"Research Associate/Senior Research Associate (Fixed Term)"

University of Cambridge - MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit

Location: Cambridge

Salary: £37,694 to £59,966

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 8th January 2026

Closes: 6th February 2026

Job Ref: SU48449

The Digital Mental Health Group is one of the UK’s largest and most influential research teams investigating the impact of digital technologies on youth mental health, with the aim of improving outcomes for children and young people worldwide. We are known for our innovative and rigorous scientific outputs, as well as our direct provision of scientific advice to senior policymakers and politicians.

Overview:

We are seeking a post-doctoral research associate with a strong background in delivering high-quality research on social media use (or similar) and mental health or well-being, especially in adolescent or child populations, to join our team full-time for two years. You will be part of a Wellcome-funded collaboration with Born in Bradford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which will deliver a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) testing social media reduction across schools in Bradford, UK.

This work could not be timelier and more policy relevant, with interest already established across UK government and beyond. The study will likely test a social media daily limit and nighttime curfew in school students, feeding directly into policy decision-making. With exceptionally few social media interventions having been completed on healthy adolescent populations, this research will be at the forefront of scientific innovation.

You will work within an expert team (incl. epidemiologists, trial specialists, qualitative researchers, school involvement experts), bringing subject matter expertise about social media use in adolescence and its impacts on outcomes such as mental health. You will be responsible for situating the team’s work within pre-existing literature, as well as working with very senior policy partners across the UK to ensure it remains relevant to their decision-making. You will also be involved in designing the social media intervention and ensuring it is feasible and appropriate, while assisting in its delivery. This will require regular extended stays with our collaborators in Bradford.

You will gain valuable leadership experience alongside this work, supervising junior team members and being involved in exciting research and impact opportunities across our team. Additionally, you will be supported in complementing your core research in ways that interest you and benefit the group, as well as the wider academic community. We welcome applications from those seeking part-time work.

The post holder should be available to start in early 2026 for a duration of 2 years.

Note: We will interview for the role on the 4th of March 2026. There will likely be a longlist stage before interview. We can sponsor visas. We expect you to work in Cambridge a minimum 3 days a week, except when working in Bradford.

*For candidates starting prior to 1st October 2026, you will be unable to start at Grade 8 immediately and if appropriate will be recommended for Grade 8 promotion at that point (1/10/2026), however this is not a guarantee as promotions will be assessed in the usual way.*

For the complete essential and desirable criteria please see the further particulars by clicking the 'Apply' button above.

To ensure fairness we will not schedule individual meetings for candidates before an offer is made. If you have any questions about this role please send these to our Centre Manager (tania.smith@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk) by 23rd of January 2025, we will post each anonymised question submitted by this deadline and our answer to the following document by the 30th of January 2025: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yoJTO8KMKQlkqIQ5vkBTUyCjv9nh1GCLIZHGKJ6Z4ng/edit?usp=sharing