Research Associate (fixed-term)

About the role

We are looking to recruit a Research Associate to support us on an Innovate UK Research Grant examining digital therapeutics for mental health. 

Specifically, the grant is titled “ELE Stress: Adaptive XR Therapy for Acute Occupational Stress” and involves a collaboration between The University of Bath, Cineon Training Ltd and NHS and Policing partners. 

To elaborate, ELE-Stress is an XR-based resource hub designed to support workplace mental health by integrating a range of adaptive therapeutic tools to tackle workplace stress which contributes to mental health-related absences or workforce attrition. 

The hub includes an XR enabled toolbox with resources such as exposure therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and green/blue therapies for stress relief and recovery. 

The toolbox builds upon decompression work already completed with University of Bath (UoB) and several police forces, as well as stress-adaptive Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) developed with the NHS.

The role is 0.5FTE (2.5 days/week) for a 12 month duration (planned August 2025 start) and will involve working with Dr Arnold and Dr Daniels on a number of work packages. 

This will include leading on PPIE activities, such as focus groups, with individuals working in high-pressured occupations within healthcare and policing. 

Additionally, the Research Associate will support the development of clinical interventions (based on CBT, exposure therapy, green and blue therapies) that can be embedded into the XR enabled toolbox.

Our ideal candidate

We are looking for a research associate who:

• Has appropriate qualifications (see person specification)
• Has research design and implementation experience, including data collection, analysis, and writing for publication
• Can organise and prioritise their own workload, with excellent communication skills and appropriate technical skills for the project (e.g., awareness of XR/VR applications)

Additional information

A lower grade offer may be made (Grade 6) with comparable reduction in responsibilities and amendment in job title to Research Assistant, if a suitable applicant cannot be found to fill the Grade 7 position. Applicants will need to be within six months of their course completion date and will be promoted to Research Associate once their PhD has been awarded. 

As a member of Research Staff at the University of Bath, you will be encouraged to take up a minimum of 10 days professional development pro rata per year.

The working hours can be spread flexibly and hybrid working is welcome. 

The interview date is planned for either the 30th June or 1st July. 

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dr Rachel Arnold (rsa24@bath.ac.uk) or Dr Jo Daniels (jd494@bath.ac.uk). 

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