University Research Fellow

Full time fixed term 

Location: York 

Salary: £38,205 to £46,974 per annum

York St John University (YSJU) is an ambitious, modern university at the heart of historic York and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

As one of the fastest growing universities in the U.K over recent years, we have a new strategy for the next decade, emphasising our commitment to widening opportunity through the power of education and contributing our talents to creating a fairer world, and a more prosperous region. We are putting inspirational learning and impactful research at the heart of this strategy, recognising our academic expertise as our greatest asset. 

We are establishing a new research culture driven by research groups and cross-university institutes, and are growing rapidly. Our research grant success is increasing, as is the number of postgraduate researchers we have at the university. In the recent Research Excellence Framework (2021), we submitted over half of our academic staff, nearly three times more than in the previous assessment. As a consequence, combined with world-leading research in each one of our academic schools, we received one of the highest percentage increases in research funding from UKRI of any university receiving over £1m. 

The Role

We are now seeking to expand our postdoctoral community by launching a University Research Fellowship Scheme. The first of its kind at our university, the fellowship provides an exciting opportunity for outstanding early career researchers to pursue an independent and original programme of research in a supportive and collaborative environment.  

Fellows will join either the  or the . A mentor will also support and guide their career development to complement access to a range of training opportunities to enhance their professional, teaching, and research skills. A small annual research expenses budget will also be provided via the institute to conduct the research and disseminate research findings.  

Information on the two institutes can be found on our website and by contacting the directors, Professor Matthew Reason () and Professor Garry Tew ().  

It is anticipated that the fellowship will provide a platform for the recipient to consolidate their research career and contribute to the aims our research institutes by conducting world-leading, impactful research, that builds on our current areas of research strength or compliments them in a way that clearly enhances our research capabilities.    

Required Skills and Experience

Applications are invited from any area of research. However, alignment with our  is necessary. Similarly, demonstrable synergy between the proposed programme of research and existing research at our university is required.  

Areas of particular interest to the Institute for Social Justice include participatory and co-productive research; racial justice research; and work with children and young people or disabled and neurodiverse communities. Areas of particular interest to the Institute for Health and Care Improvement include physical activity for health, applied mental health research, and social care research. 

Applicants should have a PhD and evidence of high-quality publications indicative of the ability to successfully undertake an independent programme of impactful research. 

Fellowships are to be undertaken full-time for a period of three-years or part-time for a period of six- years.  

To be eligible to apply for the fellowship applicants must have completed their PhD in the last 3 years (any time during 2021 to application deadline). The three years does not include periods of parental leave or periods of absence due to ill-heath.  

The application form includes a question asking candidates to detail a 3-year research plan that will form part of the assessment of each candidate. This should include information on background and justification of the planned research, aims/research questions, methods, planned outcomes/outputs, resource requirements, and be no longer than three A4 pages (single line-spaced, 12 font).  

Additional Information

Applicants should also identify a potential mentor within York St John University aligned to the programme of research. A letter of support should be provided from this member of academic staff as part of the application. Without a letter of support from an appropriate mentor applications cannot be considered further.   

For the research profiles of our current research staff, please see our website and our .  

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Andrew Hill, Head of Postgraduate Research, .  

If you require a reasonable adjustment in order to apply for this position please contact vacancies@yorksj.ac.uk.  Within the application form there is an opportunity for you to request a reasonable adjustment at the interview stage of the process, however if you wish to discuss this in further detail at any point  in the process please do not hesitate to contact us.

We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive policies and facilities to support staff from different backgrounds. As part of our commitment to providing an inclusive working environment, consideration is given to all requests for job share or flexible working arrangements. 

Please note that CVs are not accepted in place of the application form.

Our benefits package

We offer a wide range of employee benefits including - 

- Excellent annual leave entitlement, including five discretionary university closure days over the Christmas period

- Disability leave (applies to staff who have disclosed a disability and is also available to staff with disabled dependants)

- Pension scheme

- Health Cash Plan after six months service

- Employee Assistance Programme

- Paid leave for Armed Forces Reservists

- On-campus courses, one-to-one tutorials, and online resources to help you develop your digital skills and work with new software

- Relocation expenses package for certain roles

- Reimbursement of Skilled Worker Visa application fees and for additional costs

Further information about life at YSJ

Read more about our culture, inclusive community, working arrangements and benefits for York St John employees  

The latest news, views and stories from our staff and students can be found  

We are committed to managing and reducing our environmental impact and to promoting sustainable development wherever we can, read more