Academic ConnectResearch Associate/Senior Research Associate
Research Associate/Senior Research Associate
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 experience in successfully designing, delivering and analysing micro-randomised trials (MRT) to join our team full-time for four years. You will join a philanthropically funded collaboration with King's College London (Dr Petr Slovak), the Smart Data Donation Service (Dr David Zendle), UK PSHE Association and industry partner One Sec. You will primarily be responsible for this project, with a specific focus on MRT/intervention design, data analysis, dissemination and communication.
This work is highly ambitious and innovative. There has been slow progress in understanding the impact of social media designs on youth. Co-created MRTs with young people will allow us to rapidly test the impact of different social media design interventions, positioning this research at the forefront of scientific innovation.
You will be supported in working alongside design experts to develop a MRT protocol where adolescents receive different social media design interventions while tracking outcomes of interest. You will lead a large-scale study across UK schools to implement this protocol (with support from the PSHE Association). Your analyses and dissemination will generate robust and policy relevant evidence about how specific social media design choices influence young people's mental health. The findings will inform future academic research, school lesson plans and recommendations for policymakers and regulators.
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: for example, by collaborating or engaging with policy, charity, or stakeholder organisations; by applying as appropriate for grants; by developing or maintaining open-source and/or community resources; by doing public outreach; and/or by advocating for improved research practices. We welcome applications from those seeking part-time work.
The post holder should be available to start before summer 2026 for a duration of 4 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.
We encourage applicants from backgrounds traditionally marginalised and/or under-represented in the field. Further, please do not be discouraged from applying if your current CV is not a perfect fit.
For the complete essential and desirable criteria please see the further particulars below
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
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
For candidates starting prior to 1st October 2026, you will be unable to start at Senior Research Associate level Grade 8 immediately and if appropriate will be recommended for Senior Research Associate level Grade 8 promotion at that point (1/10/2026), however this is not a guarantee as promotions will be assessed in the usual way.
Applicants must have (or be close to obtaining) a PhD.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant (Grade 5, Point 38 £34,610) moving to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon confirmation of your PhD award.
Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. The covering letter should outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.
Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.
Please quote reference SU48458 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
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.
Key information
Department/location
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
Salary
£37,694-£56,535
Reference
SU48458
Category
Date published
7 January 2026
Closing date
6 February 2026
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