**This vacancy is only available to existing University of Essex staff**
Department
We are seeking to appoint a fixed-term, part-time Postdoctoral Researcher. The post holder will contribute to the delivery of research projects within the Department of Psychology, with a specific focus on collaborative research on boredom alongside Dr Van Tilburg.
We are a large and vibrant Psychology Department guided by our University’s founding principles of breaking new ground, of challenging existing expectations, and of making a meaningful difference in the world. To achieve these goals, we organise our research and our teaching under the broader theme of ‘Understanding Our Place In The World’. We approach our work within this novel framework across three areas of concentration: Thinking about the world, Interacting with the world, and Experiencing the world. This allows our staff to pursue their intellectual ambitions and to achieve research excellence, all while fostering an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach that utilises multiple methodologies.
We occupy purpose-built facilities including state-of-the-art EEG/ERP, eye-tracking, psycho-physiology, computerised testing labs, and the Mind-Craft Psychology Lab. Researchers also have access to the Centre for Brain Science, which includes TMS, tDCS, fNIRS, virtual reality testing facilities, and the Mind-Craft Psychology Lab. We are internationally known for excellence in research, having been ranked in the top 20 in the UK for research power in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework. We are proud to hold an Athena SWAN Silver Award (2020) for our work on promoting gender equality.
We are looking for an ambitious, collaborative individual who will enhance our international reputation and further our mission to enhance understanding of psychological impacts and behavioural consequences of affective experiences such as boredom, and harnessing these insights for the promotion of health and wellbeing in society.
Duties of the Role
The purpose of this role is to deliver the research objectives of the project “Betting on Boredom: Identifying the Detrimental Pathways of a Neglected Emotion.”
This will involve leading and contributing to a coordinated programme of survey, experimental, and field studies investigating psychological mechanisms linking boredom to gambling behaviour, under the direction of the Principal Investigator (Dr Van Tilburg) and in collaboration with Co-Investigators and project partners.
The research will take place primarily in the UK, with short activities taking place in the Republic of Ireland.
Qualifications and Skills required
The successful candidate will hold a relevant doctoral degree in psychology or be in the final stages of completion of your studies (thesis submitted prior to commencing employment).
You will be able to demonstrate research skills commensurate with your career position in relation to design, protocol development, ethics, setting up and conducting surveys and experiments, management of recruitment and data collection, testing, statistical analysis and reporting via internationally excellent publications.
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to work both independently and cooperatively as a part of a team are essential.
You will also need to engage in outreach and impact activities to support the Department’s vision in producing research that is relevant to society.
This contract will be for 18 hours per week with a fixed-term end date of 31 May 2028 due to a temporary grant funding source.
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.
To support this commitment we have our, a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: