Research Associate (Society and Mental Health)

Job id: 089905. Salary: £43,205 - £45,521per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 21 May 2024. Closing date: 04 June 2024.

Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Health Services & Population Research.

Contact details:Prof Craig Morgan. [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to appoint a skilled and experienced Research Associate with quantitative expertise and / or experience in mental health research to join our research team at the ESRC-funded Centre for Society and Mental Health (CSMH, www.kcl.ac.uk/csmh). The post-holder will primarily work across two projects: the REACH study (www.thereachstudy.com ) and the INTREPID programme (www.intrepidresearch.org/ ). They will be contribute to various aspects of these projects, including data management and analyses and public engagement and impact activities.  

REACH is investigating the developmental origins of mental health among young people from diverse backgrounds. REACH started in 2015 and is ongoing. Over 4000 young people from South London secondary school students have taken part, providing detailed information, each year, on their mental health and putative risk and protective factors for mental health problems. The latest wave of data collection (Wave 7) is in progress. INTREPID is investigating variations in all aspects of psychoses in three settings in the Global South. Data has been collected from individuals with and individuals without a psychotic disorder in each setting at baseline and two-year follow up. A six year follow up will begin this year, as part of the third phase of INTREPID. 

Working closely with the project leads, you will apply your quantitative data skills for to contribute to data management, sharing, and linkage (e.g., using Stata, Excel, and REDcap), data analyses (inc. conducting analyses and preparing data reports for the project leads, supporting others, and leading on analyses), and contributing to scientific papers (as lead and co-author). You will also be encouraged to define your own research interests within these projects, and propose analyses to examine these. 

You will also contribute to our expansive programme of public engagement and impact activities. 

The post provides an excellent opportunity to contribute to high impact research, and supports your continued career development through working across two landmark projects. You will be encouraged to make use of the wide range of training and career development resources available at King’s and within the CSMH and the department. You will have the opportunity to join the CSMH Early Career Researcher Network, which offers access to bespoke training opportunities.  

This post will be offered on a full-time, fixed term contract for 12 months.

• Contributing to the management and analyses of new and existing data, including developing independent lines of analysis
• Overseeing data management and data sharing protocols and procedures 
• Assisting with responding to time-sensitive and relevant issues that are at the forefront in the media and conduct basic statistical analyses quickly to inform a Centre/programme response 
• Preparing and presenting information on research projects to research leads, advisory boards, and funding bodies where required
• Managing and supporting data access requests from external researchers
• Contributing to the production of reports and research papers, and the dissemination of findings for the programme in collaboration with other researchers
• Contributing to the development, coordination and evaluation of public engagement and impact activities
• Attending and contributing to team meetings and research meetings
• Undertaking training relevant to the role, including data protection, and safeguarding, and if required in advanced STATA data management techniques and programming, multiple imputation, and inverse probability weighting
• Working independently to complete tasks within agreed timeframes
• Any other tasks relevant to the successful completion of the projects and programmes of research.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Essential criteria  

1.       PhD in an area related to mental health (e.g., epidemiology, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, social statistics) 

2.       Excellent working knowledge of Stata and / or other statistical software 

3.       Experience of data management protocols, processes, and systems 

4.       Experience of accurately and efficiently entering and cleaning research data  

5.       Experience of managing and analysing large, longitudinal and/or complex datasets 

6.       Effective communication skills (e.g., in presenting and disseminating findings to both academic and non-academic audiences) 

7.       Excellent understanding of data protection regulations and Information Governance procedures 

8.       Demonstrable understanding of the importance of data integrity in longitudinal/epidemiological research 

Desirablecriteria

1.   Good knowledge of statistical methods for epidemiological research  

2.   Experience of managing or mentoring junior researchers 

3.    Experience of preparing written reports and papers 

4.   Experience of work in an interdisciplinary and diverse team, including with young people, community partners, and people with lived experience 

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service clearance.