Research Assistant

About the role

We are recruiting a team of ambitious early career policy sociologists to contribute to a major new £1.5million UKRI/ESRC-funded project From the Centre to the Periphery – which addresses regional economic disparities within the UK, and specifically examining the role education can play to reduce deep-seated spatial divides.  

We will address this major policy challenge by carrying out the first quasi-experimental evaluation of the Opportunity Areas programme, a £100million national area-based initiative that sought to close gaps in social mobility between different regions and places of the UK. It was a long-term investment in areas of the country that have the most pronounced levels of deprivation and where social mobility is the lowest. Working with our local authority partners, the Department for Education and other third-sector organisations, our research will help to shape future area-based education and social policy.  

This advertised post relates to the Bath-based Research Assistant. Running concurrently in this recruitment round is a further Durham-based Research Associate post advertised separately by Durham University.

Those appointed to these posts will work directly with our interdisciplinary team of geographers, sociologists and educationalists, including Professor Michael Donnelly (Education, Bath), Professor Nadia Siddiqui (Education, Durham), Professor Richard Harris (Geography, Bristol), Dr Joanne Davies (Education, Bath), Dr Ceri Brown (Education, Bath), Professor Matt Dickson (IPR, Bath) and Professor Nick Pearce (IPR, Bath). 

The Bath-based Research Assistant will primarily be responsible for impact and knowledge exchange activities but will also contribute to some of the qualitative data collection and analysis. They will implement the knowledge exchange and impact strategy for the project, working with impact lead Dr Ceri Brown. This involves working with Dr Brown to engage key stakeholders, ensuring their knowledge is inputted into the project as well as key policy-learnings successfully impact policy and practice at national, regional and local levels. 

These posts represent an excellent opportunity for early career researchers wishing to develop an academic career in public policy research – those appointed will receive mentoring from the senior colleagues involved in the project to develop co-authored and sole-authored outputs in leading academic journals that are world-leading in quality. 

As a member of Research Staff at the University of Bath, you will be encouraged to take up a minimum of 10 days professional development pro rata per year

About you 

These posts represent an exciting opportunity for ambitious and enthusiastic early career researchers to join one of the largest studies ever to have been carried out into spatial inequalities in education and social mobility within the UK. We are looking for somebody who is passionate about the topic area, is confident at engaging with stakeholders and the wider public, has knowledge of effective knowledge exchange activity, and has strong qualitative research skills.

Further information

For informal discussions about the role please contact Professor Michael Donnelly on mpd35@bath.ac.uk or Dr Ceri Brown on clb27@bath.ac.uk

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