Postdoctoral Research Associate

Durham University; North East; On-site; GBP 22,000 - 32,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Durham University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (26001047) in the Department of Geography. This fixed-term, part-time (0.6FTE) role supports a 24-month project under the NERC Open Environment agenda, focusing on evaluating and embedding policy insights into environmental science opportunities and partnerships.

The role offers hybrid working with a strong emphasis on collaboration across departments, and opportunities for professional development within a

Qualifications

• PhD (or close to submission) with experience in qualitative and/or quantitative and/or evaluation research methods.
• Strong publication record in peer‑reviewed journals.
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines; collaborate across teams.

Responsibilities

• Convey highly technical material to teams and present research papers at conferences.
• Identify research areas, develop methods and extend the research portfolio.
• Engage with colleagues and external contacts to develop knowledge and collaborations.
• Conduct evaluation design and embed policy insights into project workstreams.
• Publish high-quality outputs and contribute to project objectives.

Skills

Qualitative research

Quantitative research

Evaluation methods

Academic writing

Presentation skills

Team collaboration

Independent planning

Education

PhD (or near submission)

Job description

We welcome applications from candidates with disabilities, neurodiversity and long-term health conditions, and we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process.

We will make adjustments to support the recruitment and interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system or would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments to support you in the application process, please get in touch with us on [e-mail]

Job Description - Postdoctoral Research Associate (26001047)

Job Description

Postdoctoral Research Associate (26001047 )

Department of Geography

Fixed Term - Part Time

Contract Duration : 24 Months

Closing Date

06-Oct-2026, 10:59:00 PM

Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement : Not Applicable.

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career. The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it’s also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.

Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential.

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what the identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Durham? information page.

The Project
Reimagining Pathways into Environmental Science through Showcasing Technical Careers’ is a 29- month project at Durham University funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The project aims to empower young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds into a technical career in environmental science. Part of the NERC ‘Opening up the Environment 2026’ work programme, the project seeks to lead and influence opportunities to enable a technical career. It collaborates with environmental science partners to develop opportunities for young people to consider a career in environmental science. It will evaluate and embed learnings from the project that will influence T Level policy and curriculum development. The project has workstreams around the promotion of technical careers, T Level placements, and policy and partnerships between regional Further Education colleges and environmental science industrial partners.

The PDRA role is an exciting opportunity to make an important contribution to enhancing this project through providing expertise in evaluation and policy influence through the project’s workstreams. Working alongside another research and innovation associate, the PDRA will shape the approach to evaluation of the workstreams and theory of change development and work with the Project Team to embed policy insights into Technical and T Level environmental science opportunities that will be disseminated to stakeholders including Further Education Colleges, regional industrial and business partners and national technical organisations.

The project team are also committed to supporting your development through excellent opportunities to develop your career in an exciting and progressive institution. Alongside working as part of the project team, you will have the opportunity to continue to develop your career within your home discipline as part of our world-leading academic departments. You will have an appropriate departmental affiliation and opportunities to take part in departmental activities. Durham University is committed to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and many of our departments hold an Athena SWAN Bronze or Silver award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia.

The Role

The postholder will be embedded in the project team and will have access to a home academic discipline within the University. The post-holder’s line manager will be Helen Cramman, Associate Professor in the School of Education and Head of Researcher Development and Co-Lead. On a day-to-day basis they will be working collaboratively across the project team and the Project Advisory Group. The team includes PL: Neil Tunstall (Department of Geography) the co-leads: Beth Upex (Department of Archaeology), Andrew Moss (Research and Innovation Services), Johanna Thren (Department of Anthropology), Lorraine Coghill (Faculty of Science), Sophie Edwards (Department of Earth Sciences), Sophie Laidler (Department of Archaeology), Tim Hawkins (Department of Biosciences), a project manager and 3 research assistants. We are a cross-departmental and cross-faculty team and will be based in a collaborative space. We also offer the opportunity for flexible hybrid working subject to the business delivery requirements of the project.

Key Responsibilities

The successful applicant will be expected to:

• To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications.
• To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To conduct research and embed evaluation design principles into the workstreams across the NERCOUTE2026 project
• To enable the evaluation-design and intervention of NERCOUTE 2026 including exploring the implementation and impact of environmental science focussed:
  • Newly created processes for T Level placements at Durham University and industry partners
  • Resources and networks created between the project and Further Education college curriculum leads
  • The University Environmental Science Technical Champions network
  • Policy interventions with local and national technical-skills stakeholders
• To participate in meetings of the NERCOUTE2026 project team, including preparing reports on progress.
• To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences.
• To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Project Lead.
• To assist with the development and delivery of research objectives and proposals.
• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Project Lead and offering creative or innovative solutions.
• To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.
• To contribute to liaison with other NERCOUTE2026 projects across the UK to promote collaboration across the research culture field and develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
• To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.

Any other reasonable duties.

This post is a 0.6FTE fixed term for 24 months as funding is available for this duration. This project is time limited which will end on 31 December 2028.

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by December 2026.

Working arrangements: This role is part time (21 hours/week). We will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares. It is expected that this role will be predominantly face-to-face on campus, and the successful applicant will be prepared to locate to the northeast of England. There will be some scope for hybrid working arrangements in agreement with line manager, but this post will not be fully hybrid.

Working at Durham

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University:

You’ll receive 30 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 42 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year .

We offer a generous pension scheme, and as a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS).

No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have ample parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies. You can also take advantage of our cost-effective and environmentally friendly Tusker Car Benefit Scheme, allowing you to lease a brand-new electric or hybrid vehicle with savings on tax and National Insurance.

We have a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities.

We provide wide-ranging health and wellbeing support including discounted membership for our state-of-the-art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.

Our on-site nursery is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and you can access holiday camps for children aged 5-16.

Our family-friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).

We offer all staff the opportunity to take part in volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community.

You can access exclusive discounts via our benefits portal including money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, eating out and days out at various attractions.

Various salary sacrifice schemes are also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits.

If you are moving to Durham, you may be eligible for help with removal costs, and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest-free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.

Discover more about our total rewards and benefits package here .

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do. We also live by our Purpose and Values and our Staff Code of Conduct. At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.

If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.

The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Employer status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

Dr Helen Cramman (Co-L and Line Manager for the post) - [e-mail]

Neil Tunstall (PI of the Project) - [e-mail]

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email. Please send your name along with abrief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [e-mail]

Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or [phone] from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time. We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

Person Specification

Qualifications

2. A PhD (or be close to submission or equivalent experience) with experience of qualitative and/or quantitative and/or evaluation research methods.

Experience

3. A robust understanding, and passion for the development of a positive research culture and the Durham University Technician Commitment.

4. Experience in conducting qualitative research, including interviews, participant observations and document review.

5. Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked journals.

6. Demonstrable ability to present research papers at conferences and communicate complex information to specialists and within the wider academic community.

7. Experience of working with diverse stakeholder groups, including working within ethical, legal and data requirements.

Skills

8. Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings.

9. Demonstrable ability to plan and manage independent research.

10. Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.

11. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written and oral.

12. An interest in developing research culture in the higher education context.

• Experience and understanding of the Further Education sector and T Level education in the UK
• Strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals, commensurate with stage of career.
• Experience with conducting evaluation research
• Experience of working with children, young people and educators in a School or Further Education Setting
• An understanding of environmental science

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Job Applicants/Potential Job Applicants - Durham University which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

Durham University is a UKVI sponsor. Applicants who require sponsorship to work in the UK should note that not all roles are eligible. Further information on visa requirements and eligibility can be found on the UKVI website .

We welcome applications from candidates with disabilities, neurodiversity and long-term health conditions, and we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process.

We will make adjustments to support the recruitment and interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system or would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments to support you in the application process, please get in touch with us on [e-mail]