Research Associate

Applications are invited for a Research Associate position at the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, working under the leadership of Professor Laura Smith.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, with a cross-institution team on the ESRC project: Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects (IMITATE³). 

This project is led by Cardiff University, and is a collaboration between the Universities of Bath, Cardiff, and Coventry. 

The Bath-led part of the project will focus on the factors that create susceptibility and resilience to being influenced by adversarial online information operations (i.e., disinformation). 

More information about the project and the Bath work package can be found here: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/imitate3.

The successful applicant will be working under the supervision of Bath PI Professor Laura Smith, in the Department of Psychology, University of Bath, and will join the Digital Lives research group (https://www.bath.ac.uk/research-groups/digital-lives-research-group/).  

In this role, you will contribute to designing and running research studies, as well as synthesising and disseminating outputs from relevant work as part of a wider programme of research for use by policymakers and practitioners. 

You may also have the opportunity to work with distinguished scholars throughout our academic community at Bath and at our partner organisations.

There is a strong expectation you will actively contribute to the strong profile of digital security work at Bath and its interdisciplinary ethos through participation in the development and publication of research results in major international conferences and journals. 

To facilitate this, you will also join our supportive and lively community of likeminded scholars at the Institute for Digital Security and Behaviour (https://www.idsb.ac.uk). 

The Institute places understanding people, groups, and organisations at the heart of digital security. 

The purpose of the Institute is to solve global security challenges through world-leading, interdisciplinary, socio-technical research that co-creates inclusive security solutions by adopting a “whole of society” approach. 

The Institute aims to make the UK a more innovative, secure, and resilient digital society, helping develop the next generation of experts in digital security and behaviour, and advancing the UK as a global leader in digital security.

About you

The ideal postholder will have a background in Psychology or Behavioural Science, Data Science, Computational Social Science, or related discipline. A PhD in these or a related discipline is a requirement. 

The ideal applicant will be familiar with a variety of programming/scripting languages, and using R or Python. They should also be comfortable working with large data sets, such as social media data and/or longitudinal survey data. 

Additional information

The post is full-time for two years, to start on or soon after 1st October 2025. 

Informal enquiries can be made to Professor Laura Smith (l.g.e.smith@bath.ac.uk).

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. 

Advert information