Meridial – Associate Scientist – In Vivo Neuroscience
- Compensation
- £45K–£55K / yr
- Location
- London
- Work setup
- Onsite
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Category
- Science
- Posted
Skills
Nice to have
- 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.
Full description
About Meridial
Meridial is a Focused Research Organisation (FRO) with a mission to bring connectomics into the living brain. We are building a platform for longitudinal, synapse-resolution mapping of functional neural circuitry in preclinical models. Our aim is to deploy this platform for translational projects and improve drug development outcomes for disorders of the central nervous system.
Meridial is a new not-for-profit FRO in the Convergent Research Ecosystem and funded by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).
About the role
Meridial is seeking an experimental neuroscientist to join our team as Associate Scientist – In Vivo Neuroscience.
This is a hands-on role. You will carry out neurosurgery, longitudinal two-photon imaging and optogenetic experiments in mice as part of Meridial’s programme to develop advanced 3D imaging and photostimulation technologies for functional mapping of neural circuits.
We are looking for a scientist with strong practical and experimental skills. You should already have substantial hands-on experience with mouse neurosurgery and in vivo two-photon imaging and be motivated to develop these skills further.
You will join a small Experimental Team that will grow over the coming year, and will be able to contribute to the development of protocols and workflows from an early stage. You will report to the Director of Experimental Research and will receive hands-on training and mentoring from more senior scientists in the team. You will also work closely with engineers and computational researchers across Meridial.
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.