Research Associate
- Posted 30 April 2026
- Salary Grade 7: £41,064 - £46,049 per annum
- End date 25 May 2026
- LocationGlasgow
- Job Type Research and Teaching
- Reference198093
- Expiry 25 May 2026 23:45
Job description
Job Purpose
To make a leading contribution to The Beneficiaries to Citizens project working with Professor Paula Meth (in Urban Studies and Social Policy) and collaborators (details of the project can be found below). The successful candidate will also be expected to contribute to the formulation and submission of research publications and related research outputs, as opportunities allow, as well as help manage and deliver on the aims of this international collaborative project.
We are looking to recruit a candidate with existing research experience directly relevant to the key areas of the project (urban governance, citizenship, housing, comparative urbanism, and urbanism in the Global South). The candidate will become a member of the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy, but we are open to recruitment from a range of relevant disciplinary backgrounds.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Project Management and Coordination
1. Support the project administrator and PI in the planning and delivery of core project activities, including project team meetings, workshops, case study site visits, and stakeholder engagement and communication. Be willing and able to travel to case study sites throughout the lifespan of the job.
2. Support the project administrator in performing administrative tasks related to the activities of the research team and School, including managing budgets and expenditure, and booking events.
3. Have oversight of ethical procedures and their application across all study sites, ensuring effective submission, management, compliance, updating (where necessary), and storage of ethics documentation.
4. Lead the maintenance of records and processes of data collection, establishing databases in order to store data safely and ensure appropriate data anonymisation processes are conducted.
5. Take a leading role in developing and maintaining collaborations with colleagues across the project team and its wider community (e.g. academic and societal partners).
6. Support collaborators in the development of research assistants employed for this project, including their induction, methods training, fieldwork, and capacities for collaboration and professional growth. Support in the development of an online research assistant community across countries.
Knowledge Development and Dissemination
7. Survey the research literature and policy environment, understand the research challenges associated with the project & subject area, sourcing suitable academic material for publications and also organise regular project ‘book club’ meetings where discussion of this literature supports the development of the project team
8. Work collaboratively with the wider team to develop research outputs through: supporting the collection of data, analysis and interpretation of data, planning and delivery of online and in-person data analysis workshops; and co-writing of stakeholder reports and academic papers with members of the project team.
9. Work with the PI to lead the development of the project’s wider public profile via relevant social media outlets including LinkedIn and Instagram, and the timely upkeep of the project website. Use these to contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with University strategy.
Professional Development and Wider Roles
10. Establish and maintain your research profile and reputation and that of the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, through advancing a sustained track record of independent and joint publications of international quality, enhancing the research impact in terms of wider societal benefit, and gathering indicators of esteem.
11. Presentation of work at international and national conferences, at internal and external seminars, and workshops to develop and enhance our research and impact profile and to enhance the wider knowledge, outputs and culture of the School.
12. Where appropriate, take on the supervision and training of undergraduate and/or postgraduate students, and contribute as appropriate to other ad hoc teaching activities and associated administration, as may be assigned through the School in consultation with your line manager.
13. Engage in personal, professional and career development, to enhance both specialist and transferable skills in accordance with desired career trajectory.
14. Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by your line manager and the Head of School.
Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential:
A1 Normally Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12 (PhD) plus track record of emerging independence within a research/professional environment, or alternatively possess professional qualifications and experience equivalent to PhD level plus the requisite experience.
A2 A comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of current issues and future directions within the relevant research disciplines as outlined in the Job Purpose.
A3 Well-developed working knowledge of research methods, technical models, equipment and techniques relevant to the project/discipline as outlined in the Job Purpose.
Skills
Essential:
C1 Ability to communicate material of a specialist or highly technical nature and to be effective both orally and in writing at a level appropriate to the activity.
C2 Developing track record of research outputs compatible with enhancing the School’s research profile in accordance with School objectives.
C3 Proven commitment to supporting the career development of colleagues and to other forms of collegiality appropriate to the career stage, including some experience of research project supervision.
C4 Effective organisation skills to manage time, prioritise and deliver appropriate research, teaching and administrative responsibilities.
C5 Commitment to open research, as appropriate to the discipline, through open data, open code, open educational resources and practices that support replication.
Experience
Essential:
E1 Experience of making distinct contributions to identifying and pursuing research funding (or equivalent business development) applications.
E2 Experience of planning and progressing work activities within professional guidelines or organisational policy, applying initiative and independent judgement.
Desirable:
F1 Experience of participating in activities that translate research into impact to benefit the economy and wider society.
F2 Experience of contributing to the design and delivery of teaching and assessment in higher education or other relevant environments.
From Housing Beneficiaries to Urban Citizens? Governing state-supported housing for urban inclusion in the majority world
Our research addresses a challenge central to global commitments to providing adequate housing for all: ensuring the long-term sustainability of state-sponsored social housing projects. Across the world’s most rapidly-urbanising regions, these projects are unfolding quickly and at scale, but those people being rehoused often suffer lasting social disruption, sometimes compounded by physical decline of the housing they have moved into. We see urban citizenship as central to a solution: can residents be transformed from passive housing beneficiaries to proactive urban citizens, and thereby shape these projects' futures?
We focus empirically on residents’ experiences after resettlement, and conceptually on how their new housing changes their relationships with the state. Social housing is a potential pathway to both dignified living conditions and socio-political inclusion in cities: how is this pathway being envisaged by key actors, and why is it often disrupted in practice? Through comparative work across cities in India, China and South Africa, we will offer insights into how residents can be included within the governance of state-sponsored social housing, thereby allowing this housing to make a fuller contribution to addressing the linked challenges of a global housing crisis and sustainable urbanisation.
Our project examines housing projects as key sites through which state-citizen relationships are envisaged, enacted and contested through everyday practices of governance, and that these practices are an important component of housing projects’ wider success. It moves beyond the extensive research in the global South focusing on the moment of displacement itself, addressing instead how residents’ experiences evolve after being rehoused. Accordingly, its analytical lens is used to examine two arenas in which state-citizen relationships continue to be reshaped through the process of resettlement within housing projects: the expectations placed on residents as 'beneficiaries' of these projects, and their struggles for access to core services and wider social infrastructure. Finally, it will undertake context-rich international comparative work drawing on project team members’ deep familiarity with its four case study cities (Ahmedabad, Chengdu, Gauteng City Region and Mumbai), doing so to build theory of and from the Global South. It seeks to provide a deeper understanding of how active citizenship might reform housing delivery, informed by the contrasting experiences and understandings of urban governance present within the rich regional scholarship of South Africa, India and China.
The project will seek real-world impact by engaging with housing practitioners throughout the research process to facilitate meaningful critical (self-)reflection on current practice. Through one-to-one and workshop-based interaction, the project will facilitate international dialogue among practitioners, discuss how national framings may restrict debates on housing policy, and explore concrete interventions through which housing ‘beneficiaries’ can become active participants in integrating their neighbourhoods more fully within their cities. From Housing Beneficiaries to Urban Citizens therefore offers a unique opportunity to provide academic and practical insights into the global challenge of delivering housing for all in ways that are sustainable and empowering.
The project team is as follows:
Led by Paula Meth, University of Glasgow, the project will work in partnership with Co-Investigators Glyn Williams (University of Lund, Sweden), Sarah Charlton (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), Zheng Wang (Kings College, London), Darshini Mahadevia, (Ahmedabad University, India), Qinran Yang (Southwest Jiaotong University, China); Lalitha Kamath and Amite Bhide (Tata Institute of Social Sciences). Research assistants will be appointed in each of the four study contexts. The project starts in May 2026 and will run for 30 months, funded by the ESRC.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/research-projects/housing-urban-inclusion/
Informal enquiries should be directed to Professor Paula Meth, Paula.meth@glasgow.ac.uk
Terms and Conditions
Salary will be Grade 7, £41,064 - £46,049 per annum.
This post is full time and fixed term until 31 July 2028 in the first instance, with the possibility of extension.
The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.
Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.
As a valued member of our team, you can expect:
1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.
2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension - pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.
3 A flexible approach to working.
4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.
We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.
We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.
We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.
Closing date : 25 May 2026 @23:45