King's College London
Lecturer in Developmental Psychopathology (maternity cover)
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About us
This is an exciting opportunity for a Lecturer to join us to contribute to the postgraduate educational programme at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (IoPPN, KCL). This is a full time, fixed-term post (12 months) within the SGDP Centre, at Denmark Hill Campus.
King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place. The Strategic Vision 2029 looks forward to King’s College London’s 200th anniversary in 2029 and sets out ambitious plans in five key areas:
- Educating the next generation of change-makers
- Challenging ideas and driving change through research
- Giving back to society through meaningful service
- Working with our local communities in London
- Fostering global citizens with an international perspective
The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a Faculty of King's College London and the largest academic community in Europe devoted to the study and prevention of mental illness and brain disease. This post will be based at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre, an interdisciplinary research centre investigating the interplay between genetics ('nature') and the environment ('nurture') in the development of psychiatric disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions and individual differences across the lifespan. SGDP scientists lead some of the UK’s foremost longitudinal cohorts and twin studies of both population based samples and disorder based cohorts. Our collaborative research and training spans behavioural, molecular, and statistical genetics, experimental psychology and psychiatry, and neuroimaging.
About the role
This is an exciting opportunity for a Lecturer to join us to contribute to the postgraduate educational programme at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry (SGDP) Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London (IoPPN, KCL). The appointment will be made on the Academic Education Pathway, where the primary contribution is to education (80% of role) and only secondary contribution to research (20%). We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated colleague who can make a distinctive contribution to education and link with collaborative high-quality research. We are particularly interested in recruiting someone with a background in developmental psychology/psychopathology, with a current programme of pedagogical research activity. You should have excellent teaching and communication skills and be able to inspire and inform students.
Education and training of the next generation of scientists is a priority at the SGDP Centre. As post holder, you will provide educational leadership on our MSc in Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology. This would include programme and/or module leadership, course delivery, assessment, research project supervision, and personal tutor roles. You may also support other undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses within the School and Faculty, for example with project supervision. You should be able to demonstrate suitable teaching skills and experience including curriculum development and assessment design, along with an ability to supervise student research dissertations.
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You should have an area of research in either a pedagogical area or one that complements the existing interdisciplinary research in the SGDP Centre, ideally with a focus on developmental psychopathology, on the role of social risk factors, or with a life-course perspective on mental health. Our expertise includes developmental psychology, epidemiology, behavioural genetics, statistical genetics, lifespan approaches, digital phenotyping and the integration of administrative and biomarker data. Inter-disciplinary research collaboration with existing SGDP Centre research programmes will be encouraged. The SGDP is home to a wide array of longitudinal cohorts and twin studies of both population based samples and disorder based cohorts. We encourage open science practices in data, software and publishing.
We are deeply committed to embedding good equality and diversity practice into all our activities so that the university is an inclusive, welcoming and inspiring place to work and study. The SGDP Centre strives to be an open and supportive community, with a strong emphasis on working practices that promote diversity and inclusion, including an anti-racism working group.
- SGDP Centre webpage: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/mental-health-and-psychological-sciences/about/departments/social-genetic-and-developmental-psychiatry
- MSc in Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/courses/developmental-psychology-psychopathology-msc
This is a full time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a maternity cover contract from December 2026 for 1 year, or until the substantive postholder returns.
About you
Essential criteria
- PhD in an area relevant to the SGDP Centre and to the MSc programme in Developmental Psychology and Psychopathology.
- Experience of designing and delivering excellent teaching and assessment for postgraduate and/or undergraduate students, in person and/or online.
- Ability to supervise postgraduate taught and undergraduate research projects.
- Track-record of excellent scientific research, as evidenced by peer reviewed publications.
- Evidence of high self-motivation and ability to organize, plan and prioritize workload.
- Commitment to fair, accountable, consistent and transparent (FACT) practices in research, teaching, supervision and leadership, supporting the participation and success of people from all backgrounds.
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Desirable criteria
- Fellow (or higher) of the Higher Education Academy (or equivalent).
- Background and/or current programme of pedagogical research.
- Experience of providing pastoral support and guidance to postgraduate and undergraduate students.
- Ability to contribute to the Department’s teaching strategy.
Further information
At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.
The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.
We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination. When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicant’s own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment.
We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.
We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
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