Research Associate

College of MVLS

School of Health and Wellbeing

GRADE 7

Job Purpose

We have an exciting opportunity for a maternity cover Research Associate to make a leading contribution to Enhancing Policy Modelling, one of UKRI’s recently funded Population Health Improvement UK (PHI-UK) Themes. More specifically, the post will conduct causal epidemiological analyses to quantify the health impacts of economic determinants of health, particularly wealth, income, welfare benefits and education/skills and their societal distribution, using longitudinal (repeated measures) data.

You may also have a role in supporting evidence syntheses (such as systematic reviews) of similar research questions and to work with other Themes funded as part of the PHI-UK Network. Estimates of the health effects of wealth and other economic determinants will then be used for policy microsimulation modelling.

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the preparation of research publications, policy briefings, presentations to stakeholders, and research proposals, as well as help manage and shape this complex and challenging project as opportunities allow.

You will be based within the School of Health & Wellbeing and supervised by Prof. S Vittal Katikireddi.

For further information, please contact Professor Vittal Katikireddi Vittal.Katikireddi@glasgow.ac.uk

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1.   Take a leading role in the planning and conduct of assigned research individually or jointly in accordance with the project deliverables and project/group/School/College research strategy.

2.   Document research output including analysis and interpretation of all data, maintaining records and databases, drafting technical/progress reports and papers as appropriate.

3.   Establish and maintain your research profile and reputation and that of The University of Glasgow/ School/ Research Group, including establishing and sustaining a track record of independent and joint publications of international quality in high profile/quality refereed publications, enhancing the research impact in terms of economic/societal benefit, and gathering indicators of esteem.

4.   Survey the research literature and environment, understand the research challenges associated with the project & subject area, & develop/implement a suitable research strategy.

5.   Presentation of work at international and national conferences, at internal and external seminars, colloquia and workshops to develop and enhance our research profile.

6.   Take a leading role in the identification of potential funding sources and to assist in the development of proposals to secure funding from internal and external bodies to support future research.

7.  Take a leading role in developing and maintaining collaborations with colleagues across the research group/School/College/University and wider community (e.g. Academic and Industrial Partners).

8.   Take a leading role in team/group meetings/seminars/workshops and School research group activities to enhance the wider knowledge, outputs and culture of the School/College.

9.   Take the lead in the organisation, supervision, mentoring and training of undergraduate and/or postgraduate students and less experienced members of the project team to ensure their effective development.

10.  Perform administrative tasks related to the activities of the research group and School, including Budgets/Expenditure.

11.  Make a leading contribution to Teaching activities (e.g. demonstrating etc) and associated admin as assigned by the Head of School and in consultation with Principal Investigator.

12.  Keep up to date with current knowledge and recent advances in the field/discipline.

13.  Engage in personal, professional and career development, to enhance both specialist and transferable skills in accordance with desired career trajectory.

14.  Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the Head of School/Director of Research Institute.

15.  Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University Strategy.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Knowledge/Qualifications

Essential:

A1. Normally Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12 (PhD) or alternatively possess the equivalent in professional qualifications and experience, with experience of personal development in a similar or related role(s)

A2. SCQF Level 10 (Honours degree) in a relevant subject or a cognate discipline, or equivalent.

Skills

Essential:

C1. A comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of current issues and future research directions within health inequalities, social epidemiology and the economic determinants of health.

C2. Knowledge of causal epidemiology, including an understanding of g-methods (e.g. marginal structural models, g-computation) and econometric techniques (e.g. fixed-effects models, difference-in-differences).

C3. Experience in analysing longitudinal (repeated measures) data (e.g. Understanding Society, birth cohorts) and applying techniques to address attrition (e.g. inverse probability weighting) and missing data (e.g. multiple imputation).

C4.  Extensive IT and data analysis/interpretation skills, including ability to conduct advanced statistical analytical techniques using a relevant software package (e.g. R, Stata, SAS).

C5.  Effective verbal and written communications skills, especially communicating research to non-academic audiences including policy partners, media and communities.

C6. Sufficient depth of relevant research experience, normally including sufficient postdoctoral experience in a related field, appropriate to an early career researcher.

Desirable:

D1.  Experience conducting causal epidemiological analyses.

D2.  Experience conducting systematic reviews.

D3.  Previous experience in carrying out research on the economic determinants of health.

Experience

Essential:

E1.  Proven ability to deliver quality outputs in a timely and efficient manner.

E2. A track record of presentation and publication of research results in quality journals/conferences.

E3. Experience of successfully engaging with non-academic audiences to create research impact.

E4. Experience of making a leading contribution in academic activities.

E5. Ability to demonstrate a degree of independence as illustrated by identification of project objectives from assessment of the literature, design & analysis of experiments & drafting of papers.

E6. Experience in successfully contributing in the context of interdisciplinary research teams.

E7. Commitment to open research, as appropriate to the discipline, through open data, open code, open educational resources and practices that support replication.

E8. Proven commitment to supporting the career development of colleagues and to other forms of collegiality appropriate to the career stage.

Desirable:

F1. An emerging national or international reputation.

F2. Previous experience in conducting research on the social determinants of health and health inequalities.

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 7, £40,247 - £45,163 per annum.

This post is full-time and to cover maternity leave for up to 12 months or until the substantive postholder returns.

 Closing Date:12 March 2025 at 23:45