Senior Research Fellow

Salary: £46,485 - £55,295 per annum - Grade 8

Contract Type: Fixed-term, Full-time

Contractual hours: 37

We have an exciting opportunity to be part of a definitive trial examining the effectiveness of oral nutritional supplement use in care homes.

We seek to appoint a Post Doctoral Research Fellow to join a multi-disciplinary research team for the REFRESH (nutRition intervEntions For malnouRished oldEr adultS in care homes) trial. This is a large NIHR funded randomised controlled trial examining oral nutritional supplements in care homes over four years.

The trial is a multi-university collaboration led by Professor Mary Hickson and Professor Jane Murphy of Bournemouth University. It is supported by the PenCTU and includes collaborators from the University of Exeter (statistics, health economics and community geriatric expertise), University of Coventry (dietetic expertise), University of Southampton (geriatric expertise), as well as care home managers and public representatives.

Your main tasks will be to recruit, set-up and initiate sites (care homes), maintain excellent working relationships with the care homes, manage the three field workers (to help with site initiation), develop online training for care home staff, and manage the day-to-day running of the trial. You will be supported by a Research Assistant and line managed by Professor Hickson.

Applications are invited from highly motivated individuals with a PhD or equivalent within the field of nutrition and dietetics. You will have excellent communication and organisational skills, clinical research experience with older adults, and ideally will have worked in the care home sector. You will also have an ability to work both independently and as part of a team, be able to work to tight deadlines and be comfortable and resilient working under pressure. A knowledge of training other professionals and using online educational platforms will be an advantage.

The role will be based at the University of Plymouth, recruiting in Devon & Cornwall, Wessex and the Birmingham area with an opportunity to discuss a hybrid online and in person working pattern. You will be required to travel regularly to Plymouth and/or Bournemouth for meetings, as well as visiting care homes in all the regions listed above that may not be accessible by public transport.

Based in the Faculty of Health, the School of Health Professions has something for everyone interested in health and care-related professions and is committed to shaping students into the best health professionals they can be.

InterCity Place is the first-class new home for our healthcare teaching and research providing students with skills to meet the needs of 21st century careers. The School offers a unique interdisciplinary learning environment, where students from the largest breadth of healthcare disciplines in the South West can benefit from excellent skills and research laboratories, research-informed teaching, stimulating practice placements and teaching delivered by professionally registered academic staff.

The School is proud of the commitment to student voluntary work, staff–student partnership, strong professional values and our record of student achievement and student satisfaction. State-of-the-art facilities and equipment help students maximise their potential and develop their core skills, preparing them to embark on exciting and rewarding careers. The School holds an Athena SWAN Silver award demonstrating the University’s ongoing commitment to advancing gender equality and success for all.

The successful candidate may be required to obtain an ATAS Certificate prior to this research being undertaken.

This is a full-time position working 37 hours per week on a fixed-term basis until 31st December 2028 due to funding.

We offer a competitive salary package and a generous pension and holiday scheme. We also offer a range of other benefits/support mechanisms, including ongoing development opportunities, flexible working, staff networks and enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

A summary of our comprehensive benefits can be viewed here.

Remote working is available up to 3 days a week.

The Faculty of Health holds four Silver Athena Swan awards, which recognise our commitment to supporting gender equality within higher education.

Staff appointed within the Faculty of Health may be able to join the NHS pension scheme subject to eligibility criteria.

The University of Plymouth has a strong interdisciplinary research ethos which is supported by our three strategic Research Institutes; the Marine Institute, the Sustainable Earth Institute, and the Plymouth Institute of Health and Care Research. As a member of our academic community, you’ll be expected to contribute to our recognised research strengths. Working holistically across the University, you will be challenged to innovate, collaborate and deliver impactful research contributions as part of a systems thinking approach to addressing today’s global challenges.