Research Fellow

Hours: Full time. Requests for flexible working options will be considered (subject to business need). Contract: fixed term for 12 months Salary: Research fellow I, starting at £37,099 to £44,263 per annum, pro rata if part time Applications must be received by midnight of the closing date. Expected Interview date: Shortly thereafter Expected start date: September 1st  2024  The School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex is at the forefront of research in the UK. In the recent Research Excellence Framework assessment (REF 2021), 100% of our Impact cases in Biological Sciences and Chemistry were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. The School has received substantial recent University investment and is embarking on an exciting and extensive, muti-million pound refurbishment and improvement project.  A Research Fellow position is available in the laboratory of Tom Baden to work towards understanding of the evolution of neural systems in response to anthropogenic change through ancestral resurrected crustacean. We will use the planktonic crustacean Daphnia that serves as an important indicator organism for environmental freshwater quality. The project will make use of models of environmental sewage and pesticide decontamination in once-pristine lake systems before, during, and after anthropogenic contamination, and will attempt to shed light on adaptive evolution in the Daphnia nervous system using pre-existing resurrected specimens from these different timepoints.  In this project we also propose additional assays using 2D or 3D tracking software to examine behavioural changes to ambient light conditions associated with environmental water quality changes. Neuronal responses to light and chemical cues in sensory organs will be tested with high spatiotemporal resolution and compared in live Daphnia from different timepoints after injection with genetically encoded calcium indicators.  We are a very active research group located in the Neuroscience Centre, which also houses a number of other groups using imaging to study neural circuits involved in sensory processing (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexneuroscience/). More about the laboratory and our previous work can be found at https://badenlab.org.  Informal enquiries are encouraged and should be made to Tom Baden (t.baden@sussex.ac.uk).  The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds  The School of Life Sciences is committed to increasing the diversity of its staff and providing an inclusive working environment. The School currently holds an Athena SWAN Silver Award, has developed a Race Equity Action Plan and hosts an active Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group.  Applications are particularly welcomed from Black and minority ethnic candidates, and women, trans and non-binary candidates, who are under-represented in the School of Life Sciences.  Applications to posts from candidates who wish to work part-time or as job-sharers are welcome.  The University offers various schemes to provide real benefits to parents, these can be found at Family Friendly Policies   Applications should be accompanied by a full CV, a statement of research interests and aspirations (not more than 4 pages), and the names of three academic referees. [Optional  For full details and how to apply see our vacancies page  “Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship