Research Associate for the Modern Energy Cooking Services Programme

School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Full time, fixed term to March 31st 2026

Hybrid: 60% in the office, 40% working from home.

Join us and be part of a vibrant community at Loughborough University. 

Here’s more about the role and what we’re looking for:

The Modern Energy Cooking Services (MECS) Programme is seeking experienced researchers to join their team.  MECS is a 39.8 million programme funded by UK Aid through the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, led by Loughborough University.  The Research Associates will support the delivery of the MECS programme, working closely with MECS in-country partners, articulating headline research findings to a range of stakeholders, and leading on research uptake. Travel overseas to work with partners is expected.

We are looking for researchers with skills and experience in at least one of the following thematic areas: (in alphabetical order)

• Consumer habits
• Energy policy and governance
• Energy systems modelling (on and off-grid)
• Finance (e.g. climate and carbon finance, RBF, multilaterals)
• Finance (e.g. saving and credit behaviour, intra household decision making)
• Gender and inclusion
• Humanitarian and displacement settings
• Integrated energy planning
• Supply chain and logistics (global movement and local assembly and manufacturing)
• Urban studies

Key Requirements:

• Background in a relevant field (from list of thematic areas given)
• Experience of building and maintaining relationships with government/industry/civil society/communities
• Authoring original work for academic journal papers, conference papers or technical reports
• Excellent knowledge of quantitative and/or qualitative research approaches (data collection and analysis)
• Self-motivated with ability to meet deadlines and manage own workload
• PhD (or near completion) in a relevant field

If this role sound of interest, we’d love to hear from you.

Informal enquiries about the posts should be made by email to Dr Louise Medland ([email protected] ).

For more information refer to theJob Description and Person Specification.

Additional information on the Modern Energy Cooking Services Programme is available here: https://mecs.org.uk/

Closing Date:  25/02/2024

Interview Date: week commencing 26th March 2024

Our Benefits

• Generous annual leave allowance up to 44 days (inclusive of Bank Holidays & University closure days)
• Competitive pension schemes
• A range of childcare support initiatives and benefits including childcare vouchers; on-site university nursery (with salary sacrifice scheme); and holiday play schemes.
• We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies.
• BUPA Cash Plan (100 scheme)
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Season ticket loan scheme
• On campus parking with charging points for electric vehicles
• Fantastic range of sports facilities and preferential membership packages available

• Fantastic CPD, Linkedin learning and inclusive resources for development

Visa Sponsorship:

For candidates who would require sponsorship to work in the UK to achieve sufficient points under the Points Based Immigration System, it is likely that you will either need to:

 
• Have completed a PhD in a subject relevant to the job.
OR
• Qualify as a “new entrant”. For more information on this please see paragraphs SW 12.1 - SW 12.7 of the Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker.