Associate Scientist - In Vivo Neuroscience

Salary Range: 45000 to 55000 (Currency: GBP) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

Key Responsibilities

In vivo experimentation

• Perform survival neurosurgery in mice, including stereotaxic viral injections, cranial-window implantation and preparation of animals for chronic imaging and manipulation.
• Carry out high-quality in vivo two-photon imaging, including longitudinal imaging of the same animals over weeks to months.
• Run optogenetic experiments to interrogate and manipulate neural circuits.
• Support the implementation of viral and transgenic strategies for functional imaging, circuit manipulation and anatomical investigation.
• Support animal colony management, working with senior team members and animal facility staff, including tracking breeding and experimental requirements.
• Monitor preparation quality and animal welfare throughout longitudinal studies and help identify and resolve technical problems with more senior scientists.
• Maintain accurate and comprehensive records of experimental procedures and outcomes.

Method and platform development

• Follow the team’s surgical and experimental protocols and contribute to their development, optimisation and documentation as SOPs.
• Help test, evaluate and optimise new surgical, imaging and experimental approaches, including systematic evaluation of variables that affect preparation quality, reproducibility and long-term stability.
• Help test and improve microscopes, behavioural apparatus and other experimental systems in collaboration with the Engineering Team.
• Work with the Computational Team to support data acquisition, data-quality assessment and analysis, and to make sure data and metadata meet the standards needed for open sharing.

Scientific contribution and team development

• Contribute to experimental planning, interpretation and discussion within the Experimental Team.
• Communicate results, technical problems and observations clearly to colleagues across disciplines.
• Share technical expertise and good experimental practice with other team members.
• Uphold high standards of experimental rigour, reproducibility and animal welfare.

Essential Qualifications and Experience

Degree in neuroscience, neurobiology, physiology, neuroengineering or a related discipline, or equivalent research experience.
3+ years’ hands-on experience with in vivo neuroscience experiments in mice.
Demonstrated experience of survival stereotaxic surgery in mice, including intracranial viral injections and cranial-window implantation for chronic imaging.
Substantial hands-on experience with in vivo two-photon microscopy and the acquisition of functional neural data.
Familiarity with viral-vector and genetic approaches commonly used to study neural circuits.
Ability to recognise experimental problems, troubleshoot procedures and contribute to method optimisation.
Understanding of appropriate experimental controls and rigorous experimental design.
Strong organisational skills and careful experimental record-keeping.
Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and to respond constructively to scientific and technical guidance.
If you do not already hold a UK Home Office Personal Licence covering the relevant procedures, willingness to complete the required training before starting the role. Meridial will cover the costs of the required training and licence application. Candidates trained under another national regulatory framework are very welcome.
Strong commitment to animal welfare, the 3Rs and rigorous experimental practice.

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

Any of the following would be particularly valuable:
5+ years’ practical experience with in vivo neuroscience experiments
Longitudinal two-photon imaging of the same neural populations, cellular compartments or synaptic structures over weeks or months.
In vivo imaging of dendrites, axons, boutons or other subcellular structures.
Optogenetic experiments, including their design and optimisation and the combination of optical stimulation with functional neural measurements.
All-optical circuit interrogation, such as two-photon optogenetics or holographic photostimulation.
GRIN-lens, prism or other specialised chronic optical preparations.
AAV, rabies-virus or other viral-vector strategies for neural labelling, imaging, manipulation or tracing, including monosynaptic rabies tracing or other transsynaptic circuit-mapping approaches.
Histology, immunohistochemistry and confocal or fluorescence microscopy.
In vivo or ex vivo intracellular electrophysiology, including whole-cell or targeted patch-clamp recording.
Spatial transcriptomics, single-cell spatial profiling or related molecular approaches.
Head-fixed behavioural experiments combined with neural imaging or manipulation.
A current UK Home Office Personal Licence covering the relevant procedures.
Microscope alignment, optical troubleshooting or work with custom two-photon imaging systems.
Quantitative assessment of experimental quality and development of quality-control procedures.
Working knowledge of Python and/or MATLAB for experimental control, data-quality assessment or analysis.
Preparing experimental data for open sharing.

Physical Demands

Fine motor skills for operating computers and office/lab equipment
Ability to move light-to-moderately heavy items (typical lab supplies/equipment); may include occasional lifting/carrying with appropriate equipment (e.g., carts/dollies)

The Person We Are Looking For

You are a careful and motivated experimental neuroscientist who enjoys hands-on laboratory work and wants to build expertise in advanced in vivo methods. You take pride in producing reliable, high-quality preparations and data. When troubleshooting, you investigate the likely causes and work with more senior scientists to put solutions in place.

You are keen to learn new techniques, receptive to guidance and ready to take on more responsibility as your expertise grows. At the same time, you think critically about the experiments you perform and contribute ideas for improving methods and experimental design. You will enjoy working in a small, growing team alongside engineers and computational researchers.

Position Type / Schedule

Start date: around March 2027.
Full-time, 37.5 hours/week.
Laboratory based in London, with an on-site presence of 4–5 days per week due to the experimental nature of the role.
Longitudinal experiments and post-operative animal care will at times require work outside normal hours, including occasional weekends. This will be planned in advance and shared across the team as it grows.

Additional Information

Application materials: CV/resume + cover letter 
2 references will be requested during interviews
Generous Benefits will be communicated in interviews
For exceptional candidates, Meridial will consider visa sponsorship and relocation support.