Postdoctoral Research Fellow

University of Essex - Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing

Location: Colchester

Salary: £38,249 (pro-rata for part-time)

Hours: Part Time

Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 9th September 2025

Closes: 29th September 2025

Job Ref: REQ9530

The Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing (IPHW) is leading impactful research in public health and wellbeing for the University of Essex. The IPHW advances the University’s mission of excellence in education and research, for the benefit of individuals, communities, and society.

The IPHW is an international centre of excellence, bringing together research strengths across all University faculties, driving forward health- and wellbeing-focused research collaborations and developing strategic partnerships with regional, national, and international organisations.

Duties of the Role: We wish to appoint a Research Fellow (part-time) to undertake world class research and development work to support the NIHR-funded programme of work on tackling loneliness and social isolation among young adults in coastal communities ensuring young LGBT and ethnic minority needs are addressed equally.

The ideal candidate will have a critical role in supporting the quantitative research components of the programme of applied mental health research as well as developing applied solutions, implementation and evaluation. During Years 1-2, this will involve working with Understanding Society data to examine the association between mental health and loneliness among young adults living in coastal areas. In Years 3-5 the role will involve working with the team to design applied solutions, designing and evaluating interventions. We invite applicants with strengths in quantitative analysis and working with large datasets.

The new Research Fellow will work alongside a team of applied mental health researchers including the programme leader (Professor in Mental Health Research), a qualitative research fellow, a PPIE co-ordinator, 3 PhD students and 6 DClinPsych trainees.

Skills and qualifications required: Applicants are required to have a relevant doctoral level degree or equivalent professional experience or be close to completion of PhD in a field relevant to mental health. Postdoctoral research experience ideally in areas of applied mental health or quantitative public health, along with Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy or the ability to gain professional recognition at this or a higher level if appropriate are desirable.

The successful candidate will have a publication record appropriate for their experience and will be able to demonstrate evidence of potential to develop an internationally leading profile in the field.

This is a fixed-term, part-time post (0.5FTE) working 18 hours per week. Please note that the successful candidate will be appointed to the post of Senior Research Officer.