Salary for this Role:
Laboratory Research Scientist: From £37,735 with benefits, subject to skills and experience.
Senior Laboratory Research Scientist: From £47,080 with benefits, subject to skills and experience.
Job Title:
(Senior) Laboratory Research Scientist
Reports to:
Petr Znamenskiy
Closing Date:
06/Sept/2026 23.59 GMT
Reporting to: Petr Znamenskiy, Group Leader
Contract term: This is a fixed term (36 months) position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.
About us
The Francis Crick Institute is Europe’s largest biomedical research institute under one roof. Our world-class scientists and staff collaborate on vital research to help prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, infectious diseases and neurodegenerative conditions.
The Crick is a place for collaboration, innovation and exploration across many disciplines. A space where the brightest minds can pursue big and bold ideas and discover answers to crucial scientific questions. We support them in a dynamic environment which fosters excellence with state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge facilities, and a creative and curious culture. We’ve removed traditional boundaries of departments, divisions and disciplines and instead have an open approach that supports every researcher. This gives us the freedom to take risks and carry out high-quality, pioneering research. Creating a space for discovery without boundaries helps us to turn our science into benefits for human health and the economy.
The Research Group
The Znamenskiy lab studies the relationship between in vivo function, synaptic organization, and molecular identity of cortical neurons. Using the primary visual cortex as a model, we aim to understand how connections between neuronal cell types are organized and how this organization enables the computations they perform. To achieve this, we combine systems and molecular neuroscience approaches and develop new tools to relate gene expression and connectivity to neuronal activity. Our current research focuses on how visual cortical circuits enable animals to interpret the three-dimensional structure of visual scenes.
Details of research projects currently being undertaken can be seen at www.znamlab.org
About the role
We are looking for a collaborative, individual to support the lab's spatial transcriptomics pipeline using a custom-built in situ sequencing platform, helping to link in vivo function, gene expression and connectivity of cortical neurons.
Individual cortical neurons receive thousands of synaptic inputs and send long-range projections that often broadcast output to multiple target structures. How these connectivity patterns relate to the molecular makeup of individual cells remains poorly understood. To address this question, we combine high-throughput reconstruction of neuronal connectivity using molecular barcodes with single-neuron gene expression analysis through in situ sequencing.
Using custom-built in situ sequencing platforms, we measure the expression of hundreds of genes in intact tissue sections alongside viral barcodes, which are used to reconstruct synaptic connections and map projection patterns of individual neurons.
We welcome applications from candidates at different stages of their scientific career so this would be an excellent opportunity for recent graduates. Appointment can be made at either Laboratory Research Scientist or Senior Laboratory Research Scientist level, commensurate with experience and achievements. All training will be provided in house.
What you will be doing
You will be:
Please see full job description here
About you
You will have:
Minimum criteria*
About Working at the Crick
Our values
Everyone who works at the Crick has a valuable role to play in advancing the Crick’s mission and shaping our culture.
At the Francis Crick Institute, we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to driving innovation and scientific discovery. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to succeed, regardless of their background, identity, or personal circumstances. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all genders, ethnicities, abilities, and experiences. We are a Disability Confident: Committed employer and want to ensure that everyone can apply and be part of our recruitment processes and so we'll make reasonable adjustments if you need them - just let us know when you apply. If you need assistance with applying (i.e., would like to apply by phone or post) please email: karen.au@crick.ac.uk
Find out more about life at the Crick.
What will you receive?
At the Francis Crick Institute, we value our team members and are proud to offer an extensive range of benefits to support their well-being and development:
Please note you must meet the essential criteria listed within the Role Profile, to have your application reviewed.
We reserve the right to withdraw this advert at any given time due to the number of applications received.
The Crick is a distinctive biomedical research institute. We’re committed to advancing, promoting, and sharing understanding of human health and disease. We do that by attracting talented and ambitious people from all disciplines and backgrounds and giving them the support and freedom they need to succeed.
Inside the Crick, you’ll discover scientists working to stretch the very limits of what we know about how life works. Their research holds the key to answering fundamental questions about human health and disease. Our bold and innovative research projects bring together scientists and technicians from all disciplines in the pursuit of discovery without boundaries.
With the support of our partners, we’re bridging the gap between discovery and application to help change lives for the better. And through our dynamic structure, we’re able to develop the science leaders of tomorrow.
That’s our bold idea, tell us yours.
Cover image taken at the Crick by Thomas Angus, Imperial College London.
