"Research Fellow - Centre Collaboration in Community Connectedness Project"

Queen’s Communities and Place (QCAP) is an AHSS Faculty flagship research initiative based in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work. It launched in November 2021, and supports the creation of research partnerships between world-leading academics and partner communities. QCAP focuses on a “placebased” approach, harnessing local expertise, insight, and academic expertise to create and test novel solutions to previously intractable problems. In addition to this, it provides the opportunity to work with other national and international partners, sharing knowledge and best practice and creating new, sustainable partnerships for the longer term.

QCAP is the Northern Ireland partner of the newly established Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness (C4). This ambitious new UK wide ESRC funded centre brings together partners from across the UK in research, community, policy and civil society to develop and scale up successful community leadership approaches. This post is an embedded research role, working on community-led research agendas with an emphasis on co-creation and lived experience supporting QCAP’s role within the project across the Belfast Catapult site and a co-ordinating role to four additional community co-investigator sites across the UK (Alloa, Brixton, Sheffield and Talgarth), to help ensure successful initiatives are captured and shared across the UK, and support the process of shared learning and development across the Centre’s community partners. C4 will find and share the most effective community action strategies, providing invaluable insights for both local and national policymaking, to help create equal opportunities wherever people live.

About the person:

Essential Criteria:

• Education and Qualifications: An upper second class honours degree (or equivalent) or a Masters degree in a social science or related discipline. Have or be about to obtain a PhD in a relevant subject.
• Experience: Relevant research experience working on a project that relates to areas of interest to the Centre, i.e. Communities, mental health and well being, social economy. Experience in advanced quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Good understanding of the key issues and challenges associated with engaging partners in the sector, maximising impact for research studies. Experience of communicating research to lay audiences.

To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information on our website.

This is a 4 year fixed term post. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.