Research Associate

at  Kings College London

Job id: 106327. Salary: £44,105 - £46,421 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.
Posted: 31 January 2025. Closing date: 20 February 2025.
Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Addictions.
Contact details: Prof Leonie Brose. leonie.brose@kcl.ac.uk
Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.
About us:
We would like to appoint a Post-doctoral Researcher to play a key role within our Policy Research Unit (PRU) in Addictions. The PRU has been commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care for England, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Our aim is to inform policymaking relating to alcohol, tobacco and nicotine, illicit drugs, and gambling and we are a collaboration of 10 UK universities led from the Addictions Department at King’s College London (KCL), the University of Sheffield’s Alcohol Research Group and the University of Glasgow’s Gambling Glasgow Research Centre. Research conducted within the PRU draws on a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods, and incorporates different disciplinary perspectives including public health, epidemiology, psychology, health economics, operational research and psychiatry.
You will be based at King’s College London and work closely with Prof Leonie Brose in the Nicotine Research Group to develop and deliver the aspects of the PRU related to nicotine and tobacco policy at a very exciting time in the field. Led by Professor Ann McNeill (PRU Co-Director), the Nicotine Research Group is a friendly and vibrant part of the Addictions Department at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.
About the role:
The PRU focuses on research that relates to public policy and practice and, especially, research that can play an important role in guiding future policymaking.
You will be part of a team of pre- and post-doctoral researchers working with colleagues at King’s, Sheffield and Glasgow, as well as our wider network of Co-Investigators and Collaborators across other UK universities. You may also collaborate with clinical groups and service providers, commissioners and policymakers across the UK. As a member of the PRU you will also benefit from a dedicated training fund and membership of the Addictions PRU Academy, which will provide training and career development opportunities to early career researchers and other collaborators in the PRU.
You will take a leading role in the planning and conduct of assigned research individually or jointly to meet PRU deliverables in nicotine and potentially other areas of the PRU.
This will include research development work such as questionnaire design, preparing applications for research ethics approval, training of relevant colleagues, ensuring compliance with research governance, recruitment of participants.
You will document research output including analysis and interpretation of all data, maintaining records and databases, drafting technical/progress reports and papers as appropriate.
In this role you will communicate and collaborate effectively with colleagues, the wider academic and policy community and patient and public involvement representatives. As we are working on a range of projects simultaneously, you will be reliable and efficient and have good organisational skills.
This is a full time post; job shares and part-time appointments will also be considered. You will be offered a fixed term contract until March 2028.
About you:
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
1. A good undergraduate degree or Master’s degree in a related area
2. A PhD (or evidence of equivalence) in a relevant discipline and/or topic area*
3. Understanding of addiction problems as experienced by individuals and communities as well as by policymakers and the general public
4. Understanding of research related to alcohol, tobacco or nicotine, other drugs or gambling (which could be public health-oriented rather than focused on addiction)
5. Proven ability to deliver quality outputs in a timely and efficient manner. This should include publication in peer review journals appropriate to your career stage
6. Ability to communicate effectively in oral, written and presentation modes to a wide range of audiences, including policymakers and practitioners
7. Understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion, and of the distortions that can be associated with stigma and discrimination
8. Ability to work effectively across projects and teams
Desirable criteria
1. Experience of conducting research into public policy and/or related to alcohol, tobacco or nicotine, other drugs or gambling
2. Experience of research covering quantitative methods
3. Experience of research covering qualitative methods
4. Experience of systematic review methods
5. Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams and collaborating with researchers at other institutions

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

• Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information:
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert.
If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Interviews date/s TBC.
We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK

Please refer the Job description for details