Research Fellow - Department of Nursing and Midwifery - 105066 - Grade 7

Position Details

Department of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Health

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £35,880 to £45,163 with potential progression once in post to £47,874

Grade: 7

Part Time (30 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to March 2026

Closing date: 26th January 2025

Background

Each year in England around 1000 infants and children die suddenly and unexpectedly, their deaths are subject to detailed multi-agency investigation by police, healthcare, social care and coroners. Most sudden infant deaths remain unexplained despite these investigations, and deaths are often classified as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

This Research Fellow post is to support two projects on unexpected infant and child deaths. The first is a case-control study of SIDS, using data on SIDS cases from the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) with control infants recruited from Birmingham families. The second is a study led by the University of Southampton looking to improve bereavement support for families after sudden infant and child death; University of Birmingham will be interviewing a range of professionals about their support for bereaved families.

This Research Fellow post role will be to create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within these research projects.

Discover

Be supported to lead complementary impactful research projects exploring improvements in investigation of child death and support for families, and identification of risk factors for child death.

The post-holder will have the flexibility to work on existing approved projects, and/or be supported to work with interdisciplinary experts straddling child health, safeguarding, child protection and child death review to develop and realise their own project ideas in these areas.

Support and Career Development

The post-holder will be actively involved and supported in all stages of the research pathway, from protocol development, data access, analysis, and manuscript writing, and will be recognised on all consequent academic outputs including peer-reviewed publications and presenting at national and international academic conferences. The post-holder will join a supportive environment, will have the opportunity to co-supervise junior researchers, and will be encouraged and supported with their own career development ambitions, including but not limited to applying for grants and/or postdoctoral fellowships.

Role Summary

• Work within specified infant and child death research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar

Main Duties

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Develop research objectives and proposals for these research projects, with assistance of the Principal Investigator
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
• Promote equality and value diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture

Person Specification

• First degree in area of specialism and normally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications. Applications from clinicians (doctors, nurses, allied health professionals) with research experience are welcome.
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly

DBS required

The University is committed to safeguarding and we promote safe recruitment practice, therefore all associated pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed. Due to the nature of the work undertaken in this role all successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory DBS clearance prior to appointment.

Further particulars can be found here

Informal enquiries to Dr Joanna Garstang, email: j.garstang@bham.ac.uk

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.

You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.