Research Assistant

Grade UE06: £34,610 to £39,906 per annum

Institute of Neuroscience and Cardiovascular Research, CCBS

Full time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: until 30th June 2028

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the position of Research Assistant in Psychiatry. The post-holder will assist in the running of an international research study which builds on a previous study of sleep in children with SYNGAP1-related disorder, a condition associated with intellectual disability, epilepsy and significant sleep problems. This new study will use multiple types of sleep monitoring equipment to evaluate equipment feasibility and reliability of data.

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With roles from hospitality to research,there’sa career for everyone at the University of Edinburgh. We can offer opportunities for you to develop in your career and make a real difference in the communities around us while contributing to the world at large.

The University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We are a large University covering a wide range of activities. In Professional Services, we support the University’s research and teaching, offering many career and role specialisms.

The post would be suitable for a candidate with a degree in psychology, psychiatry or a related discipline who has previous experience working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Previous work with the SYNGAP1 community would be particularly valuable. The principal role of the post holder will be to remotely support equipment setup and data collection which will be done by families in their own homes.

This will include being available in the evening to troubleshoot any technical difficulties. Other tasks will include managing the logistics of the study such as contacting interested parties, providing study information and organising couriering of equipment to and from participants.

The environment in which the position is based offers outstanding opportunities for research and career development. The post is part of the Clinically Applied Research in Intellectual Disability (CARID) group affiliated with the Patrick Wild Centre (PWC) and the Simons Institute for the Developing Brain (SIDB), both philanthropically funded centres investigating autism and intellectual disabilities. More broadly, state of the art facilities for clinical, laboratory and data science research exist across the University of Edinburgh campus including the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, the Clinical Research Imaging Centre, the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, the Usher Institute and the MRC Human Genetics Unit.

People have always been at the heart of our work. Our people are at the centre of the University community and everything we do. We value colleagues with drive, determination and a passion for what they do. We are a place where everyone is welcome and offer a range of policies and benefits designed to support you in building the right meaningful flexibility that works for you.

A career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:

• Contributing to leading-edge research – SYNGAP1-related disorder is rare and relatively understudied. Its related sleep problems are poorly understood and this study will therefore add to the relevant literature through detailed characterisation of sleep in this group.
• Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is a core part of our working ethos and will be a great opportunity for the successful candidate to make links with the global SYNGAP1 community.
• Opportunities for publication in academic journals.

Further details are available in the job description, including the person specification and an outline of the…