Research Assistant (Evidence and Evaluation – IMPACT)

Location: Stirling Campus

The Post

The Research Assistant will support the delivery of the UK Centre for implementing evidence in adult social care - Improving Adult Social Care Together (IMPACT). They will work closely with Professor Louise McCabe, Deputy Head of Evidence and Evaluation. This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting and innovative Implementation Centre funded by the ESRC and the Health Foundation to improve social care outcomes by implementing evidence-based practice in the sector across all four UK nations. The post holder’s core responsibilities will be with the review of evidence to support change; internal evaluation of the centre’s projects and support for national work in Scotland.

IMPACT is an ‘Implementation Centre’, drawing on knowledge gained from different types of research, the lived experience of people using services and their carers, and the practice knowledge of social care staff. Its aims are to enable practical improvements on the ground, and make a crucial contribution to longer-term cultural change, by:

• Supporting more widespread use of evidence in adult social care, leading to better care practices, systems and outcomes for people who use services, their families and communities;
• Building capacity and skills in the adult social care workforce to work with evidence of different kinds to innovate, improve care and deliver better outcomes;
• Facilitating sustainable and productive relationships between the full range of adult social care stakeholders to co-create positive change/innovations and improve outcomes for people using adult social care and their families;
• Improving understanding of the factors which help and hinder the implementation of evidence in practice, and using this to overcome longstanding barriers to positive change.

More information about IMPACT can be found here: more.bham.ac.uk/impact

IMPACT is led from the University of Birmingham, with multiple partners across the UK. Stirling is the lead Scottish HE partner and the role is located in Stirling alongside the Deputy Head of Evidence and Evaluation, Professor Louise McCabe. The role holder will report to Professor McCabe. Their role will also involve working with multiple staff across the UK who are delivering local projects and also with the central IMPACT team located at the University of Birmingham.

Description of Duties

• Supporting monitoring and evaluation activities across the Centre, in accordance with the Theory of Change and evaluation protocols
• Undertaking evidence reviews
• Promote equality and value diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture
• Ensuring quality of evidence assessment and translation for practice

Essential Criteria

• Educated to MSc level or above in a relevant discipline (or research and knowledge exchange experience to a demonstrated equivalent level)
• Experience of supporting original research and high-quality publications, including significant outputs of internationally excellent standing
• Experience of involvement in research projects with innovative impact

For further information, including a full description of duties, essential criteria and details on how to apply, please see Vacancy details | University of Stirling

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