Senior Lecturer in Human Model System

Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gold Athena Swan award

Race Equality Charter award

Disability Confident employer

Job summary

Newcastle University seeks an outstanding translational scientist at Senior Lecturer level to establish and lead a world-class programme spanning mechanistic discovery and therapeutic development using advanced human systems. The post offers a unique platform bridging biology with translational medicine and clinical impacts.

You will join a leading translational neuroscience environment, with opportunities to collaborate across neuropathology, neurology, bioengineering and data science, and to

Qualifications

• Evidence of an independent translational neurodegeneration program
• Strong track record of securing external research funding as PI or equivalent
• Excellent publication record in high-impact journals
• Experience supervising PhD students and postdocs and mentoring early career researchers
• Demonstrated national/international research collaborations
• Proven leadership in interdisciplinary teams

Responsibilities

• Establish an internationally recognised translational neurodegeneration programme
• Secure substantial external funding from UKRI, NIHR, charities, industry and international funders
• Develop innovative mechanistic and therapeutic discovery platforms
• Lead interdisciplinary teams and develop early career researchers
• Foster translational partnerships with industry and clinical research infrastructures
• Shape the future direction of experimental neurodegeneration research at Newcastle

Skills

Research leadership

External funding

Collaboration

Mentoring

Strategic thinking

Education

PhD in neuroscience or related field

Tools

Organoid culture

Job description

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 26 November 2026

The Role

Newcastle University seeks to appoint an outstanding and ambitious translational scientist at Senior Lecturer level to establish and lead a world-class interdisciplinary research programme focused on mechanistic discovery and therapeutic development using advanced experimental human systems, including organoids, assembloids, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models, bioengineered platforms and related translational technologies.

You will bring a strong track record of research excellence and external funding success and will build an internationally recognised programme that bridges fundamental biology with therapeutic translation.

You will join one of the world’s leading centres for Lewy body dementia research, recently awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for its internationally recognised excellence and impact in dementia and neurodegenerative disease. Newcastle combines expertise spanning translational neuroscience, neuropathology, neurology, psychiatry, bioengineering, computational biology, biomarker science and experimental medicine within a uniquely integrated translational ecosystem. Combined with deeply phenotyped patient cohorts, significant brain tissue resources and world leading clinical trials infrastructure, this provides an exceptional platform for integrating advanced human model systems with biomarker discovery and experimental medicine to accelerate translational discovery.

The post forms part of Newcastle’s strategic investment in translational dementia research and aligns closely with major ambitions around experimental medicine, precision neuroscience and the development of next-generation therapies for Lewy body dementia.

Areas of particular interest inclu de:

• Lewy body dementia (including dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia)
• Neuroimmune and glial mechanisms
• Protein aggregation and propagation biology
• Blood-brain barrier and cellular interactions
• Therapeutic target identification and validation
• Enabling technologies e.g. spatial and single-cell technologies; gene editing and CRISPR approaches; microfluidic platforms; multicellular human systems etc.

Applicants are not expected to have expertise across all these areas, but should demonstrate a clear vision for how advanced human model systems can transform mechanistic understanding and therapeutic discovery in neurodegeneration.

The University has developed an Academic Job Summary Guidance document which summarises the range of activities that academic colleagues may be expected to perform.

Please note that, in order to commence in the role, a medical pre-screening will be required.

The post is full time, permanent.

The University is committed to supporting ambitious research leaders through:

• access to outstanding interdisciplinary infrastructure;
• collaborative translational ecosystems spanning discovery to clinical application;
• opportunities for strategic leadership development;
• and a supportive environment for career progression and programme development.

Start up package:

• 1 PhD studentship (in exceptional cases can be converted to a post-doc for two years)
• £5k per year running costs for 3 years

Research Environmemt

You will join one of the UK's leading translational neurodegeneration research environments, offering exceptional opportunities to develop interdisciplinary collaborations spanning discovery science, biomarker development, experimental medicine and clinical trials.

Newcastle hosts internationally recognised strengths in:

• computational neuroscience and application of artificial intelligence
• clinical trials

The post will closely interface with:

• The Newcastle Brain Tissue Resource
• Deeply phenotyped longitudinal patient cohorts
• Experimental medicine and biomarker programmes
• Interdisciplinary collaborations spanning biosciences, engineering and data science, including next-generation bioengineered platforms and neural scaffolds

Key Accountabilities

The post is intended for an ambitious and independent research leader with clear potential to progress to future senior leadership and professorial roles.

Research & Other

• Establish an internationally recognised programme of translational neurodegeneration research
• Secure substantial external research funding from UKRI, NIHR, charities, industry and international funders
• Develop innovative mechanistic and therapeutic discovery platforms
• Contribute to interdisciplinary team science and strategic institutional initiatives
• Build and lead an interdisciplinary research team, supporting the development of early career researchers and fostering collaborative working across disciplines
• Contribute to the development of translational partnerships with industry and clinical research infrastructures
• Play a leading role in shaping the future direction of experimental neurodegeneration research at Newcastle

Teaching & Learning

• Supervise postgraduate students and research staff
• Provide a range of timely student support to enhance the student experience and achievements
• Ensure all our students benefit from studying in a research-intensive, research-excellent academic environment
• Provide high quality teaching and learning
• Contribute to curriculum development
• Contribute to the design, development, implementation and administration of successful new courses

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Evidence of an independent research programme in advanced human model systems and/or translational neurodegeneration
• Demonstrable success in securing competitive external research funding as Principal Investigator or equivalent
• Strong publication record in internationally recognised journals
• Evidence of successful supervision of PhD students and/or postdoctoral researchers and ability to develop and mentor early career researchers
• Evidence of developing national or international collaborations
• Evidence of successful research leadership within interdisciplinary teams
• Evidence of research independence, including development of original scientific direction and leadership of collaborative research programmes
• Evidence of national and international recognition through invited presentations, collaborative leadership, editorial activity or other indicators appropriate to career stage
• Evidence of providing an outstanding educational experience, rooted in strong disciplinary knowledge that engages, challenges, and inspires our students

Attributes and Behaviour

• Demonstrates academic integrity and professionalism consistent with University values
• Collaborative and collegiate, with the ability to build effective relationships across disciplines and organisations
• Able to influence, lead, and contribute within a shared leadership model
• Proactive and self-directed, with the ability to take initiative and drive activity
• Commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and supportive working environment

Qualifications

• PhD (and/or equivalent research experience) in neuroscience, stem cell biology, neurodegeneration, bioengineering, translational biology or a related field

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.