Research Assistant in Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health - INTERNAL ONLY - Strand, London, WC2R 2LSTHIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLYAbout usThe Department of Psychosis Studies, part of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, is internationally recognised for its research into the causes, mechanisms, and treatment of psychotic and affective disorders. The Department of Psychosis Sharing Data Initiative (DPSDI) is a strategic project aimed at creating an internal repository of harmonised phenotypical datasets to accelerate research in mental health. The DPSDI provides a secure and user-friendly infrastructure for sharing BIDS-formatted, pre-processed datasets sourced from open access repositories and internal data from the department. The DPSDI is managed by the Artificial Intelligence in Mental health (AIM) lab.About the roleWe are seeking a highly motivated researcher to join the Department of Psychosis Studies at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health Lab led by Dr Paris Alexandros Lalousis and Professor Nikolaos Koutsouleris and work at the intersection of AI, neuroscience, and mental health, contributing to cutting-edge efforts to predict and understand psychosis and affective disorders. The Research Assistant will support the development and expansion of the Department of Psychosis Sharing Data Initiative (DPSDI). This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to the creation of a large-scale, harmonised neuroimaging repository that will underpin large-scale future research in psychosis and related disorders. The successful candidate will be responsible for coordinating data contributions from internal and external researchers, processing and harmonising data, such as neuroimaging data (e.g., T1-weighted MRI, fMRI, DWI) according to BIDS standards, a month other types of data. In addition, the successful candidate will also support the development of an online platform for data access and management. The postholder will also assist in implementing automated data processing pipelines and ensuring quality control and documentation of the datasets. As part of the role, the successful candidate will also be able to develop his own research ideas using the database. This role will suit a candidate with strong technical and organisational skills who is interested in neuroimaging, data science, open research infrastructure and mental health research. This is a part time (21 hours per week) role, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/06/2026. Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.About youTo be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience: Essential criteria BSc or MSc in neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, computer science, or a related field.Experience in processing and analysing neuroimaging data (e.g., MRI, fMRI, DWI) using tools such as FSL, SPM, AFNI, or FreeSurfer.Familiarity or willingness to learn the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) format and reproducible data management practices.Experience using version control and data management platforms (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, DataLad).Interest in advancing open science and data-sharing practices in mental health research.Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with researchers across disciplines and manage collaborative workflows.Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and ability to work independently as well as within a team.Desirable criteriaExperience with developing or maintaining web-based research infrastructure (e.g., web applications, APIs).Programming skills in Python or similar languages.Familiarity with high-performance computing environments (Linux systems and SLURM) and cloud-based services (e.g., Google Cloud, AWS, Azure).Experience in data harmonisation and quality assurance procedures.Downloading a copy of our Job DescriptionFull details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
