training rooms.



You will work in a collaborative and multidisciplinary research environment, communicate regularly with all other lab members and SWC staff, and work in especially close collaboration with members of the Neurobiological Research Facility.



There will also be the opportunity to contribute experimentally to the work in the lab: including helping to perform stereotaxic surgeries, assisting in the collection of electrophysiological data or optogenetic perturbations, intracranial infusions, pharmacological manipulation.



This post involves non-standard working hours, which will be discussed in detail with the line manager. The role follows a shifted working week will requiring 9 hours per day from Saturday to Tuesday each week (with Wednesday to Friday serving as regular days off). The expectation is that the post-holder will work approximately 26 weekends out of the year.



The role is funded for one year in the first instance.

About you

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You will have excellent organisation and communication skills, with the ability to work independently and demonstrate initiative in a dynamic research environment.



Previous experience in the care and handling of mice and rats is essential, along with an interest and commitment to supporting high quality research. Holding a Personal Licence (PIL) is desirable, as is as technical expertise in the calibration, maintenance and repair of animal behavioural setups.

What we offer

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The SWC offers staff an award-winning work environment in the heart of Fitzrovia with access to pleasant outdoor spaces. The Centre also offers the full range of UCL staff benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement, occupational pension schemes, excellent family-friendly policies such as occupational shared parental pay, a work-life balance policy, and a range of financial benefits such as a season ticket loan scheme and staff discounts. SWC prides itself on offering a high quality administrative, technical and operational support function, and fully supports the professional development and progression of its staff, actively encouraging colleagues to learn new skills and broaden their experience. The SWC is supported in this aim by UCL's Organisational Development team who run a wide range of training programmes for all staff types and grades.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths, and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia. SWC is delighted to have received an Athena Swan Bronze Award in 2021. We stand by our commitment to positive action to improve equality and accessibility in the workplace. We will provide reasonable adjustments to enable people to work and flourish with us. SWC is proud to uphold both UCL's Dignity at Work and Work-Life Balance policies. As Centre we commit to fostering a positive cultural climate where all staff and students can thrive and and actively support Wellbeing@UCL, UCL community, supported by our Wellbeing.