This newly established post-doctoral fellowship at the ISMH, University of Stirling offers an exciting opportunity for an outstanding researcher to join a world-leading Institute carrying out high profile public health research on marketing, behaviour change and policies to prevent non-communicable diseases. More than one appointment may be made subject to available funding and suitable candidates.
Example Projects: The successful Hastings Fellow(s) will be matched to selected studies at ISMH according to their interests/skillset, funded by national and international funders (NIHR, Cancer Research UK, MRC and others). The following are examples of project work to which fellows may be allocated; possible/preferred allocations will be discussed with appointable candidates at interview.
- an evaluation of policy and practice regarding late-night opening hours for bars/clubs including survey, interview data and documentation analysis
- analysing the marketing of zero/low alcohol products
- supporting analysis of alcohol policy stakeholder views in South America and/or Africa
- exploring youth views on the marketing of e-cigarettes
- analysis of qualitative data from a trial of e-cigarettes in homeless centres
- examining alcohol industry involvement in alcohol policy and marketing in Africa and in funding academic research
- supporting ongoing research on the health of prisoners and their families
- coding and analysis of qualitative data on long Covid, in the UK and internationally
- exploring ways to reduce exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke across different settings
- carrying out quantitative analysis of exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollutants
- developing an interface for analysis of ambulance call-outs for drug overdoses and proposals for individual level data linkage with drug-related deaths.
Other opportunities may arise during the fellowship and the successful Fellow will have the opportunity to co-author peer-reviewed papers from studies on which they are involved. The fellowship is intended to provide an intensive working and learning experience in a dynamic and supportive research environment, and to accelerate the successful candidate’s research career through expansion of networks, skills, knowledge and experience.
An outstanding researcher is sought who is enthusiastic, meticulous and hard-working, and who is comfortable and capable of working across several projects, taking on new topics and challenges within a supportive and friendly team.
The Fellow will: develop their existing skills base in either/both quantitative and qualitative methods and/or literature scoping and reviewing as needed on specific projects; and further build their public health knowledge and experience of study management. Duties may involve primary data collection and analysis (interview, focus group or observational data, documentation, survey or exposure data), secondary analysis, write-up and presentation of results including working proactively with policymakers, NGOs, research funders and other stakeholders.
Most projects involve working in multi-institution teams, with excellent networking opportunities such as through ISMH’s membership of the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) SPECTRUM Consortium, the Public Health Policy Research Unit of the Department of Health, and our leadership roles in the UKPRP Community of Practice and several international research networks.
It is expected that the Fellow will also get involved in or lead the drafting of a research proposal related to the post-holder’s interests and aligned with ISMH’s aims.
