Research Associate

About the role

This three-year Research Associate* (Post Doc) position will encompass predominantly working on a series of research projects, in a collaboration between the Stress, Anxiety, Resilience, and Thriving (StART) research group (Department for Health, University of Bath) and external sports organizations (e.g., UK Sports Institute). 

The research projects will be on the topic of thriving in sport and will include an examination of how sporting organizations can create optimal environments that promote positive mental health and enable athletes to “win well”, that is, experience thriving (the joint experience of success and development). 

Specifically, the research will unpick how performance and wellbeing (as proxies of success and development) can co-exist within the elite sport system and any tensions that might exist with their joint experience. Subsequently, it will involve tracking athletes’ thriving over time, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of an intervention to enable and support thriving in elite sport. 

In addition to the aforementioned research projects, the Research Associate will support the Principal Investigator (Professor Rachel Arnold) with additional responsibilities. Examples include supervision of doctoral students, research assistance on existing grants, preparing grant bids, writing-up completed research and impact projects, and supporting the smooth running of the StART research group. 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.

Our ideal candidate

The Research Associate will need to have expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and science communications to disseminate the findings into elite sport policy and practice. 

Thus, they should have experience of being able to create and maintain good relationships with external partners. 

Additionally, the Research Associate will require excellent time and project management skills, high levels of initiative, and strong verbal and written communication skills. 

Additional information

*If you have not yet been awarded your PhD/Prof Doc, you will need to have at least submitted your thesis in order to be offered this Grade 7 role (if successful). 

This offer would be subject to you passing your viva with or without minor corrections and your PhD/Prof Doc being awarded within your six-month probation period. 

Please note that an offer may be withdrawn, or probation failed, if a PhD/Prof Doc viva is not passed or passed with major corrections. 

The University’s normal probationary requirements apply in all other respects. 

A lower grade offer may be made 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. 

Grade 6 applicants will need to be within six months of submitting their PhD/Prof Doc thesis and will be promoted to Research Associate once their doctorate has been awarded.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: Professor Rachel Arnold (rsa24@bath.ac.uk),
Dr Lee Moore (ljm90@bath.ac.uk), or Dr Daniel Brown (db2578@bath.ac.uk).  

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students and encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities.

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