Clinical Researcher: Psychopharmacology and Emotion Research Laboratory (PERL)

Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX

The University of Oxford is a stimulating work environment, which enjoys an international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence. Our research plays a key role in tackling many global challenges, from reducing our carbon emissions to developing vaccines during a pandemic.

The Department of Psychiatry is based on the Warneford Hospital site in Oxford – a friendly, welcoming place of work with an international reputation for excellence. The Department has a substantial research programme, with major funding from Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and provides highly rated medical training in psychiatry. The Head of Department is Professor Belinda Lennox.

We are looking for a Clinical Researcher to join the Psychopharmacology and Research Laboratory based at the Warneford Hospital to work across a number of large-scale collaborative projects funded by the Wellcome Trust.

What We Offer
As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:
• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days annual leave
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Cycle loan scheme
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs

Due to the nature of the role, the postholder would be expected to work on-site 3-4 days per week.

About the Role
The post is funded for 2 years from August 2026 and is based in the Department of Psychiatry at the Warneford Hospital. It is full time although consideration would be given to candidates wishing to work part-time on a pro rata basis (minimum 80% FTE).

The role includes medical oversight of a number of studies involving administration of psychotropic agents as well as leading work exploring the effect of an orexin antagonist on neural, cognitive and behavioural markers of sleep and emotion. You would be involved in all aspects of the research from design through to analysis and publication.

About You
You will be medically qualified, with current GMC registration and have completed your core psychiatry training. You will have demonstrable experience of working with individuals with mental health disorders, particularly mood disorders. Excellent data analysis skills, including experience of dealing with complex data sets is essential as is experience in working with and programming cognitive tasks.

Training in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and experience with gaining approvals and communicating with regulatory and approval bodies (such as ethics committees, MHRA, NHS R&D departments) and knowledge of psychopharmacology and experimental medicine approaches would be desirable.

Diversity
Committed to equality and valuing diversity
Our active Psychiatry People and Culture teams and initiatives including our values and behaviours framework, work to make the Department of Psychiatry as supportive, welcoming and inclusive as possible.

Application Process
You will be required to upload a covering letter/supporting statement, CV and the details of two referees as part of your online application. Please see the University pages on the application process at <https://www.jobs.ox.ac.uk/application-process>

The closing date for applications is 12:00 midday on 12 March 2026.

It is anticipated that interviews will take place on 30 March and will be face to face.

Salary: £38,831-£73,992 per annum
Pay Scale: CLINICAL RESEARCHER (NEW SCALE) (E63)
Vacancy ID: 185071