Postdoctoral Research Associate (Literacy)

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed-term: 5 January 2026 – 30 November 2029

The Opportunity:

We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Literacy) to be a core member of a new research project ‘Rewriting wor(l)ds: A transdisciplinary and participatory investigation of how poetry can support young people’s literacy engagement and wellbeing’. The project is funded by the UKRI and led by UKRI Future Leaders Fellow Dr Patrick Errington.

The project draws together a wide array of methods to investigate how creative reading/writing activities can enhance young peoples’ (aged 12–18) experience of poetry, translating those findings into academic outputs, advocacy initiatives, and the creation of a mobile reading/writing app intervention called ReWriter. The participatory research project will be coproduced with a small team of young person researchers who will inform the project, and will involve qualitative interviews with young people around the UK, workshops with follow-up questionnaires, and analysis of existing literacy-related research and data from partner organisations.

The post holder will be the central member of the literacy and co-production workstream, working closely with Project Lead Errington and with Research co-Lead Prof. Sarah McGeown to design and carry out one-on-one interviews and post-workshop group questionnaires and analyse resulting data. Crucially, the post holder will work with team members to organise and support coproduction sessions with the young person researcher team, sharing developments and findings with the team and encouraging their input on future directions.

In carrying out the role, the post holder will be encouraged to learn and develop new skills and methods, both qualitative and quantitative, share knowledge with and gain insights from the other workstreams and team members, collaborate with project partners, and engage with young person communities and academic researchers around the UK and abroad. The post holder will also receive bespoke skills training and career mentorship from research team-members and wider academic and non-academic networks to support both their work on the project and their long-term career goals.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week); however, we are open to considering flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A PhD (completed or thesis submitted) in Education, Literature, or relevant field.
• Experience working with young people (ages 12–18) ideally in relation to reading and/or writing and in community co-production/participatory research settings.
• Experience in qualitative data collection and analysis.
• Strong initiative and independence in managing a research workload.
• Interest in collaborating, sharing skills and knowledge, and learning from a highly interdisciplinary research team.

Apply Before: 29/10/2025, 23:59

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