Senior Research Associate

King's College London; Greater London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious UK university is seeking a Senior Research Associate to lead youth-centric co-design research. You will work in schools alongside industry and research partners to study the impacts of social media on adolescents. The role requires a PhD or near-completion in a relevant field and experience in participatory methodologies. This fixed-term position offers a unique chance to shape research that directly influences social media design features affecting young people's well-being.

Benefits

Professional development days

Interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience with participatory or co-design research methods with children or adolescents.
• Experience conducting qualitative research in digital technology design.
• Track record of peer-reviewed publications in HCI or related fields.

Responsibilities

• Lead participatory co-design research with adolescents.
• Conduct diary studies, workshops, and technology probe deployments.
• Collaborate with academic and industry partners for research.

Skills

Participatory co-design research methods

Qualitative research

Excellent written and verbal communication

Interdisciplinary teamwork experience

Education

PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Design or closely related discipline

Job description

About us

King's College London is one of the top 10 UK universities and among the oldest in England. The Department of Informatics within the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences brings together researchers working at the intersection of technology and society.

About the role

The Department of Informatics is seeking to recruit a Senior Research Associate to lead participatory co-design research with adolescents as part of a major new project testing how social media design features causally impact young people's mood and self-control. This is a unique opportunity to shape first-of-its-kind research—building a micro-randomised trial (MRT) platform where interventions are tested in real-time, in the wild, and co-designed by the young people themselves.

Working across UK secondary schools in partnership with the PSHE Association (access to 50,000+ teachers and 80% of secondary schools in England), you will lead diary studies, classroom workshops, and technology probe deployments to identify what outcomes matter most to teenagers and when interventions should be delivered. Your findings will directly inform intervention development by industry partner One Sec (2.5M daily users), ensuring research translates into real-world tools.

In Year 1, the focus is on co‑designing proximal outcomes and delivery models with adolescents. In Year 2, you will pilot and iteratively refine the full MRT infrastructure with progressively larger cohorts before large‑scale school deployment.

You will collaborate closely with Dr Amy Orben's Digital Mental Health Programme at Cambridge (world leaders in adolescent social media research), a trial psychologist at Cambridge, and the Chief Scientific Officer of One Sec (who holds a Cambridge Fellowship). This is a genuinely interdisciplinary role bridging academic research, schools, and industry—ideal for someone who cares deeply about involving young people in research that affects them.

This is a full time position, and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 24 months ending no later than 31.12.2029.

Research staff at King's are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro‑ratio) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD in Human‑Computer Interaction, Design, or a closely related discipline (or near completion)
2. Demonstrable experience in participatory or co‑design research methods with children or adolescents
3. Experience conducting qualitative research (e.g., interviews, workshops, diary studies) in the context of digital technology design
4. Track record of peer‑reviewed publications HCI or closely related fields
5. Experience or willingness to work within school settings and with young people
6. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate with non‑academic audiences
7. Experience working in an interdisciplinary team, including the ability to communicate and address differences across domains

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with technology probe or prototype development and/or deployment in field settings
2. Familiarity with digital mental health interventions or adolescent wellbeing research
3. Experience with micro‑randomised trials, ecological momentary assessment, or intensive longitudinal methods
4. Experience collaborating with third‑sector organisations or industry partners

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further Information

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.

Interviews are due to be held on 23rd February. To be confirmed with the invited candidates.