By joining the UK DRI you’ll belong to a team of world-class researchers, technical specialists and professional support staff passionate about accelerating the discovery, development and delivery of interventions that will help diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent dementia, directly benefitting people affected by dementia, their carers, families and the community.
We’re looking for brilliant people with diverse perspectives. Together our unique contributions will transform the range and pace of research on dementia. You’ll be supported by the very best tools and resources and join a culture that encourages high risk/reward science and sharing of ideas.
We are a vibrant, ambitious and interactive community. We offer opportunities at all career levels for scientists and support staff in our eight Centres across the UK, employed by their host university, as well as in our Core team, employed by UK DRI Ltd, with a Head Office in London supporting the national Institute.
We’re always interested in hearing from people as passionate about our mission as we are. To find out more about working at the UK DRI or our current opportunities, please see our vacancies page or contact us at recruitment@ukdri.ac.uk.
of over 1000 members
across the UK hosted at leading universities
Mission-led Institute
The UK DRI unites researchers across the UK behind a common mission: to transform, through research, the lives of people living with or at risk of dementias. Our 1,000 scientists work together towards one cause, in an ecosystem where research is complementary and coordinated. We work to break down siloes between research programmes and build bridges across disciplines and disease areas, to generate tangible impact for those affected and their families.
Our mission is to transform the lives of people affected by dementia through research
A UK-wide network of dementia researchers
When you join the UK DRI, you become part of a community of 1,000 experts in neurodegeneration, conducting pioneering research to discover, develop and deliver novel solutions for dementia. Based at eight dedicated Centres across the UK, our team includes world leaders working at the very cutting edge of fields including fluid biomarkers (Zetterberg), the role of amyloid (Hardy and De Strooper), genetics (Williams), data science (Escott-Price), Huntington's (Tabrizi), and many more.
At the UK DRI, scientific excellence is at the heart of everything we do. Our collaborative structure encourages the exchange of fresh ideas and novel partnerships across disciplines and disease areas. As a member of the UK DRI, you will be part of a rich, intensively interdisciplinary ecosystem of researchers, all working towards a common vision of healthy brain ageing for all.
Explore the UK DRI Labs
We have an extensive network of over 1000 members representing 75+ labs across the UK
Intramural funding schemes
As a member of the UK DRI, you will be eligible to apply to our multi-million-pound portfolio of intramural funding opportunities across a wide range of projects and disciplines and open to UK DRI researchers at all career stages. A few examples include, but are not limited to, our Pilots Award Programme which encourages Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to take the next step towards independence and consider new avenues of research, our Translational Award Programmes which kick-start promising ideas and projects that have the potential to transform the lives of those affected by dementia, and targeted funding opportunities to catalyse scientific collaboration across our geographically distributed UK DRI centres and thematic networks (e.g. Key Questions Programme).
Read Dr Emma Clayton's story of how pilot funding kickstarted her independent research career
Dr Emma Clayton, now a UK DRI Emerging Leader, was awarded pilot funding to kickstart her independent research career
Cutting-edge platforms and resources
At the UK DRI we are committed to facilitating the best possible science, by providing our researchers with access to state-of-the-art technologies and expertise. In addition to leading resources on offer from our host universities, our platforms and facilities offer cutting-edge tools and support to accelerate progress across our scientific programmes. These resources are shared across our eight Centres, to foster collaboration, enable innovative research approaches, and ensure that our scientists have the means to push the boundaries of dementia research.
- Biomarker Factory: A world-leading facility establishing novel, highly sensitive assays that can be used for the identification of new biomarkers. This will be truly transformational for our field and our race to cures for dementia.
- Proteomics Platform: Facilitating the investigation of proteins at unprecedented scale and detail to support fundamental research in neurodegeneration.
We also provide cross-Institute digital support, including shared Dropbox storage and Slack communities, to foster deeper collaboration and seamless working.
The UK DRI Biomarker Factory aims to transform the early detection, diagnosis and monitoring of dementia, by facilitating the development of fluid biomarkers for research and the clinic.
Communities and events
The UK DRI provides opportunities for researchers across the Institute to come together, creating new connections and enriching the UK DRI network.
Our Thematic Networks are designed to harness the diverse experience of our researchers and create rich avenues for knowledge exchange between our Centres. These networks bring together researchers who are interested in key topics, to address major scientific questions that remain in these areas. Several events take place throughout the year, to promote collaboration through the sharing of knowledge, ideas, resources, best practice and data.
There are plenty of other communities to get involved in across the UK DRI that celebrate the interests and individuality of our members. For ECRs and technologists, bespoke networks help create new communities and connections, and a dedicated day at our annual conference provides opportunities for networking, career development and specialist training.
Finally, every year the whole Institute comes together for a two-day conference, Connectome, packed full of exciting talks, poster sessions, and networking opportunities. Click here to view pictures from the most recent Connectome.
Our annual internal conference 'Connectome' brings together the UK DRI community
Training and career development
UK DRI Early Career Researchers
The UK DRI is deeply committed to fostering the career development of our Early Career Researchers (ECRs), offering a unique training and learning environment that provides ECRs with the right tools to excel in their roles, develop new skills and pursue their own career objectives within and beyond academia. We offer a broad range of training opportunities including in laboratory leadership, data informatics, translational research and grant writing, host several ECR networks across UK DRI’s thematic areas, and offer dedicated intramural funding opportunities to help ECRs take the next step in their careers. We also run a UK DRI Emerging Leaders Programme to support research fellows on their journey to independence by providing leadership training, intramural funding, dedicated career and mentoring support and opportunities to build strong research networks.
UK DRI Technologists
Technologists underpin the lab outputs of the UK DRI and are key to our success. We strive to enable technical staff working at the Institute, and support the four pillars of the Technician Commitment on visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability. We also run a Technologist Committee to get insight from the community and improve the visibility of this group, and have implemented an annual symposium and a travel grants scheme for technical staff.
The UK DRI hosts an annual ECR and Technologists Day at its annual Institute-wide conference, Connectome, which provides career workshops and cross-centre networking opportunities for the Institute’s 500+ ECRs and technologists.
ECRs from across the Institute regularly get together to learning about the latest research and make new collaborations
Core Team support
Researchers at the UK DRI are supported by a central Core Team, which provides professional services support and specialist expertise to researchers at all eight UK DRI Centres. This dedicated and experienced team coordinates resources and provides operational and strategic support and leadership to ensure the smooth running of the Institute.
The Core Team offers expertise in a range of areas including translation and innovation, grant funding, legal, communications, scientific affairs, and more. For more information, visit the Core Team page.
Current vacancies
Interested in joining the UK DRI? Take a look at our current opportunities on the vacancies page.
