Research Fellow - Active Travel to School
The role
We are looking for a full-time researcher for a fixed term contract running until 31st March 2027. This post is for an embedded researcher who will be based at the University of Surrey (Environmental Psychology Research Group) and will work with, and for, the Surrey County Council (SCC) Safer Travel Team and the Surrey HDRC2 Team (Health Determinants Research Collaboration). The post’s focus will centre on a programme of work (please see accompanying details) consisting of separate projects that together share the aim of increasing Active Travel To School (ATTS1) amongst Surrey’s schools.
The programme of work will commence with supporting Phase Two of the “Understanding Effectiveness & Encouraging Excellence in School Travel Planning” project, following the successful completion of Phase One.
The programme of work will continue with the completion of a four-year longitudinal study that identifies school travel behaviours and their underlying motivations – the “SCC Annual School Travel Survey”. Other work includes further piloting of the STEP Tool (School Travel Effectiveness of Planning) developed in Phase One, the dissemination of findings from the SCC Annual School Travel Survey, and an exploratory audit of data collection across Surrey’s schools that employ “Hands Up Surveys” as a means of measuring changes in school travel.
About you
You must have a degree (MSc/PhD) and experience/interest in research focusing on understanding and changing behaviour. Experience in working in an applied research settings is highly desirable. Good communication and organisation skills are key, alongside adaptable project management skills. Skills and experience of working with quantitative survey data is important, and knowledge of qualitative methods an advantage.
You will be working with the SCC teams at Surrey to support the analysis of existing data, to develop and project manage additional research, to analyse new data, and to report and present findings to a wide audience. This work has already been presented at a national convention in 2025 and the ambition is to further disseminate findings via future conference and publication activity.
You will be based at the EPRG at Surrey but will work closely with SCC teams.
You will be working on the various project activities for a period running to 31st March 2027 (full time). Aligned with the programme of work and wider Local Government Reorganisation, the post will not continue beyond March 2027.
For further information please contact Birgitta Gatersleben: b.gatersleben@surrey.ac.uk
Links: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/promoting-active-school-travel
Further details
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