"Postdoctoral Research Associate"

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Reading - School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences (SPCLS)

Location: Reading

Salary: £36,636 to £46,049

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Full Time / Fixed Term contract till 31st January 2027

Job Ref: SRF52524

Closes: 31st January 2026

We are seeking a highly motivated researcher with a PhD in a relevant discipline (such as microbiology, neuroscience, bioinformatics, or systems biology) to join our ERC funded project on the human gut-brain axis (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/865568). The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in data analysis related to gut microbiota and metabolite profiles, including experience with computational and statistical approaches for biological datasets. Experience or awareness of handling brain and behavioural data will be an advantage, but is not a requirement.

You will have:

• Ability to process and interpret microbiota and metabolomics data
• Familiarity with latest relevant tools in combining data across different modalities/levels (e.g. mixomics, maaslin)
• Proficiency in relevant analytical tools and programming languages (e.g., R, Python)
• Prior experience of writing and publishing papers on a relevant topic

The candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of neuroscientists and microbiologists at the University of Reading working on this project (https://gutbrain.bhismalab.org/meet-the-team). The team is based across the Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics at the School of Psychology and CLS, as well as at the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences. The host lab (www.bhismalab.org) has an overarching research programme on studying individual differences in brain and behaviour with a special interest in autism.

Please see the job description and personal specification for further details.

Interviews will be held on 09 February 2026. The interview will include a relevant task given during the interview.

For more information, please contact:

Contact Name: Bhismadev Chakrabarti
Contact Job Title: Professor of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Contact Email: b.chakrabarti@reading.ac.uk