Research Assistant at University of Sussex

Hours: Part-time hours considered up to a maximum of 0.4 FTE.

Requests for flexible working options will be considered (subject to business need).

Hybrid working.

Location: Brighton, United Kingdom

Contract: fixed term until 26 August 2024.

Closing date: 20 August 2023.

Applications must be received by midnight of the closing date.

Expected Interview date: To be confirmed.

Expected start date: 1^st of September 2023.

The Centre for Cultures of Reproduction, Technologies and Health (CORTH) in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex invites applications for a fixed-term Research Assistant to work on an exciting MRC-funded project piloting a new approach to university and community partnership in public health.  

The project ‘Empowering communities through university partnerships in public health’ brings together two institutes of medicine – at Tribhuvan University in Nepal and the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines – and CORTH at the University of Sussex.

In many parts of the world, communities have had little voice in national public health initiatives. Health providers often take a top-down approach, ‘preaching’ to families about how they should live more healthy lives and ignoring their everyday realities. As part of our interdisciplinary team from education and public health, you will explore how universities can contribute directly to transforming attitudes towards marginalised communities.

Based at the University of Sussex, the Research Assistant (RA) will work closely with Professor Anna Robinson-Pant, the Principal Investigator, to support the research teams in the Philippines and Nepal. The RA role is to:

• develop methodological resources for the team, particularly in participatory action research and ethnography
• conduct literature reviews and documentary analysis
• support, monitor and document impact activities, as well as lead communication outputs
• contribute to the team’s academic outputs, including a synthesis report and guidelines for public health workers
• organise an international hybrid conference in Manila to share ongoing findings (including a short visit to UST)

Candidates are expected to have strong qualitative research skills, with expertise in ethnography and participatory research approaches and knowledge/experience in community learning and participatory research in the Global South. You should be interested in public health and community empowerment in an international context, including decolonising debates. You will need strong ICT skills and creative approaches to web-based/social media communication; an ability to critically review literature, synthesise and compare studies, to draft reports, blogs and other relevant outputs emerging from the analysis to a high standard.  You would be working closely with our international partners across education and health, requiring good interpersonal and communication skills.

Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact Professor Anna Robinson Pant (UEA/Sussex), the PI of the project (A.Robinson-Pant@uea.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.

For full details and how to apply please click the ‘Apply’ button.

The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates