Postdoctoral Fellow - Kohl Lab

Details of the role:

Working pattern
:
This is a full-time, fixed term (4 years) position on Crick terms and conditions of employment

Salary
:
From £47,500 with benefits, subject to skills and experience

Final date to receive applications
: 10th of June 2026

The Francis Crick Institute is Europe’s largest biomedical research institute under one roof. Our world-class scientists and staff collaborate on vital research to help prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative conditions.

The Crick is a place for collaboration, innovation and exploration across many disciplines. A space where the brightest minds can pursue big and bold ideas and discover answers to crucial scientific questions. We support them in a dynamic environment which fosters excellence with state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting‑edge facilities, and a creative and curious culture. We’ve removed traditional boundaries of departments, divisions and disciplines and instead have an open approach that supports every researcher.

This gives us the freedom to take risks and carry out high‑quality, pioneering research. Creating a space for discovery without boundaries helps us to turn our science into benefits for human health and the economy.

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to lead an ambitious project aimed at reconstructing the cell‑type‑specific connectome of the mouse hypothalamus.

You will combine viral tracing, spatial transcriptomics, and computational analysis to uncover how molecularly defined hypothalamic neuronal populations are interconnected to control instinctive behaviours and physiological states.

To achieve this, the project will implement BRISC (Barcoded Rabies In Situ Connectomics), a recently developed method that combines barcoded rabies tracing with in situ sequencing to map long‑range synaptic connectivity at high throughput and cellular resolution. The resulting datasets will link neuronal identity, spatial organization, and connectivity across hypothalamic circuits.

The project will involve close interaction with computational and experimental collaborators and offers the opportunity to work at the interface of systems neuroscience, spatial transcriptomics, and data science.

The Kohl lab uses a multidisciplinary strategy, ranging from in vivo calcium imaging and in vivo / ex vivo electrophysiology to behavioural profiling, viral circuit tracing and molecular approaches to investigate the neuronal and circuit‑level mechanisms by which physiological states alter information processing in the brain.

Further details can be found l-lab.org.

Our team currently includes four postdocs, three PhD students, three research scientists, and one MSc student. We are committed to maintaining a supportive and collaborative research environment, and we particularly value collegiality and open scientific discussion.

This project will involve close collaboration with the neighbouring Znamenskiy lab, which is developing in situ connectomics approaches for high‑throughput reconstruction of neural circuits (https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).).

You will:

• Lead an independent and ambitious research project aligned with the aims outlined above.
• Develop and implement custom viral tracing and spatial transcriptomics workflows, including experimental pipelines, data acquisition, and analysis.
• Generate, analyse, and interpret high‑quality datasets.
• Establish and maintain close collaborations with computational and experimental researchers within and beyond the institute.
• Scientific and technical support for group members.
• Data management and analysis, writing up of manuscripts.
• Presenting at scientific meetings.
• Guiding PHDs in their research.

You will have:

• PhD in Neuroscience or a related field or in the final stages of PhD submission.
• Experience with viral tracing, circuit neuroscience, systems neuroscience, or related approaches.
• Strong analytical, quantitative, and coding skills (particularly in Python).
• Experience handling and analysing large‑scale biological datasets.
• Track record…