Research Associate or Assistant Action Research on Research Culture (Fixed Term)

Fixed term for 22 months from 1 May 2025 to 28 February 2027 

Want to figure out how to make academic research work better?

Do you enjoy combining research approaches?

Would you like to join a small multidisciplinary team working to understand and make a difference to research culture?

Research culture is the environment in which research happens. There are many challenges in academic research culture, and lots of work is happening to improve it. The Action Research on Research Culture (ARRC) project aims to help by understanding the recruitment, development, and retention of researchers (https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/research/research-projects/research-culture/). We are focussing on narrative CVs; the relationship between early career researchers and their PIs; and short-term research contracts. Our approach combines rigorous research with a drive to translate findings into change.

About the roles:

We are seeking to appoint researchers, who will be affiliated with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy and will be based in the Research Strategy Office. You will join a highly collaborative team. We want to expand our team of Research Associates and Research Assistants who have a mix of relevant research experience and come from a range of different disciplines. As part of this role, you will contribute to the implementation and evolution of the studies (the overall project structure is fixed); and develop plans for follow-on studies. There will be opportunities to collaborate nationally and internationally and present to policy makers and internationally.

Research Associates and Assistants would carry out the following activities. Research Associates (PhD or equivalent research experience) should be able to lead and carry out a range (but not all) of these, while Research Assistants should be able to support a range (but not all) of these:

*Carrying out / supporting quantitative research, for example: Bayesian statistics, programming in R, surveys, discrete choice experiments, and version control / Git *Carrying out / supporting qualitative research, for example: literature review, semi-structured interviews / focus groups, analysis in ATLAS.ti / NVivo or similar, and evaluation *Facilitating workshops *Supporting open research practices and reproducible analysis *Writing for academic and/or non-academic audiences

All applicants should have:

*Excellent organisation skills *The ability to manage your time and balance priorities to deliver results *Interests in research on research, organisational culture, human resources and employment data.

If you have any questions about this role, please contact Steven Wooding, Research Lead, sw131@cam.ac.uk. If you are selected for interview, we will contact you by 20 March 2025.

Applications are welcome from internal candidates who would like to apply for the role on the basis of a secondment from their current role in the University.

We welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part-time working or other flexible working arrangements.

We particularly welcome applications from women and /or candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department/institution/Faculty/School/University.

Click the 'Apply' button above to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Questions about the application process should be addressed to the Research Office Recruitment team at crorecruitment@admin.cam.ac.uk

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

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

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