Research Fellow: Food, Obesity and Young People
School of Health and Social Work, College Lane Campus, Hatfield
UH7 £32,004 – £38,183 per annum dependent on skills and experience
Full-time position working 37 hours per week (1.0 FTE)
Duration of Contract: Fixed term contract for five years from October 2017.
Closing date: 21 August 2017
Qualifications required
The person appointed will have a doctoral level qualification, experience of researching food and/or obesity and its relevance to young people and a minimum of one peer reviewed publication.
Description of the research activity and area
This Fellowship is an opportunity to develop world-leading research relating to young people, food and/or obesity. Depending on the interests of applicants, this might include research on the influence of poverty and inequality on food practices and experiences of obesity or the way that family or school contexts shape what young people eat and their perceptions of weight. The appointed Fellow will help to bring together work relating to two University-wide research themes, ‘Food’ and ‘Health and Well-being’ to make a significant contribution to the current programme of work in these areas in the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care (CRIPACC) in the School of Health and Social Work. The appointed Fellow will be expected to help develop research that aligns with that of Professor Wendy Wills, therefore it is anticipated that the appointed person will be able to evidence a strong grounding in social science approaches to issues relevant to public health.
This is a career development post and the successful applicant should be ambitious in terms of achieving 3–4* outputs throughout the Fellowship as well as being prepared to undertake activities to maximise impact from the research conducted. The Fellow is expected to apply for nationally recognised research funding during the Fellowship, from funders such as the ESRC, the Wellcome Trust or the National Institute of Health Research. The Fellow will be supported in writing high quality bids and publications by experienced academics. The successful candidate will be based in the School of Health and Social Work, in the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care (CRIPACC). The Centre has an international reputation for research across a range of public health and community care topics and employs approximately 30 academic and research staff who work in teams across research programme areas.
There is no undergraduate teaching requirement attached to this post but there will be opportunities for postgraduate teaching and supervision.
Skills and experience needed
The post holder should have relevant knowledge and experience of carrying out research (particularly research using qualitative methodologies) around food, obesity and young people. They should have experience in disseminating findings to scientific and non-scientific audiences, and writing up journal publications in one of the areas related to the Fellowship. The post holder should be able to demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills in both spoken and written English and show how they are able to establish good rapport and effective communication with young people and the adults they come into contact with (such as parents and school staff). The Fellow should have knowledge of research methodology appropriate for the subject area and knowledge of appropriate databases for the discipline and ability to conduct literature searches in the discipline using appropriate electronic resources.
Description of the School
The School of Health and Social Work () is one of the UK’s largest providers of health and social work education and over 80% of its research outputs, submitted to the REF under UoA2b (nursing and allied health professions), were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent; 100% of the research submitted was rated as world-leading or internationally excellent in terms of its impact. CRIPACC has an established track record in fostering and supporting Patient and Public involvement in research and has ongoing working partnerships with local, regional and international public health and food stakeholders.
The University offers a range of benefits including a pension scheme, professional development, family friendly policies, child care vouchers, a fee waiver of 50% for all children of staff under the age of 21 at the start of the course, discounted memberships at the Hertfordshire Sports Village and generous annual leave.
Source: University of Hertfordshire
