Research Associate in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Interventions

Vacancy terms: Full-time, part-time (minimum 0.8FTE, 30 hours per week), or job share considered, fixed term contract for 24 months

Hours per week: 37.5

About the role

We are looking for a motivated and talented Research Associate to join the Leicester Lifestyle and Health Research Group (LLHRG) and contribute to our innovative programme of research focused on behaviour change interventions targeting sedentary behaviour and physical activity.

Our multidisciplinary team within the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) develops and evaluates evidence-based interventions designed to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary time across a variety of populations and settings. Current projects include work with office workers, young people, lorry drivers, and adults at risk of or living with long-term conditions. Increasingly, our interventions are being digitally delivered, offering scalable and cost-effective solutions to support sustainable behaviour change.

We are now expanding our research to reach additional groups who spend large portions of their day sitting and are typically less active—such as university students, older adults, and construction plant operators. We are also looking to apply novel study designs to evaluate our interventions such as micro randomization trials, factorial randomized controlled trials, and sequential multiple assignment randomization trials. This post will support this work.

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, behavioural science, and implementation science, and to contribute to a research programme with real-world impact. We welcome applicants with quantitative and/or qualitative research experience.

About the LLHRG

The LLHRG are part of the Diabetes Research Centre (DRC), University of Leicester, the Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC), and NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, with a diverse research portfolio in the area of 24-hour lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and nutrition in the prevention and management of obesity and long-term conditions, such type 2 diabetes, in multi-ethnic populations.

LLHRG are one of the most prestigious Lifestyle as Medicine research groups in the UK, ranking second overall in the Sport and Exercise Sciences unit of assessment (UoA24) within Research Excellent Framework (REF) 2021, and first for output quality (out 61 institutions nationally; Research Excellence Framework 2021 results | University of Leicester). This success has led to £14 million in new funding from Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England scheme which will enable LLHRG to expand. This includes 20 new staff members across academic, teaching, research, community engagement and administrative positions, in addition to 12 new PhD students. This expanding team will be supported by new office and research spaces within the Leicester General Hospital. 

About you

As a Grade 7 Postdoctoral Research Associate, you will have a PhD (or be very near completion) in a relevant discipline alongside evidence of contributing independently to experimental or translational research studies and peer-reviewed journal publications, with potential to produce research outputs that are internationally recognised and aspiring to be world class in time for the next REF cycle (2029). You will have strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, and excellent written and oral communication skills, with an ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team.

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