Research Fellows/Senior Research Fellow

University of Southampton - Population, Health & Wellbeing (PHeW)

Location:	Southampton
Salary:	£36,636 to £58,225 per annum
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 19th February 2026

Closes: 18th March 2026

Job Ref: 3343326WR

Be part of the world-renowned WorldPop Group at the University of Southampton, a global top 100 university (QS World Rankings 2021). WorldPop is an award winning, multi-sectoral team of researchers, technicians and project specialists working on producing data on population distributions and characteristics at high spatial resolution.

We are seeking to recruit a Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow to work on the development and implementation of methods for improving small area modelled human population estimates. The successful candidate is expected to have strong quantitative skills and experience of working with large gridded geospatial datasets. They will focus on designing approaches to process and utilise such datasets in population modelling and integrate them into WorldPop’s workflows to construct high resolution national, regional and global demographic estimates. They will explore, test and validate novel statistical and AI methods, working with partners from governments and UN agencies to big tech and satellite imagery companies. These may include derived datasets such as building footprints, geo-embeddings, or datasets derived from mobile phones and social media. Work will also involve exploration of urban characteristics and dynamics. The post holder will be expected to work within a team of researchers and partner organizations to contribute to the development and implementation of methods and impactful applications of the results.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to and lead projects from across the WorldPop portfolio. They will also lead and contribute to the preparation of high-quality publications and will also be supported to present outputs to stakeholders and at national and international conferences. Further, the individual will contribute to external engagement across the WorldPop group, providing opportunities to work with UN agencies, governments and researchers around the world.

The School of Geography and Environmental Science is committed to fostering a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates, and particularly encourage applications from candidates belonging to groups who are under-represented within academic posts at the University, including, but not limited to: people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, people who identify as LGBTQ+; people with disabilities and from poorer and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The University of Southampton offers excellent benefits including flexible working, a generous holiday allowance of 30 days, 6 additional university closure days plus public holidays. We will support your long-term future too, with access to a generous pension scheme with the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), subsidised health and fitness facilities and a range of employee discounts.

For a full list of the role tasks and responsibilities, please see the attached Job Description & Person Specification.

Informal enquiries may be made to Andrew Tatem (A.J.Tatem@soton.ac.uk).