Research Fellow or PDRA in Applied Statistics

We have an exciting opportunity to join a multi-disciplinary national team working on the Healthy Urban Places North (HUP- North) UKRI Population Health Improvement Research Cluster Network.

Our vision is to provide a step change in understanding how best to harness the power of local urban places as tools to improve population health and reduce inequalities. We are creating a transdisciplinary research programme that will elucidate how and why local environments influence population health, and directly influencing the implementation of place-based changes in two case study sites: Bradford and Liverpool. We are looking for someone who shares our exciting vision to join us in creating a ground-breaking research programme that will shape the lives of future generations.

You will be based within the Health Inequalities Policy Research Group ¿  

Our vision is to improve health and reduce inequalities through the study of the determinants of health and wellbeing and the policies that impact them.

We are seeking to appoint a researcher with expertise in analysing linked individual-level environment and health data, working with the team who are co-producing a longitudinal spatial dataset capturing features and characteristics of the environment, as well as their linkage with health data on non-communicable disease risk factors and health outcomes. The dataset will enrich existing `Born in Bradford¿, `Connected Bradford¿, and `Children Growing Up in Liverpool¿ cohorts with detailed spatial indicators (including community co-produced and crowd-sourced indicators) to allow nuanced analytical approaches exploring how places impact health. The researcher will collaborate with health researchers and the wider HUP-North team in the application of longitudinal spatial and health data in supporting novel place-based, policy-relevant epidemiological, interventional research and longer-term modelling.

We seek highly motivated individuals with a PhD or equivalent in data science, applied statistics, geography, epidemiology, public health or any other relevant area, and who has experience in analysing measures of the (built) environment and health data. Expertise in analysing large-scale longitudinal and spatial data using coding skills (in R) is essential. Pre-existing skills in using SQL are desirable. An aptitude to work with the wider team of data scientists who can manipulate the health and spatial data generated for large regional populations is essential. Following demonstrable progress in the development of the core research objectives, researchers will be invited to build a line of enquiry within the project to match the applicant¿s own area of interest.

To be appointed at Grade 8 Research Fellow, you will be expected to act as team leader, leading decisions, managing resources, mentoring colleagues, developing and implementing research programmes, and contributing to securing external funding.

For appointment at PDRA Grade 7: for those who are still awaiting their PhD to be awarded should be aware that if successful, they will be appointed at grade 6, spine point 30.  Upon written confirmation that they have been successful in being awarded their PhD, they will be moved onto grade 7, spine point 31 from the date of their award.

The appropriate grade will be discussed at interview depending on the criteria met and your experience.

The post is fixed term until 31 March 2028. 

The University has the right to close the vacancy early if it is deemed that there have been enough applications received 

Although the university has a hybrid working system, the expectation is that the successful applicant appointed to this role will be expected to work more than 50% on campus.