Research Assistant/Associate - PEDAL centre (Fixed Term)

The Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge wishes to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated Research Associate to work on a programme of research focussed on the promotion of mental health in the first years of life. The research is funded by UK Research and Innovation through a fellowship award held by Dr Christine O'Farrelly.  The overall programme of work addresses key research questions relating to the promotion of young children's mental health. The goal of the research programme is to develop new intervention approaches that respond to the priorities and needs of families and the service contexts in which they are delivered. The research programme is grounded in the principles of participatory design and co-production approaches, working with and for families and practitioners. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with international researchers and NHS and third sector partners. 

 The role

• Contribute to a systematic review of literature exploring the effects of parenting interventions aiming to promote child mental health, including meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis.
• Assist in preparing materials for reporting and drafting papers for publication
• Disseminate findings to participant groups and engage in knowledge exchange with diverse audiences.

 The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following

• Applicants must hold at least a PhD (or be close to completion) in a relevant subject.
• Demonstrate experience in planning, developing, and delivering projects related to child development/early childhood mental health.
• Experience in completing literature reviews, ideally systematic reviews.
• Experience in leading and managing studies, ideally in applied settings or grant-funded projects.
• Conduct both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Assist in preparing materials for reporting and drafting papers for publication.
• Disseminate findings to participant groups and engage in knowledge exchange with diverse audiences.
• Ideally, have experience working with diverse stakeholder networks, including families, research collaborators, and health/education providers or third sector organisations.

For full details of criteria for appointment and duties of the post please see the Further Particulars for the post.

Benefits of working at the University of Cambridge include

• Competitive rates of pay with automatic service-related pay progression 
• Generous annual leave allowance;
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities;
• Generous maternity, adoption and shared parental leave entitlement and other family friendly schemes 
• An auto-enrolment pension scheme, with a generous employer contribution;
• Travel benefits and retail discounts at over 2,000 local and national stores;
• Opportunities for intellectual autonomy and creativity.
• Support in undertaking training and professional development to support career progression.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available from until 31 March 2026 in the first instance. 

Interviews to be held on the 22 July 2024

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. If you have any questions about the application process please contact the Faculty of Education HR team (recruitment@educ.cam.ac.uk)

Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Advert information