Research Associate
- Posted 15 May 2026
- Salary GRADE 7, £41,064-£46,049 per annum
- LocationGlasgow
- Job Type Research and Teaching
- Reference199473
- Expiry 04 Jun 2026 23:45
Job description
Job Purpose
You will make a leading contribution to the NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Glasgow and the NIHR Public Health Responsive Studies Team, PHIRST Fusion. The two projects sit within a growing programme of research at the University of Glasgow’s School of Health and Wellbeing that aims to strengthen the use of evidence by local authorities to improve health and reduce inequalities.
The HDRC’s aim is to achieve a cultural shift in Glasgow City Council towards evidence-informed decision-making in all areas of policy and practice that may have an influence on health inequalities and outcomes You will be expected to work with colleagues in the City Council, other key partner and community organisations and members of the public on delivering and refining a shared vision and work plan for the HDRC. This will include the scoping, design and adoption of research and evaluation projects of importance to the Council and the support and delivery of key stages of research, including evaluability assessment, research design, data collection and analysis. This will be an evolving portfolio of research projects embedded within the Council and will include applications for further grant funding to expand the portfolio.
PHIRST Fusion is a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Northumbria, Newcastle, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Queens University Belfast and Glasgow Caledonian University: https://phirst.nihr.ac.uk/about-phirst/phirst-fusion/. It is one of ten PHIRST teams that conduct evaluations of interventions proposed by local authorities and screened for eligibility by NIHR. You will have experience of evaluation research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and of working closely with stakeholders. You will design, conduct and report evaluations in ways that are useful for local authority decision making, while also being scientifically rigorous.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. Take a leading role in the planning and conduct of assigned research individually or jointly in accordance with the project deliverables, project/group/School/College research strategy and the project adoption processes used by the Glasgow HDRC and PHIRST Fusion.
2. Document research output including analysis and interpretation of all data, maintaining records and databases, drafting technical/progress reports and papers as appropriate.
3. Establish and maintain your research profile and reputation and that of The University of Glasgow/ School/ Research Group, including establishing and sustaining a track record of independent and joint publications of international quality in high profile/quality refereed publications, enhancing the research impact in terms of economic/societal benefit, and gathering indicators of esteem.
4. Survey the research literature and environment, understand the research challenges associated with the project & subject area, & develop/implement a suitable research strategy.
5. Presentation of work at international and national conferences, at internal and external seminars, colloquia and workshops to develop and enhance our research profile.
6. Take a leading role in the identification of potential funding sources and to assist in the development of proposals to secure funding from internal and external bodies to support future research within Glasgow HDRC and PHIRST Fusion.
7. Take a leading role in developing and maintaining good working relationships with HDRC colleagues in the Council, PHIRST Fusion partners and other collaborating organisations and research partners including members of the public.
8. Take a leading role in Glasgow HDRC and PHIRST Fusion meetings/seminars/workshops and School research group activities to enhance the wider knowledge, outputs and culture of the School/College.
9. Take the lead in the organisation, supervision, mentoring and training of undergraduate and/or postgraduate students and less experienced members of the project team to ensure their effective development.
10. Perform administrative tasks related to the activities of the HDRC, PHIRST Fusion, research group and School, including Budgets/Expenditure.
11. Make a leading contribution to Teaching activities (e.g. demonstrating etc) and associated admin as assigned by the Head of School and in consultation with Principal Investigator.
12. Keep up to date with current knowledge and recent advances in the field/discipline.
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 the Head of School/Director of Research Institute.
15. Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University Strategy.
Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills & Experience
Knowledge, Qualifications
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.
Skills
Essential:
C1 An interest in health or public health and comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of the wider subject area or subject specialism (e.g. public health, social sciences)
C2 Knowledge of qualitative or quantitative research methods
C3 Skills in using specialist qualitative and/or quantitative analysis software (e.g. NVIVO, R)
C4 Theoretical and practical knowledge related to co-production and/or evaluation of interventions and/or policies
C5 Commitment to open research, as appropriate to the discipline, through open data, open code, open educational resources, and practices that support replication.
Desirable
D1 Commitment to the high quality application of a range of research methods to a portfolio of population health challenges
D2 Specialist knowledge of systems mapping approaches (e.g. soft systems methodology, participatory systems mapping, group model building or similar)
D3 Knowledge of mixed methods research
Experience
Essential:
E1 Sufficient depth of relevant research experience, normally including sufficient postdoctoral experience in a related field, appropriate to an early career researcher.
E2 Experience of evaluability assessments or similar stakeholder engagement research processes
E3 Proven ability to deliver quality outputs in a timely and efficient manner
E4 A track record of presentation and publication of research results in quality publications/conferences
E5 Experience of making a leading contribution in academic activities
E6 Ability to demonstrate a degree of independence as illustrated by identification of project objectives from assessment of the literature, design & analysis of experiments & drafting of papers.
E7 Experience in undertaking independent research
E8 Proven commitment to supporting the career development of colleagues and to other forms of collegiality appropriate to the career stage.
Desirable
G1 Experience of applying for ethical and information governance approvals
G2 Experience of applying for research grant funding
Further information:
We have funding for one full-time equivalent post and flexible working hour candidates (part-time or job share) are encouraged to apply. The initial duration of the posts will be to 31/12/2029 with a high probability of further extension dependent upon additional grant funding.
NIHR HDRC Glasgow is a six-year award through to December 2029, which commenced its first full year of operation in 2025 following a development year (2024). The NIHR HDRC Glasgow is led by Glasgow City Council in a collaboration with the University and the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board. Laurence Moore is Deputy Director of the HDRC and Peter Craig co-leads the Research-Policy Integration workstream in which this post is principally based.
NIHR PHIRST Fusion has been operation since 2020 and is now in its second period of funding. It is currently funded for five years up until August 2030 and is expected to conduct up to ten evaluation studies in that time. Each study will focus on an intervention proposed by a local authority (which may be anywhere in the UK) and screened by NIHR before being assigned to one of the PHIRST teams. Peter Craig co-leads the team with Peter Van der Graaf of Northumbria University. Within PHIRST Fusion, one partner will lead each evaluation, aiming for an even distribution of work over the funding period. PHIRST Fusion researchers are supported by a project manager, administrator, knowledge exchange specialist and an embedded researcher from the local authority for each evaluation
Informal Enquiries should be directed to Professor Laurence Moore, Laurence.Moore@glasgow.ac.uk or Professor Peter Craig Peter.Craig@glasgow.ac.uk.
The interview date will be 16th June 2026.
Terms and Conditions
Salary will be Grade 7, £41,064 - £46,049 per annum.
This post is full time (35 hours per week) and has funding until 31 December 2029.
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:
3 A flexible approach to working.
Closing date 4 June 2026 at 23:45