"Research Assistant"

The Role

A 6-month fixed-term Research Assistant (RA) position is available in the Department of Psychology at Durham University. The post will be split across 2 projects on neurodiversity. The first project is the Triple-A project which is being led by PIs Professor Hanley and Professor Riby, and the post holder would work on this project for 3 days a week for 6 months (1st October 2025 - 31st March 2026). Triple-A is a programme of translation of research to impact in the area of neurodiversity and education. The post-holder would be involved in the evaluation of the Triple-A training programme for educators. This project is funded by the Durham University Research Impact Fund.

The second project focuses on neurodiversity, mental health and the criminal justice system (PIs Professor Walker & Professor Riby), and the post-holder would work on this project for 1.5 days per week for 2 months (1st October 2025 - 30 November 2025) and then 1 day per week for the remainder of the post (1st December 2025 - 31st March 2026). This project is all about capacity building in neurodiversity, mental health, and the criminal justice system, reviewing current resources and practices to feed into future work. Two core elements of this work are the completion of a local needs analysis focused on mental health support in the North East of England and liaising with Durham University Research Innovation Services on a gap analysis of mental health research in the institution. The project therefore involves working with a range of key stakeholders. This project is funded by the Durham University Seedcorn fund.

Together, these projects require the post holder to have an excellent understanding of neurodiversity, and a core theme of the work is the support of neurodivergent people within our society, whether that be within education or within the criminal justice system.