Position Details
School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
As this vacancy has limited funding the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 7, salary £37,999
Part Time (15 hours per week)
Fixed Term contract up to November 2025
Closing date: 6th February 2025
Background
We require a post-doctoral Research Fellow to work with Prof Colin Greaves, Professor of Psychology Applied to Health and colleagues in the Universities of Birmingham and Loughborough to help deliver a NIHR-funded research project in the field of behavioural medicine, working with NHS healthcare professionals and researchers involved in promoting physical activity to inactive members of the general population (the Snacktivity randomised controlled trial). The Snacktivity trial aims to evaluate an app and self-monitoring (smart-watch) intervention to promote physical activity in small bouts of 2-5 minutes at a time. The aim of the current post is to conduct intervention fidelity-checking work as part of the trial’s process evaluation.
To achieve this aim, the successful applicant will work with Prof Greaves, the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit and other Snacktivity trial researchers to apply an existing delivery-quality checklist to audio-recordings of NHS and other staff introducing the Snacktivity app and smart-watch to study participants. The Research Fellow will rate the quality of intervention delivery for a purposive sample of 90 intervention-delivery recordings and extract examples of good practice and sub-optimal practice. They will then collate the scores into summary tables and draft a report that will form part of a peer-reviewed publication. Participants will be recruited and the audio data will be collected by staff at the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit.
The School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences is a world-leading institution for research and teaching in Sport and Exercise Science, located within one of the UK’s top universities. Our performance in the Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF 2014) was outstanding with 90 percent of research classified as world leading or internationally excellent. Key areas in our Exercise for Health research theme include: Healthy ageing, nutrition, disability, prevention and management of chronic illness and theoretically driven development of interventions for behaviour change.
This is a two-day per week (0.4 FTE) post for 6 months. The start date will be around 1st June 2025. Please contact Prof Colin Greaves if you have any queries, or would like an informal discussion (c.j.greaves@bham.ac.uk; +44(0) 121 414 8061 or 0798 989 5165).
Role Summary
* Work within specified research grant and project protocols and contribute to data analysis.
* Operate within area of specialism (behavioural science). NB: This post requires some specialist prior experience in the fidelity-assessment of complex health behaviour change interventions and knowledge of specific behaviour change techniques.
* Collect, analyse and interpret research findings and results – specifically observational feedback (using the intervention fidelity checklist) on intervention delivery quality, with data collected in the context of NHS /public health service delivery.
* Extract examples of good and poor practice to help refine and update the developed intervention based on the study findings.
Main Duties
The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.
* 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
* Using advanced research methods such as intervention fidelity assessment and other process evaluation (mixed methods) approaches
* 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
* Contribute to writing bids for further research funding
* Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
Person Specification
* First degree in area of specialism (ideally) and a higher degree (PhD or near to completion) relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications (e.g. Health Psychology, Behavioural Science)
* 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 (particularly in relation to behaviour change interventions)
* 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
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.
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