Research Assistant in Computational Psychiatry (RELMED study)

Salary: £32,546.00 - £34,132.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 20 May 2025

The Role

We are looking for one Research Assistant for the RELMED project. RELMED is a Wellcome-Trust funded research project which aims to understand which computational (reinforcement learning) mechanisms are engaged by different antidepressant treatments.

RELMED is a unique opportunity to contribute to and shape a major research undertaking in the field of computational psychiatry. It will bring together rigorous clinical-trial, computational psychiatry and neuroimaging methods. It will involve two large-scale clinical trials in primary care, and as such is to-date the largest-scale attempt at establishing a causal evidence-based regarding computational mechanisms of clinical treatments.

The RELMED study is currently in the set-up phase. It consists of two randomised clinical trials to be run in sequence. The first trial will start early 2025 to 2027. This will be followed by a second trial to be run from mid-2027 to mid-2029. Each of the two RCTs will involve randomisation of 516 participants to one of four study arms and repeat behavioural neurocognitive testing. 

The full-time Research Assistant position is funded for 2 years.The Research Assistant must be able to work onsite primarily at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality.

This post is suitable for a candidate with previous research experience and experience of recruiting participants to research studies, who wishes to contribute to top quality research.
 
This post is fixed term for a period of 2 years initially, then subject to renewal.  
 
To apply for the position, we’ll need your CV and a personal statement outlining how you are suitable for the role using evidence to highlight how you meet the essential criteria in the knowledge, skills and experience as listed in the job description
 
For informal enquiries contact: 
Dr Apoorva Peddada (apoorva.peddada@newcastle.ac.uk)
Dr Stuart Watson (stuart.watson@newcastle.ac.uk)
 
Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences  
 
Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes

Please note that if you are successful to this role, you will require medical clearance before you can commence in the role

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

• Work closely with members of the RELMED team, liaise with professionals working in GP practices, secondary care centres, Talking Therapy and research clinics and will recruit and assess people with depression. Other key relationships which include study co-applicants, Trial Management Team, site leads for the other sites (Bristol, London, Nottingham and Oxford), wider computational psychiatry / reinforcement learning research community, The Priment Clinical Trials Unit Team supporting the study, participating NHS Primary Care sites, lived experience researchers and LEAP Group.
• Discussing the study with, obtaining informed consent from people with depression and recruiting participants.
• Administering study measures and providing support to study participants with the completion of study outcome measures 
• Contribution to the research programme of the School/Institute under the clear guidance of a member of an academic staff or Principal Investigator
• Use initiative and creativity to analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, deal with problems which may affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principal Investigator or groups overseeing the research project
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, book)
• Work to deadlines and manage, with support, competing priorities
• Ensure that personal knowledge in relevant fields of study is kept up to date
• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment) as appropriate
• Maintain academic standards and freedom, and work in accordance with university policies (e.g. equal opportunities, health and safety policies)
• Possible supervision and demonstration duties within undergraduate laboratories and example classes or in teaching small seminar classes
• Undertake relevant training and development activities to develop capacity for taking on wider responsibilities
• Develop, with advice, an awareness of own professional development needs and a personal development strategy

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (Essential)

• Some subject knowledge in working with people with depression/mental health problems
• Mental health research experience 
• Experience with clinical trials and recruiting participants to research studies 
• Good level of analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex information clearly, both orally and through the written word
• The ability to work collaboratively with colleagues
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems

Attributes and Behaviour (Essential)

• Interested in research and a commitment to supporting high quality research 
• Ability to work independently and within in a team
• A high level of consideration and care for research participants and an awareness of the importance of confidentiality
• Resourceful and able to act on own initiative, with strong problem-solving skills

Qualifications
(Essential)

• Good honours degree (or equivalent) in Psychology or a related area with some subject knowledge in the relevant area.

(Desirable)

• Master’s degree in psychology or a related area.

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver  Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28051