Research Fellow in Sustainable Food Systems

The University of Surrey is a global community of ideas and people, dedicated to life-changing education and research. 

We are ambitious and have a bold vision of what we want to achieve - shaping ourselves into one of the best universities in the world, which we are achieving through the talents and endeavour of every employee.  

Our culture empowers people to achieve this aim and to collectively, and individually, make a real difference.  

The role

UKRI-funded Project: Vertical Farming to Improve UK Food System Resilience (VF-UKFSR)

We invite applications for a Research Fellow to join a multi-disciplinary team working on the project Vertical Farming to Improve UK Food System Resilience (VF-UKFSR) (fixed term contract upto 26 months). This project has recently secured £1.4 million in funding through the UKRI call on sustainable food systems and will explore whether vertical farming can play a key role in improving and safeguarding the UK’s food system. The project focuses on how vertical farming can provide local, diverse, and culturally appropriate food, leveraging its potential to grow a wide variety of crops.

This is an exciting opportunity for a successful candidate to contribute to studying public perceptions and understandings of vertical farming and to explore the social conditions necessary for its successful adoption.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct research on lay people’s perceptions of vertical farming.
• Contribute to identifying the social conditions necessary for the successful adoption of vertical farming.
• Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team of scientists from fields including social psychology, environmental science, and complexity science, as well as partners from the non-academic sector.

Essential Requirements:

• A doctorate degree in a relevant social science discipline, such as social psychology, sociology, or food consumer science.
• A developing profile of high-quality publications.
• Strong skills in literature review, synthesis, and analytical methods.
• Expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Excellent knowledge of statistics and quantitative analysis.
• Experience working in complex, multi-disciplinary teams is desirable.

The successful candidate will be based at the Food, Consumer Behaviour, and Health Research Centre (FCBH), within the School of Psychology at the University of Surrey. The Centre has been recognised with the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its excellence in food and nutrition research.

The University of Surrey is a global university with a world-class research profile and a strong spirit of enterprise. In addition to the salary, the post offers a generous annual leave entitlement, excellent development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package, including pension and family-friendly policies.

How to apply

Please apply with a CV and cover letter by clicking the 'Apply' button, above.

For informal inquiries, please contact:

Dr. Lada Timotijevic, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Psychological Science, at l.timotijevic@surrey.ac.uk.

Further details

For more information and to apply online, please download the further details and click on the 'apply' button above.
 
In return we offer a generous pension, relocation assistance where appropriate , flexible working options including job share and blended home/campus working locations (dependent on work duties), access to world-class leisure facilities on campus, a range of travel schemes and supportive family friendly benefits including an excellent on-site nursery.

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.

The University of Surrey is committed to providing an inclusive environment that offers equal opportunities for all.

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