Research Associate (Fixed Term)
A Research Associate is required to support a Wellcome Trust funded research programme aimed to improve understanding of mental health treatment effectiveness in children and young people. This position utilises mixed methods, and thus a strong quantitative background and some experience working with research participants or patients is required.
The Research Associate will lead on all aspects of a qualitative study to explore young people's experiences of mental health services, being responsible for: preparing materials for Patient and Public Involvement groups, completing the ethics application, recruiting young people and carers for qualitative interviews, screening respondents for eligibility, arranging and conducting the interviews, and facilitating transcription. The Research Associate will lead on the qualitative analysis and draft a resulting manuscript. The challenges, priorities, and factors influencing treatment response identified from this study will help inform subsequent quantitative analyses.
For the quantitative aspect of the role, the Research Associate will perform secondary analyses of population-based data sets of children and young people's mental health, which collectively consist of over 20,000 participants. Data sets consist of the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, MYRAID, and Understanding Society. The successful candidate will lead on linking these data sets to NHS and educational data as well as cleaning, coding, and preparing this documentation. NHS data sets include the Mental Health Services Data Set and Hospital Episode Statistics. The Research Associate will lead on longitudinal analyses of change in service contacts, including measurements before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. They will contribute to manuscripts associating service use with mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, substance use, obsessions and compulsions, and suicidal ideation. Broader outcomes include peer problems, family support, general functioning, quality of life, and educational attainment. The Research Associate will employ statistical methods such as growth modelling, cross-lagged modelling, propensity weighting, mediation, and moderation. They will lead on and contribute to manuscripts within the research team, including interfacing with research students. Candidates should have a PhD or equivalent in a relevant field of study.
Deadline for applications is 25th June 2023, Interviews to be held 6th and 7th July 2023
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 August 2026 in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.
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Applicants must have (or be close to obtaining) a PhD.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant (Grade 5, Point 38 £31,411) moving to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon confirmation of your PhD award.
Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. The covering letter should outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.
Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.
Informal enquiries may be directed to Dr Sharon Neufeld Email: sasn2@medschl.cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference RN36830 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.