Postdoctoral Research Fellow

By reference to the applicable SOC code for this role, sponsorship may be possible under the Skilled Worker Route. Applicants wishing to consider the SWR must ensure that they are able to meet the points requirement before applying. Successful candidates not already holding a Skilled Worker visa issued before 4th April 2024 will need to have a relevant PhD qualification or qualify as a new entrant before being able to be sponsored. There is further information about visas on the UK Visas and Immigration Website.

Please see the job description and personal specification for further details.

Closing date for applications is 23.59 on 01/06/2025

Interview date - Tentatively in the week of 30/06/2025

We are recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to lead on a new exciting project ‘Eden Bioflo: Bringing Nature to Schools’ to develop school-based nature-based interventions to enhance mental wellbeing and resilience in children and young people (CYP). The post will be based within the School of Psychology and Clinical Languages Sciences at the University of Reading, with close collaborations with the University of Oxford’s NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. This multi-disciplinary and cross-institutional setting will provide the postholder with ample training and networking opportunities to develop skills in research, public/ stakeholder engagement, and project management/ leadership.

Our group has a strong focus on developing evidence-based psychological practice to enhance mental health in CYP. In this project, we aim to evaluate the effects of nature-related activities (such as a school trip to the Eden Project) on CYP’s wellbeing. Using Citizen Science Methodology, the project will co-design a brief intervention with CYP that aims at promoting mental resilience through sparking and sustaining nature-based curiosity. While we are firmly committed to deliver high levels of public engagement, this is fundamentally a scientific project that involves investigating the interplay between nature-relatedness, nature-based curiosity, mental health outcomes, flourishing, and other related constructs, using rigorous research methods from design to execution and data analyses.

The postholder will be the main researcher and project manager, responsible for the research design, data collection, data analyses and dissemination, as well as running co-production workshops with participants, and liaising with schools and external partners. The post is particularly suited for researchers who have strong interests in developing a wide profile in applied psychological research and those who enjoy working with non-academic partners and CYP.

You will have:

• A PhD or DClinPsy (or soon to obtain a PhD/ DClinPsy) in Psychology, Health, Mental Health, Neuroscience, or a relevant subject
• A publication record appropriate for the career level
• Experience of conducting empirical psychological research including participant recruitment, ethics application and data collection
• Advanced statistical skills
• Good organisation and project management skills
• Good communication skills, both orally and in writing, including ability to communicate to non-academic partners and members of the public
• A DBS check is required for this position

Contact details for advert
Contact Name: Professor Stella Chan
Contact Job Title: Charlie Waller Chair in Evidence Based Psychological Treatment
Contact Email address s.chan3@reading.ac.uk

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2). Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

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