Postdoctoral Research Fellow (in collaboration with Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing at the University of Essex and the World Heart Federation)
The Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing seeks to appoint a full-time Postdoctoral Research Fellow to start August/ September 2022, or soon thereafter, for a period of two years. This fellowship is jointly funded by the University of Essex (50%) and the World Heart Federation (50%) to support the Institute’s work in the area of cardiovascular disease and the new ambitious WHF World Heart Observatory project: a knowledge hub that curates, aggregates and visualizes data on cardiovascular conditions, biological risk factors, social determinants of health, and health.
The candidate will be based at the IPHW and will work very closely with the WHF and other international academic and non-academic partners involved in the development of the World Heart Observatory.
About the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing
The Institute is a major University strategic initiative and was formally launched in February 2022. Leading impactful innovation in public health and wellbeing is a strategic priority for our University as well as our region. The establishment of an Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing (IPHW) is advancing the University’s mission of excellence in education and research, for the benefit of individuals and communities.
IPHW is an international centre of excellence, bringing together research strengths across all three faculties, driving forward research collaborations and developing strategic partnerships with international, national and regional organisations. The establishment of the IPHW aligns our research capability, expertise and strengths across a broad spectrum of research and innovations in public health and wellbeing, including a wide range of health-related training programmes, clinics, facilities and services, leveraging the assets of our expertise and skills to enable us to scale our impact.
About the World Heart Federation (WHF) – the World Heart Observatory
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number 1 killer globally, claiming an estimated 18.6 million lives every year. Accurate, timely and accessible data can be a gamechanger in the fight against CVD.
Valuable data initiatives for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease exist, but they span different platforms, organizations, and methodologies. There is a need for those initiatives to be mapped, collated, and curated to transform health data into actionable knowledge.
The World Heart Federation aims to become the reference organization for information, knowledge, and policy in the global cardiovascular sphere.
As part of the WHF strategic objectives, the WHF is launching the World Heart Observatory: a knowledge hub that curates, aggregates and visualizes data on cardiovascular conditions, biological risk factors, social determinants of health, and health systems and policy responses.
About the Research Fellowship
We wish to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to add to the Institute’s capability to undertake world class research and development work in this area that will become recognized as outstanding and internationally leading. We seek highly motivated, enthusiastic and professional candidates.
We are looking for a postdoctoral data scientist to support the Observatory’s development priorities for 2022, hosted at the Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing at the University of Essex.
The fellow will work alongside a cohort of fellows working at the Institute. The post will be based at the University of Essex but will include some travel to the World Heart Federation in Geneva. Duties include identifying sources of data and review the literature for data visualisations for the Observatory and for an annual World Heart report and contributing to scientific papers.
The post is fixed term as a Postdoctoral Fellow at salary grade 8 for two years (this post is fixed term for 2 years in the first instance but there may be the possibility of extending beyond this should further funding be available). During the period of the Fellowship the post holder will undertake research specific to this project, and administrative duties.
A full list of duties can be found within the jobpack.
Skills and Qualifications required
The successful candidates will have a publications record appropriate for their experience and will be able to demonstrate evidence of potential to develop an internationally leading profile in the field.
Applicants are required to have a PhD in a relevant discipline (in particular data science, epidemiology, demography or statistics) or should be close to the completion of a PhD (writing up or under examination).
We expect the methodological focus to be discipline or domain relevant.
Excellent communication, advocacy and presentation skills, strong data science skills and experience, along with the potential to develop innovative research within your field are all essential for this post. Knowledge of or experience in the cardiometabolic space and/or non-communicable diseases are strongly desirable, as is evidence of successful participation and contribution to interdisciplinary and national/international collaborations. Experience of interacting with non-academic sectors through impact activities or public engagement is also desirable.
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 Global Forum, 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: https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/student-facilities/religion-and-faith
Please see the job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application.
Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please telephone the Resourcing Team (01206 876559).
*More information: Working at the University
