Postdoctoral Research Associate

Grade UE07: £41,064 to £48,822 per annum

CAHSS / School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Post is available from 5^th January 2026

Fixed term until 30^th November 2029

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 the UKRI and led by UKRI Future Leaders Fellow Dr Patrick Errington.

The project draws together a wide array of methods to investigate how creative reading/writing activities can enhance young peoples’ (aged 12–18) experience of poetry, translating those findings into academic outputs, advocacy initiatives, and the creation of a mobile reading/writing app intervention called ReWriter. The participatory research project will be coproduced with a small team of young person researchers who will inform the project, and will involve qualitative interviews with young people around 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 analyse resulting data. Crucially, the post holder will work with team members to organise and support coproduction sessions with the young person researcher team, sharing developments and findings with the team and encouraging their 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 the 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 also receive bespoke skills training and career mentorship from research team-members and wider academic and non-academic networks to support both 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. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A PhD (completed or thesis submitted) in Education, Literature, or 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 a highly interdisciplinary research team.

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Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV (up to 5 pages)
• Cover letter (up to 2 pages) clearly indicating, using reference numbers in Job Description, how you meet the essential and desired criteria for the post. 

*Please be aware that only applicants who meet all the Essential Criteria can be shortlisted for interview.

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary
• To be part of a world-leading, supportive, collaborative, and multidisciplinary research team
• A bespoke system of skills, methods, and career training and mentorship from experts, industry partners, and wider project networks
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page(opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits 

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality. 

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages(opens new browser tab)

The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role.  This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 29th October 2025.

 

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone. 

 

Interviews are anticipated to be held online in early December 2025.