Postdoctoral Research Associate/Fellow

College of Medicine & Health -The University of Exeter and Care Homes Knowledge (ExCHANGE) Collaboration

This part time (0.6FTE) post is available from 1 October on a fixed term basis until 31 July 2022.

Summary of the role

The College of Medicine and Health wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow to work on an exciting collaborative project in the area of residential care for older people. This fixed-term part-time (0.6 FTE) 10-month post, funded by Alzheimer's Society is available from 1 October  2021, or as soon as possible thereafter, until 31 July 2022 (months (with a possibility of continuation with further funding), and will be based in the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South West Peninsula (informally known as PenARC).

The ExCHANGE (The University of Exeter and Care Homes Knowledge Collaboration) project is a collaboration between the University of Exeter, PenARC, the South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN), and the Devon Care Homes Collaboration (DCHC) group, a group of over 50 independent care home providers committed to improving the lives of those living in their care. The funding provided by Alzheimer's Society and the Dunhill Medical Trust has enabled us to establish a collaboration between these organisations that focuses on the wellbeing and happiness of people living in care homes and to develop and test a creative model of engaging care practitioners and other stakeholders in research.

The successful applicant for this post will work with all partner organisations to promote research evidence-informed approaches to care home knowledge generation. They will help co-design and run the central activities of the project: workshops to provide people living and working in or visiting care homes with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to engage with research evidence and develop evidence-informed practice; workshops aimed at researchers wanting to understand how to engage people living and working in or visiting care homes in research evidence and practice; meetings for care home staff, residents, community stakeholders and researchers to generate research questions; and support secondments between care-home organisations and the University of Exeter. The role will involve organizing, promoting, and evaluating these activities as well as the contributing to the co-design of research projects on relevant topics. Other duties may include writing reports, briefing notes, and academic publications; developing further research objectives and proposals; and making presentations at conferences and other events.

About you

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or be nearing completion) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and possess sufficient specialist knowledge to co-develop and evaluate knowledge exchange events and research projects. You will be able to work collaboratively with others in a team environment.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role across both levels.

The University of Exeter is a Russell Group university in the top 200 of universities worldwide. We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, and have achieved a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2017. We have over 22,000 students and 4600 staff from 180 different countries and have been rated the WhatUni2017 International Student Choice. Our research focuses on some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today, with 98% of our research rated as being of international quality in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students.

What we can offer you

• Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines to produce internationally exciting research;
• Support teams that understand the University wide research and teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly
• An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development
• Our Exeter Academic initiative supporting high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career
• A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), Paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a new Fertility Treatment Policy
• A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon

Further information

Please contact Dr Iain Lang (e-mail [email protected] or telephone 01392 726087) or Dr Jo Day (e-mail [email protected] or telephone 01392 726089).

This role may be subject to additional background screening.

The College is proud to have a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment and impact to providing equality of opportunity and advancing the representation of women in STEM/M subjects.  Our Inspiring Stories tell you more about how we support our staff, including through a mentoring programme to help our staff learn from the professional and life experience of colleagues and explore opportunities and actions for career progression.