Research Associate at University of Birmingham

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to December 2024

Please note: We are advertising for both a Research Associate and a Research Fellow, however there is only 1 post available

Background

We are seeking to appoint a part-time Research Associate (60% FTE) to support delivery of a study led by the University of Bristol and funded by the National Institute for Health Research School of Public Health Research. The study is centred around developing best practice guidance for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. It will involve qualitative data collection and analysis. The post holder will work as part of a diverse interdisciplinary academic team and with colleagues from other academic institutions (University of Bristol, Durham University). They will be responsible for supporting the day to day delivery of the study at the University of Birmingham. The post holder will be supported to use qualitative methodological and analytical techniques, and acquire key skills in qualitative data collection, academic writing and reporting, and public engagement and impact in research.

Role Summary

• Day-to-day delivery including supporting study governance, and processes related to a qualitative study
• Contribute to the development of methods and materials e.g. topic guides, information sheets, analysis plans
• Recruiting Local Authority staff, holiday club providers and child and parent participants and national policy makers and leads for HAF
• Qualitative data collection with these groups (interviews, focus groups and participatory approaches including workshops and use of creative/visual methods)
• Support data collection for economic evaluation via survey to HAF commissioners 
• Support the delivery of co-production elements of the study including creative facilitation workshops to develop best practice guidance 
• Qualitative data analysis, including analysis of visual data 
• Training and supervising casual staff to support data collection
• Reporting to the local team (colleagues at UoB), wider team (colleagues at University of Bristol and Durham University) and collaborators on progress against study objectives
• Preparing presentations, reports, and dissemination materials including papers for publication 
• Contributing to writing further research proposals 
• Support regular communication with public, practice, and external partners

Person Specification

• Degree or equivalent in relevant field 
• Experience of carrying out research with children and parents
• Experience in population health-related behavioural, social sciences and/or education research
• Practical experience of qualitative data collection with study participants
• Practical experience of managing and analysing qualitative data
• An understanding of quantitative methods
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly to a variety of audiences, including children, parents and professionals from other disciplines (e.g. teachers)
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively 
• Ability to co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Ability to produce high quality presentations and written reports
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly

Informal enquires can be made to Marie Murphy, m.murphy.3@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the ‘Apply’ button.