We are looking for a highly motivated and creative post-doctoral research associate (PDRA) to join the research teams of Dr Neil Dawson (Lancaster University) and Dr Steven Clapcote (University of Leeds) as part of the collaborative MURIDAE Cluster of the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network (NMGN, https://nmgn.mrc.ukri.org/clusters/muridae/). The MURIDAE project aims to elucidate how recently identified schizophrenia risk gene variants perturb brain development to impact on brain function, behaviour and cognition. You will work in the Dawson laboratory in the Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences at Lancaster University.

This role involves the analysis of brain function at the brain circuit and behavioural level, across development, using genetically modified mice with risk gene mutations for schizophrenia. As this post is within the larger MURIDAE Cluster and NMGN, collaboration is a vital part of the role. This will bring opportunities for training and teamwork with colleagues across different UK institutions.

You should hold a PhD in a relevant field, having a background in preclinical translational neuroscience, brain imaging approaches and behavioural techniques. You should have experience of working with mouse models and preferably hold a Home Office personal licence. We are looking for a highly motivated individual with excellent communication skills, the capacity to work collaboratively in a team, and ability to solve problems independently and creatively. Coding and image analysis skills would also be an advantage. While experience in these techniques is an advantage, training can be provided within our groups if needed. Most important is that you should have a strong interest in applying these methods to investigate the development of brain function in novel mouse models of genetic risk for schizophrenia. In our labs, we strive for cutting-edge research in a collegiate and supportive environment.

This is a fixed term position at 1.0 FTE for a period of 15 months.

The Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, within the Faculty of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University, is a rapidly growing Division whose research effort is directed towards understanding fundamental mechanisms that underpin disease. It provides a friendly research environment that strongly supports the individual needs of each employee and which actively promotes a healthy work-life balance. The Faculty is committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies and has held a Silver Athena SWAN award since 2014 in recognition of its good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research.

Informal enquiries are welcome. Please contact Dr Neil Dawson: n.dawson1@lancaster.ac.uk.

We welcome applications from people in all diversity groups and are happy to consider flexible working requests.

Closing Date: 21 Jul 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £39,906 to £48,882 Full-Time/Indefinite with End Date

This role involves supporting studies in DNA replication stress response signalling, including:

• Generate and characterise engineered cell lines with inducible gene expression, gene depletion, and targeted genetic modifications, including domain deletions and site-directed mutations.
• Investigate cellular responses to DNA damage and replication stress using a range of molecular and cell biology approaches, including immunofluorescence microscopy, immunoblotting, DNA fibre assays, and micronucleus analysis.
• Examine protein localisation and chromatin-associated dynamics at sites of DNA replication and genome maintenance using advanced imaging and proteomic techniques.
• Characterise protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid interactions through biochemical and proximity-based assays, including immunoprecipitation and proximity ligation assays.
• Identify and analyse interaction networks and candidate substrates of a target pathway regulator using mass spectrometry-based proteomics.

Role responsibilities

As part of a friendly and collaborative team, you will be responsible for:

• Preparing and conducting experiments including engineered cell line generation, DNA damage response analysis, protein interaction and localisation studies, and proteomic identification of molecular interaction networks.
• Data acquisition and management, and contributing to analysis and reporting
• Supporting day-to-day lab operations, including equipment maintenance, ordering supplies, record keeping, and assisting with regulatory documentation
• Providing technical training to students and other lab members

About you

We are keen to hear from candidates who have:

• Bachelor’s degree in biomedicine, biomedical sciences, biochemistry or a related discipline.
• Experience of supporting biomedical related studies, including responsibilities such as mammalian cell culture, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, DNA cloning, molecular biology techniques and data analysis using GraphPad-Prism and ImageJ.
• Strong organisational and administrative skills, including inventory management, maintaining accurate records, and report writing.
• A proactive approach to problem-solving and technical troubleshooting, with the confidence to take initiative and work independently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and a collaborative, team-oriented approach

Experience with the DNA fibre assay is desirable but not essential. Training will be provided for the right candidate. Most importantly, you will bring motivation, attention to detail, and enthusiasm for contributing to meaningful interdisciplinary research.

Why work with us

You will join the Genome Stability and DNA Repair Lab, led by Dr. Panagiotis Kotsantis in the Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, and work in an interdisciplinary team with collaborators from BLS and Erasmus University (Netherlands). This role therefore offers a fantastic opportunity to gain hands-on experience across diverse research methods and environments.

The Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, part of the Faculty of Health and Medicine, is a vibrant and interdisciplinary research environment focused on human health and disease. It offers state-of-the-art facilities and a collaborative, inclusive culture that supports both independent and team-based research, while promoting work-life balance and individual support. Find out about more about our employee benefits and life at Lancaster on our website: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/jobs

The Faculty has held a Silver Athena SWAN award since 2014 in recognition of its good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research.

Informal enquiries are welcome. Please contact Dr Panagiotis Kotsantis at: p.kotsantis@lancaster.ac.uk

Closing Date: 09 Aug 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £26,707 to £30,378 (Full time, indefinite with end date)

Senior Research Associate in the School of Social Sciences, Lancaster University (fixed term contract for two years).

The School of Social Sciences seeks to appoint a post-doctoral researcher (fixed term contract for two years) to work in the Brain and Bilingual Experiences Lab (BaBEL). The successful candidate will join a vibrant and productive lab (BaBEL), which is one of two labs in the Multilingualism and Cognition (M&C) research group within the Linguistics and English Language (LAEL) discipline.  The successful candidate will work most directly under the supervision of Prof. Jason Rothman and Prof. Patrick Rebuschat, who co-lead the M&C research group.

The successful candidate will hold a PhD in Linguistics (specialization in Psycho- or Neurolinguistics), Psychology (specializing in language and/or bi-/multilingualism), Cognitive (Neuro)Science or a cognate area and will be able to demonstrate excellence in research commensurate with their experience. This should include an established or developing portfolio of research publications in high impact international journals, potentially also including experience in competitive grant submissions (or success), evidence of previous successful working (or leadership) in similar lab environments and providing academic support to colleagues. Candidates must have, and should detail, demonstrable experience with neuroimaging methods and analysis related to the neurobiology of language, linguistic processing, and/or neurocognitive adaptations associated with language experience. Ideally, the candidate will have applied this skill set in research related to bi-/multilingualism. Candidates must have, and should detail, demonstrable experience with neuroimaging methods and analysis related to the neurobiology of language, linguistic processing, and/or neurocognitive adaptations associated with language experience.

Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University is globally renowned, consistently ranked among the top departments globally in Linguistics and nationally among league tables (e.g., currently ranked 2^nd in the world in the 2026 QS rankings). It offers world-class undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs exploring human language comprehensively and from complementary methods and theoretical perspectives.  

The School of Social Sciences brings together Linguistics with Criminology, Educational Research, Social Work, and Sociology, forming an inclusive, dynamic, and diverse research and teaching community.

Lancaster University is a highly ranked, research-led institution located in the historic city of Lancaster. The North West of England offers an excellent quality of life, with access to outstanding countryside, including the Lake District, and strong national and international transport links. For more reasons to work at Lancaster University, see - Jobs - Lancaster University.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof. Jason Rothman – j.rothman@lancaster.ac.uk 

Closing Date: 26 Jul 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £39,906 to £46,049 (Full time, indefinite with end date)

The READ-IT project, funded by the ESRC, aims to monitor and predict how children learn to read between the ages of 5 and 7 applying computational models of reading development. The project will collect weekly data from primary school children learning to read and apply computational methods to automatically encode children’s speech, and track and predict children’s reading development over their early primary school years. The ultimate aim is to develop tools that can aid teachers to optimally support children’s individual reading journeys. The project spans expertise in the Department of Psychology and the School of Computing and Communications.

These posts involve visiting local primary schools on a daily basis and reading with children whilst recording their responses, transcribing the reading, and working with primary school teachers to work on ways to support children’s reading journey. The data will be collated and passed to other researchers in the team who will then apply the computational modelling techniques.

ABOUT YOU

You will:

• Have a degree in psychology, education, or a related discipline, and preferably also a postgraduate qualification.
• Have experience working in primary school settings, with teachers and/or children, preferably with experience in applying psychological tests.
• Have an interest in applying psychological knowledge to understand children’s reading development, and be aware of reading in the classroom context.
• Have background knowledge of issues relating to transcription of speech, preferably with background in phonetics or phonology.
• Be able to work effectively with primary school children and be able to attend school settings in the Lancaster area on a daily basis to read with children.
• Be able to deal with confidential data, and understand safeguarding, ethical and GDPR issues regarding working with children.
• Be willing to undergo enhanced DBS check.

THE BENEFITS OF THE ROLE

• Generous holiday leave - 25 days (pro-rata) annual leave plus University closure days and bank holidays.
• Access to employee pension scheme, and annual flexible benefits scheme.
• We are committed to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across the Faculty, and supporting family-friendly and flexible working policies on an individual basis. The Department of Psychology holds an Athena Swan Silver Award, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in Higher Education and research.  

Closing Date: 17 Jul 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £33,002 to £37,694 (Full-Time/Indefinite with End Date)

The School of Mathematical Sciences at Lancaster University is seeking to appoint a Senior Research Associate (SRA) to work within ‘MARS: Mathematics for AI in Real-world Systems’, contributing to the NERC-funded project ‘IceDice: Predicting the stochastic behaviour of West Antarctica’s Marine Ice Sheet’. 

About the role

The IceDice project aims to provide reliable probabilistic forecasts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet’s contribution to future sea level rise – information of enormous societal and economic value for coastal planning and climate adaptation worldwide. 

Your research will develop and apply novel Bayesian machine learning methods – in particular physics-informed Gaussian processes and/or neural operators– to build accurate probability density functions (PDFs) of future Antarctic sea level contributions.  

Working as part of a collaborative team spanning British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge, you will be based at Lancaster and work with Dr Henry Moss to:

• Develop machine learning emulators for the WAVI ice-sheet model to serve as efficient surrogates for large-scale Bayesian inference.
• Develop utility-function-based experimental design methods to identify the computer simulations and observational surveys that maximise information about future sea level for a given computational cost.
• Work closely with ice-sheet modellers at the British Antarctic Survey to apply probabilistic methods to realistic West Antarctic domains.
• Publish high-quality research in leading peer-reviewed journals and present at national and international conferences. 

What we’re looking for

• PhD in statistics, machine learning, physics or a closely related discipline.
• Research experience in Bayesian methods, probabilistic modelling, or scientific machine learning. 
• Experience with Gaussian processes, MCMC methods, or uncertainty quantification for expensive computational simulators.
• An interest in applying mathematical methods to real-world environmental challenges, and willingness to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.
• Experience with Python, or equivalent scientific computing languages. 

The IceDice project connects you to a world-leading collaborative team at the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge, with opportunities to engage with high-profile climate science and policy impact.

Candidates who are considering making an application are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Henry Moss (h.moss@lancaster.ac.uk) to discuss the role.

This is a full-time, fixed-term position for 22 months or until 31/08/2028 (whichever comes first). Flexible working arrangements will be considered, but you will be expected to be present on the Lancaster campus a minimum of two days per week.

Closing Date: 26 Jul 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £39,906 to £46,049 (Full time, indefinite with end date)

The SuperICQ consortium is a recently funded EU Pathfinder Open project that aims to develop a host of superconducting electronics using this new process and to integrate these with superconducting qubits. At Lancaster we will be characterising individual junctions, designing and testing parametric amplifiers, characterising tuneable resonators and demonstrating multiplexed qubit readout. As a member of the consortium you will also collaborate with partners at VTT (Finland), Aalto (Finland) and Chalmers (Sweden).

Lancaster is a major player in superconducting quantum devices in the UK and benefits from extensive nanofabrication, cryogenic, and electronics infrastructure. You will work in the Quantum Technology Centre at the Physics Department of Lancaster University and will travel as necessary to liaise with project partners and to attend national and international workshops and conferences.

For information on our research interests: 

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/about-us/people/yuri-pashkin

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/about-us/people/jonathan-prance

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/physics/about-us/people/michael-thompson

Funding is available to appoint to this post as soon as you are available. You will join us on an indefinite contract. However, the role remains contingent on external funding, which at this time is for 24 months with a possible extension of a further 12 months.

Lancaster University Physics Department is strongly committed to fostering diversity within its community as a source of excellence, cultural enrichment, and social strength. We welcome those who would contribute to the further diversification of our department.

Applicants may find information on Lancaster and the University here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/jobs/life-at-lancaster/

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Michael Thompson (m.thompson@lancaster.ac.uk).

Closing Date: 01 Aug 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £39,906 to £46,049 (Full-Time/Indefinite with End Date)

We seek to appoint 1 full-time post-doctoral research associate (starting Summer 2026) to complete a team of 4 researchers who are exploring novel concepts for security controls and assurance in converged and ultra-large scale infrastructures.

The successful candidate for this role will develop new techniques for orchestrating security controls in dynamic and complex systems undergoing frequent changes to their function and security requirements. This work will involve researching how to introduce interactions between security controls to achieve security goals and exploring the trade-offs of doing so. We seek to appoint a researcher who has either experience in abstract modelling of distributed systems or practical experience deploying and experimenting with security controls.

As a Programme Grant there is considerable flexibility in this research agenda. This allows the right candidate to have a significant ability to direct their research activities. This is a great opportunity for an individual to build their research career.

Key duties of this post include:

• Conducting original research to orchestrate security in future complex distributed systems.
• Developing high quality and impactful publications.
• Collaborating with academic, industry partners and other EPSRC projects.

 The successful candidate will have a PhD in Computer Science or equivalent with experience in cyber security or distributed systems.

The School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University offers a highly inclusive and stimulating environment for career development, and you will be exposed to a range of further opportunities over the course of this post. We are committed to family-friendly and flexible working policies, as well as the Athena SWAN Charter, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in higher education and research.

You will join us on an indefinite contract; however, the role remains contingent on external funding, which for these roles initially ends after 24 months (with the possibility to extend further).

The candidates will be working under the direct supervision of Prof. Neeraj Suri (neeraj.suri@lancaster.ac.uk)  and Dr. Matthew Bradbury (m.s.bradbury@lancaster.ac.uk). We welcome enquires prior to the submission of an application!

Closing Date: 01 Sep 2026

Department: Research

Salary: £39,355 to £45,413 (Full time, indefinite with end date)