Job Title: Post Doctoral Research Fellow (Cambridge)
Location: Remote & ARU Cambridge campus
Faculty: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Start Date: 5th January 2026
End Date: 31 December 2026
Hours: approximately 24 hours per week over the course of the project
Pay: £19.83 per hour
Duties and about the project
Professor Justin Roberts and Dr Mark Cortnage at Anglia Ruskin University have funding to support the employment of a research associate for a 12-month research programme to assess healthspan perspectives in younger populations. This one-year project working in collaboration with the Hallmark Foundation will assess aspects including perception of healthspan in young people. To understand ‘healthspan’ in younger age groups and identify factors/barriers for engagement and perceptions of sustaining healthy lifestyles, leading to longer term development of a novel healthspan education programme.
The 12-month contract consists of the following objectives/ research duties:
1) Evaluating and compiling existing literature pertinent to this area, that will inform the design and execution of a UK-wide survey pertinent to different age groups (14-17yr, 18-25yr) timescale: 5 months
2) Conduct focus group interviews in younger age categories and elderly persons (>70 years) on factors associated with healthy living. Anticipated 3 focus groups, including transcription analysis and write up. Estimated timescale: 4 months.
3) Identification of primary factors/ barriers associated with healthspan in younger cohorts and development of a practical model leading to a longer term educational initiative. Estimated timescale: 2months.
Candidate Experience and Requirements
An applied individual who can demonstrate a keen interest in this emerging field. This role is ideally suited to a postgraduate or postdoctoral candidate aiming to undertake a short term part time research role.
Although there is some flexibility in our requirements for the role, sound skills in the following areas are required:
• IT literate. Able to competently use Microsoft Office, in particular Excel and Word.
• Time management. Alongside collaborative working with the project co-ordinators, a significant portion of this work will require the research associate to be able to sufficiently manage their own workload to achieve project requirements.
• Independent working. The ability to work independently and with their own initiative is crucial.
We also require the candidate to have developed knowledge in the following areas.
• Experience of conducting surveys and focus groups.
• Quantitative and qualitative research design and operation
• Data and literature scoping, assimilation, extrapolation for the purpose of informing a research project and potential research publication.
• Independent and critical thought.
Additional Information
Workload will be flexible based on task set, with the majority of the project undertaken remotely i.e. literature evaluation, setting up and implementing surveys/ focus groups and producing high quality reports/ papers for publication.
To Apply
Please apply directly online with your CV and a covering letter, please ensure your CV is update.
Application Deadline: Monday 29th September 2025, 9am
Interview Date: October 2025 - TBC
Please note I will only reply to the successful candidate.