Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Exeter

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

This Wellcome Trust funded part-time (0.5 FTE) post is available from 5 January 2027 on a fixed term basis until 31 Dec 2029.  

This post is offered as a fixed term contract and is funded by the Wellcome Trust until 31 December 2029.

In line with the University’s fair employment for all principles, any further funding opportunities identified will be reviewed and discussed during the contract.

Salary will be £44,352 (pro rata) per annum on Grade F subject to knowledge, skills and experience.
 
We welcome applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours or job-sharing arrangements. 

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and particularly from those with lived or professional experience of global majority contexts. We are happy to discuss flexible working.

 
The  Role

The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences wishes to recruit a part-time Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join PHOENix (Planetary Health Optimisation for Enhancing Nutrition and Food Security Through School Feeding Programmes in Egypt). PHOENix is a five-year programme funded by a Wellcome Early-Career Award and led by Dr Fatma Sabet.

PHOENix asks how Egypt's school feeding programmes work, for whom and in what circumstances. It then works with communities to co-produce school meals that are nutritious, culturally relevant, affordable and within planetary boundaries. The project uses a realist review, a realist evaluation of school feeding case studies, and agroecological co-production with farmers, cooks, parents, teachers and pupils. Co-production and creative methods are central, including photo-essay, murals and Playback Theatre.

You will be the UK-based research fellow on the team. You will:

• lead day-to-day research on realist evaluation, combining qualitative interviews with nutritional, environmental and agroecological data
• coordinate and support a team of researchers across the UK and Egypt, working closely with an Egypt-based postdoctoral researcher and fieldwork technicians
• •organise meetings of the project's advisory and participatory groups, and work with partners in Egypt
• lead ethics applications and approvals for research and fieldwork with children and other groups
• help design and run participatory and creative co-production activities
• write and publish academic papers, present at conferences and contribute to funding proposals that build on PHOENix

The post requires travel to Egypt at least once during the project.

  
About You

The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.
 
Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in public health, nutrition, food systems, social science or a related field. You will want to use your research skills to understand and help solve real-world problems, working in an interdisciplinary team. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in insert subject area and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required.