Postdoctoral Researcher – Technical (ARIADNE)

Corehr; Oxford; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

An excellent contributory pension

38 days annual leave

Childcare services

Family leave schemes

Bus travel discounts

Social and sports clubs

Job summary

University of Oxford's Department of Psychiatry invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher – Technical (ARIADNE) based at Warneford Hospital, Oxford. The role focuses on developing a novel research method for identifying ethical issues in child and adolescent psychosis risk prediction, with leadership in data collection and analysis across multiple sites.

The role is funded for 24 months, offers hybrid working, and involves empirical proposals from conception through ethics, data

Qualifications

• PhD/DPhil in psychology, computer science, bioethics or a relevant empirical social or cognitive science discipline.
• Advanced empirical methods and quantitative data analyses experience in psychology, computer science or related fields.
• Knowledge and experience conducting psychometric analyses is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develop and/or contribute to high-quality empirical research proposals from conception through to ethics, data collection and writing up.
• Lead on the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data online and in-situ across schools and educational/public locations.
• Identify and analyse ethical issues in child and adolescent psychosis risk prediction within the ARIADNE project.

Skills

Empirical research methods

Quantitative data analysis

Psychometrics

Education

PhD/DPhil in relevant field

Job description

UK date and time: 11-September-2026 03:21

Postdoctoral Researcher – Technical (ARIADNE)

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX

The University of Oxford is a stimulating work environment, which enjoys an international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence. Our research plays a key role in tackling many global challenges, from reducing our carbon emissions to developing vaccines during a pandemic.

The Department of Psychiatry is based on the Warneford Hospital site in Oxford – a friendly, welcoming place of work with an international reputation for excellence. The Department has a substantial research programme, with major funding from Medical Research Council (MRC), Wellcome Trust and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and provides highly rated medical training in psychiatry. The Head of Department is Professor Belinda Lennox.

This is an exciting opportunity for a postdoctoral researcher to become a member of the Design Bioethics Lab (DBL)led by Dr Kathryn Francis and Dr David Lyreskog. You will work on the Wellcome Trust funded project ARIADNE – an interdisciplinary research project developing a screening tool to support clinical evaluation for psychosis risk, powered by generative artificial intelligence. You will particularly support the development of a novel research method for identifying and analysing ethical issues in child and adolescent psychosis risk prediction.

What We Offer

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including:

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days annual leave
• A comprehensive range of childcare services
• Family leave schemes
• Discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs

This role also offers the opportunity for hybrid working

About the Role

The post is funded for 24 months and is based in the Department of Psychiatry at the Warneford Hospital.

You will develop and/or contribute to the development of high-quality empirical research proposals on relevant research questions, to be operationalised from conception through to research ethics, data collection and writing up. You will lead on the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data online and in-situ including schools, educational environments, and public/commercial locations

About You

You will have or to be close to completion of PhD/Dphil in in psychology, computer science, bioethics or a relevant empirical social or cognitive science discipline. You will have advanced experience using empirical methods and conducting advanced quantitative data analyses in psychology, computer science, bioethics, or a relevant empirical social or cognitive science discipline. Knowledge and experience conducting psychometric analyses is desirable.

Diversity

Committed to equality and valuing diversity

The closing date for applications is 1 October 2026.