Research Fellow - School of Psychology - 108265 - Grade 7

Location: United Kingdom Department: Academic Non-clinical

Position Details

School of Psychology

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £37,369 to £46,970 with potential progression once in post to £49,798

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to December 2028

Closing date: 2nd December 2026

There are 2 positions available

Background

Applications are invited for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the research programme of Professor Ron Mangun in the Centre for Human Brain Health at the University of Birmingham. The Centre provides a multidisciplinary environment for human cognitive neuroscience research and access to advanced neuroimaging, electrophysiological and brain stimulation methods.

The post-holder will contribute to ongoing and planned research investigating visual processing and attention, reading and language processing, and/or predictive coding mechanisms. The successful candidate will have a strong record of high-quality research outputs appropriate to career stage and experience in cognitive neuroscience research. The position is research dedicated, and the successful candidate will be involved in all stages of developing and conducting experiments, analysing data, preparing results, and presenting findings. This will include the preparation of high-quality academic publications and the presentation of results at national and international academic conferences.

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute intellectually to the development of research questions, experimental designs and analytical approaches, play a role in the supervision of trainees, and broadly support the research goals of Centre for Human Brain Health.

Role Summary

Conduct research within the scope of ongoing and planned research projects in collaboration with Professor Ron Mangun and other members of the research team

Contribute intellectually to the development of research questions and proposals; design experiments, collect and analyse data, present findings, and publish results in peer-reviewed journals

Contribute to the supervision and training of undergraduate and postgraduate students and other researchers

Contribute to funding applications

Contribute to the planning, management and administration of research projects

Main Duties

The responsibilities may include some, but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

Address the research objectives of ongoing and planned projects and contribute to the development of new research objectives and proposals

Contribute to the training of others in the research group in relevant experimental, analytical and research methods

Conduct experimental research, collect data directly, and supervise or support data collection by others

Analyse and interpret data and use the results to develop new intellectual understanding, methods and research questions

Disseminate research findings through peer-reviewed publications, research seminars, and national and international conferences

Provide day-to-day supervision and guidance for student research projects, potentially at BSc, MSc, or PhD level

Contribute to the development and writing of bids for research funding

Participate actively in group meetings, journal clubs, CHBH activities, and related scientific discussions

Contribute, where appropriate, to public engagement and research impact activities

Exercise initiative in resolving methodological, analytical and practical problems that may affect research objectives and deadlines

Work collaboratively with the PI, research staff, students, CHBH colleagues and external collaborators, coordinating own work with others as required

Contribute to developing new models, techniques, methods and analytical approaches relevant to the research programme

Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff

Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures

Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.

Person Specification

The following are essential qualifications

A PhD (or near to completion) equivalent in an area relevant to cognitive neuroscience, including but not limited to psychology, neuroscience, biology, computer science, or engineering at the start of the position.

A strong record of high-quality research outputs appropriate to career stage in cognitive neuroscience.

Experience in the design, conduct and quantitative analysis of human cognitive neuroscience experiments.

Experience with one or more of EEG, MEG, fMRI, and/or non-invasive brain stimulation; experience in acquisition and analysis of concurrent EEG-fMRI data is particularly useful.

Strong programming skills relevant to cognitive neuroscience research, ideally in Python and/or MATLAB.

Strong quantitative and statistical analysis skills.

Knowledge relevant to one or more areas of the research programme, such as visual perception and attention, reading and language processing, and/or predictive coding.

Strong academic writing and presentation skills.

Ability and willingness to work collaboratively and contribute to the local research community.

Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively.

Ability to contribute to the planning, management and administration of research projects.

Knowledge of the protected characteristics and duties under the Equality Act 2010. Including fostering good relations and advancing the universities Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity knowledge, skills and experience document.

Informal enquiries to Ron Mangun, email: [email protected]

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools