Research Associate/Senior Research Associate

at  University of Bristol

YOU SHOULD APPLY IF

You have a passion for neuroscience research and an interest in pain mechanisms. Previous experience using stereotaxic surgical procedures and ideally combining behavioural methods and advanced neuroscientific interrogation of the underlying neural circuits. You should be able to work independently but also integrate your research with a wider team of researchers and collaborators. Good organisational skills and motivation are essential and excellent record keeping and being able to demonstrate your ability to work within regulatory frameworks for animal research and schedule 1 drugs are important attributes. The lab is also committed to a positive research culture and research integrity including moving towards pre-registration of studies and open science.

THE ROLE

We are seeking to appoint a post-doctoral research associate to support a research programme funded by the Medical Research Council that investigates neural mechanisms underlying susceptibility to chronic pain. The research programme integrates chemogenetic manipulation of neural circuits with studies of pain behaviour and fear expression. This specific role will focus on the role of the midbrain PAG and the cerebellum in susceptibility to chronic pain.

WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?

We are seeking to recruit a post-doctoral research associate with previous experience in behavioural studies and in vivo stereotaxic techniques in rodents. The role holder will be involved in the planning of the experiments, working with other members of the research team. They will undertake in vivo studies in awake behaving animals using chemogenetic manipulations of neural circuits to enable us to better understand the mechanisms that underlie susceptibility to chronic pain. The role holder will also be expected to undertake the data analysis and prepare results for publication, including drafting manuscripts.