UCB Posted October 13, 2026

VIE Scientist / Associate Scientist in Neurodegeneration projects

Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium OTHER
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About this opportunity

Make your mark for patients

UCB is an international biopharmaceutical company primarily engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical and biotechnological products. It specializes in researching therapeutic solutions for patients suffering from severe diseases, treated by specialists, particularly in the fields of the central nervous system (including epilepsy) and inflammation (including allergies).

The Braine-l'Alleud site specializes in chemical synthesis, development, manufacturing, and packaging of pharmaceutical products.

More information at: www.ucb.com

Description of the role 

•         Under the supervision of project leaders and senior scientists, support the development and implementation of cellular and biochemical assays for therapeutic projects in the neurodegeneration field.

•         Independently perform routine laboratory tasks and conduct a variety of experiments including, but not restricted to, mammalian cell cultures (cell lines and primary neurons), immunocytochemistry, protein and RNA extraction, (capillary) Western blot, qPCR, ELISA, FRET and luciferase assays.

•         Accurately document and report experiments in electronic lab notebook.

•         Present data clearly and concisely during internal meetings.

•         Join a dynamic, international and cross-functional team environment. This is a unique opportunity to engage in exciting science with cutting edge technologies while supporting therapeutic projects in a biopharmaceutical industry setting.

Candidate

•         Master’s degree in cell and molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry or related field with 2+ years of working experience in an academic lab or in the industry or, alternatively, recently graduated PhD in the same subjects.

•         Experience in manipulation of mammalian cell cultures, immunocytochemistry, microscopy, image analysis, (capillary) Western blot, qPCR, ELISA.

•         Experience in mouse primary neuron cultures and/or human iPSC-derived neurons are considered strong plus.

•         Ability to analyze large-scale protein and RNA expression datasets using computational tools and statistical methods is considered a plus.

•         Ability to quickly learn new techniques when required.

•         Fluent written and spoken English is a must; French is desirable, but not required.

Please note that this program is in partnership with Business France, and we follow the prerequisites required by Business France to carry out a VIE assignment. The main participation prerequisites are as follows:

Be between 18 and 28 years old;

Hold the nationality of a member country of the European Economic Area;

Have not worked or lived in the country where the mission will take place;

Be available to dedicate yourself to the mission full-time;

If you have French nationality or dual nationality, be in compliance with the national service obligations of France (Numéro Identifiant Défense);

Have a clean criminal record.

If you do not meet all these conditions, we will not be able to consider your application.

Job details

Seniority
Associate
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium
Employment type
OTHER

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 180 comparable Associate Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 39 biopharma companies.

180Comparable roles tracked
161Currently active
39Companies hiring similar roles
18Countries represented

Salary context

64 of 180 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Lab Associate Flow Cytometry · IQVIA $34,700/yr – $72,300/yr
Highest disclosed · Advisor - Isotopic Chemistry · Lilly $153,000/yr – $246,400/yr
Peer group range $53,500 – $199,700 (median $90,200)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 180 comparable roles

United States119
France13
Germany11
United Kingdom6
Belgium6
Switzerland4

+ 12 more countries

Seniority mix

180 of 180 peers have a known seniority level

Intern/Fellow/Postdoc83
Associate73
Manager24

Therapeutic area mix

16 of 180 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology8
Neuroscience4
Immunology2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

Similar opportunities

The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

60%similar
UCB Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
UCB Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Johnson & Johnson Beerse, Belgium Associate
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
Johnson & Johnson Beerse, Belgium Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Johnson & Johnson Beerse, Belgium Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
UCB Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research job in Belgium, and choose locations and companies.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
VIE Associate Scientist
UCB · Braine L'alleud, Walloon Brabant, Belgium · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
Postdoctoral Scientist – Multimodal Representation Learning for Predictive Biology - BE
Johnson & Johnson · Beerse, Belgium · Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
45%
Research Associate in-vivo Pharmacology in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases - Temporary Position for 2 years
Roche · Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
45%
Associate Scientist Discovery Proteomics
Amgen Inc. · South San Francisco, United States · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.