Overview
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Literacy) for a fixed-term, full-time role (35 hours per week) in CAHSS / School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. The appointment runs 5 January 2026 – 30 November 2029. Salary: £41,064 to £48,822 per annum.
The Opportunity: We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Literacy) to be a core member of a new research project, “Rewriting wor(l)ds: A transdisciplinary and participatory investigation of how poetry can support young people’s literacy engagement and wellbeing.” The project is funded by UKRI and led by UKRI Future Leaders Fellow Dr Patrick Errington. The project brings together a range of methods to investigate how creative reading/writing activities can enhance young people’s literacy and wellbeing, translating findings into academic outputs, advocacy, and a mobile reading/writing app intervention called ReWriter. The participatory research will be coproduced with a small team of young person researchers and will involve qualitative interviews with young people across the UK, workshops with follow-up questionnaires, and analysis of existing literacy-related research and data from partner organisations.
The post holder will be the central member of the literacy and co-production workstream, working closely with Project Lead Errington and with Research Co-Lead Prof. Sarah McGeown to design and carry out one-on-one interviews and post-workshop group questionnaires and to analyse resulting data. The post holder will also help organise and support coproduction sessions with the young person researcher team, sharing developments and findings with the team and encouraging input on future directions.
In carrying out the role, the post holder will be encouraged to learn and develop new skills and methods—both qualitative and quantitative—share knowledge with and gain insights from other workstreams and team members, collaborate with project partners, and engage with young person communities and academic researchers around the UK and abroad. The post holder will receive bespoke skills training and career mentorship from research team members and wider academic and non-academic networks to support their work on the project and their long-term career goals.
This post is full-time (35 hours per week); however, we are open to considering flexible working patterns and hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.
Responsibilities
* Design and conduct one-on-one interviews and post-workshop group questionnaires with young people (ages 12–18) in the context of the literacy and co-production workstream.
* Analyse qualitative data and contribute to data interpretation and reporting.
* Coordinate and support coproduction sessions with the young person researcher team; share developments and findings with the team and incorporate input on future directions.
* Collaborate with project partners and other workstreams; engage with academic researchers and young person communities in the UK and abroad.
* Contribute to the creation of outputs, advocacy activities, and a mobile app intervention (ReWriter).
Qualifications and Skills
* A PhD (completed or thesis submitted) in Education, Literature, or a relevant field.
* Experience working with young people (ages 12–18), ideally in relation to reading and/or writing and in community co-production/participatory research settings.
* Experience in qualitative data collection and analysis.
* Strong initiative and independence in managing a research workload.
* Interest in collaborating, sharing skills and knowledge, and learning from an interdisciplinary research team.
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