Research Fellow

Hours: Part Time (30 Hours per week)

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract up to March 2026

Background

Each year in England around 1000 infants and children die suddenly and unexpectedly, their deaths are subject to detailed multi-agency investigation by police, healthcare, social care and coroners. Most sudden infant deaths remain unexplained despite these investigations, and deaths are often classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 

This Research Fellow post is to support two projects on unexpected infant and child deaths. The first is a case-control study of SIDS, using data on SIDS cases from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) with control infants recruited from Birmingham families. The second is a study led by the University of Southampton looking to improve bereavement support for families after sudden infant and child death; University of Birmingham will be interviewing a range of professionals about their support for bereaved families. 

This Research Fellow post role will be to create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within these research projects.

Main Duties

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Develop research objectives and proposals for these research projects, with assistance of the Principal Investigator
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods 
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews 
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters 

Person Specification

• First degree in area of specialism and normally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications. Applications from clinicians (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals) with research experience are welcome
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively 
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr Joanna Garstang, email: j.garstang@bham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the above 'Apply' button.

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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