4-year (funded) PhD Demonstrator Studentship: Brain trajectories and psychotic-like experiences: uncovering neurodevelopmental pathways to risk.

Supervisory team:

Dr. Lucy Vanes, Lecturer in Neuroscience and Psychology 

Prof. Chiara Nosarti, Professor of Neurodevelopment and Mental Health

Project description:

The overarching aim of the project is to understand how early neurodevelopmental risk factors disrupt brain maturation and contribute to psychosis vulnerability across development.

Psychosis is increasingly understood as a neurodevelopmental condition, despite its typical onset in late adolescence or early adulthood. While much of the research in this area focuses on individuals after clinical symptoms emerge, studying developmental cohorts can reveal early risk factors and brain-based pathways shaping vulnerability long before illness onset. One established early risk factor for later psychosis is preterm birth. However, the brain-based and cognitive mechanisms that might explain this link remain poorly understood.

This PhD project will investigate how perinatal risk factors such as preterm birth shape developmental pathways associated with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs), using a developmental approach that spans childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. The student will leverage several existing large-scale, longitudinal neuroimaging datasets to examine how changes in brain connectivity over time may help explain the emergence of PLEs, and how these neural trajectories relate to cognitive features such as attention, executive function, or social processing. This will involve working with rich, pre-existing cohort data that allow for the exploration of individual differences in brain development and mental health outcomes across key developmental stages.

The project offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to understanding the early origins of psychosis, and to inform future strategies for early identification and prevention. The student will gain experience in longitudinal neuroimaging analysis (MRI), statistical modelling, programming, open-science reporting, and develop an in-depth understanding of the developmental origins of psychosis.

PhD Demonstrator’s role:

In addition to meeting the requirements of a PhD research student, demonstrators will be expected to spend a minimum of 144 hours per annum on education activities commensurate with the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) role (e.g., leading seminars and practicals, assessment of student work and giving feedback). These hours are calculated according to the tariff for GTAs teaching on the IoPPN Undergraduate Programmes, and include hours for preparation (e.g., to lead a seminar) and directly related compulsory professional development (e.g., training for assessment). PhD Demonstrators may do more than the minimum 144 hours per annum, and, indeed, are encouraged to do so if this fits with their professional development and career goals. Hours worked on education activities beyond 144 hours in an academic year are paid according to KCL’s standard rates for GTA teaching. We recommend that PhD Demonstrators spend up to 20% of their time each year on education activities and associated professional development. The specific content of these duties will be agreed at the start of each academic year with the Programme Directors and will reflect the needs of the undergraduate programmes, along with the expertise and development objectives of the PhD Demonstrator student.

Students applying for the PhD Demonstrator Studentship will also be assessed during interview on their teaching skills.