Job Description
Grade UE07: £40,497 to £48,149 per annum pro rata
CAHSS / Moray House School of Education and Sport
Part-time: 20 hours per week
Fixed-term: 31 October 2028
The Opportunity
Childlight, a global child safety institute, is looking for Research Fellow in Behavioural Research and Online Child Safety to work as part of the Behavioural Research UK Leadership Hub funded by the ESRC, on the “resilient communities” workstream. This workstream aims to understand what behaviour change techniques can be applied to guide evidence-based prevention relating to sustainable and safe transport (particularly reducing speeding) and keeping children safe online in the UK.
You will have experience in key concepts and issues relating to behavioural research to address major societal challenges, including developing or evaluating interventions to change behaviour. You will bring expertise in carrying out qualitative and quantitative behavioural science research, including conducting literature reviews and working with an interdisciplinary research team. Ideally, you will also have experience in working on online child safety.
The post holder will produce findings on behavioural indicators and recommendations for disruption and deterrence of online child sexual exploitation and abuse offending. Results will inform the development of a set of guidelines for influencing behaviours that contribute to normative change around perceptions related to online offending being ‘less harmful’ than contact offending and misinformation in the privacy debates around this issue. Tasks may include conducting rapid systematic reviews of relevant literature, analysing survey data, conducting qualitative research and organising knowledge exchange and public involvement activities.
Your Skills And Attributes For Success
- A PhD (or near completion) in behavioural or social science (or considerable equivalent experience).
- Familiarity with key concepts and issues relating to behavioural research to address major societal challenges
- Experience of developing or evaluating interventions to change behaviour
- Experience of investigating or applying evidence, theories and techniques of behaviour change
- Experience in carrying out qualitative and quantitative behavioural science research
- Excellent scientific writing skills, with a peer-reviewed publication record commensurate with your career stage
- A passion for making the world a better place and preventing CSEA, improving services and safeguarding children
Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens in a new browser tab).
As a valued member of our team you can expect:
- A competitive salary.
- An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
- To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
- Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new browser 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 in a new browser tab).
On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK
Key dates to note
The closing date for applications is
22nd July 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 expected to be held in
July 2025.
About Us
As a world-leading research-intensive University, we are here to address tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Between now and 2030 we will do that with a values-led approach to teaching, research and innovation, and through the strength of our relationships, both locally and globally.
About The Team
Moray House School of Education and Sport (MHSES), University of Edinburgh, has been making a major contribution and impact to the fields of education and sport both in Scotland and worldwide for almost 200 years. In that time, our staff, students and alumni have influenced and transformed learning, teaching, and wider educational policy in the UK and beyond. We are the leading School of Education and Sport in Scotland – ranked first for research breadth and quality in Education and Sport, and third in the UK (REF 2021) . We consistently rank in the top tiers of global education and sport-related studies .
Our alumni include Great Britain’s most successful Olympic athlete, cyclist Sir Chris Hoy MBE, and trailblazing teacher and race relations pioneer, Saroj Lal.
We are deeply committed to social justice, inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility. Our aim in all our work is to significantly impact the education, wellbeing and development of children, young people and adults, through problem-solving in the fields of education and sport.
Study
Across undergraduate, postgraduate taught, research, and initial teacher education; our 3000 students study across 29 different programmes. These include a wide array of subjects across the broad areas of teacher education, language education, sport policy, sport science, outdoor education and community education.
Research
With Over 250 Research Staff And Students, We Have a Vibrant And Expanding Research Community With a Broad Portfolio Of Academic Disciplines Gathered Within Seven Broad Research Themes With Permeable Boundaries. Our Thematic Hubs Are
- Advanced Quantitative Research in Education
- Children and Young People
- Digital Education
- Language, Interculturality and Literacies
- Social Justice and Inclusion
- Sport-related Research
- Teacher, Curriculum and Pedagogy
The REF 2021 results for both education and sport-related research place us as Scotland’s top-ranked institution for research breadth and quality (THE).
