Postdoctoral Research Associate

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

CSE / School of Geosciences

Full-time: 35 hours per week 

Fixed term: 18 months 

The Opportunity:

The appointed PDRA will contribute to an exciting new project which aims to combine existing survey data resources to create a new, harmonised multidimensional dataset concerning people’s relationships with nature across the whole of the UK, and use it to address priority questions for policy-makers. The PDRA will liaise with partner organisations to collate existing data sets, carry out data harmonisation work, use the harmonised dataset to examine engagement with green space across the UK, and share the results through journal articles, reports and presentations. The PDRA will also be responsible for data management, metadata production, dealing with quality issues and the final delivery of data for sharing or archiving, supported by the full project team. This programme of research will be conducted in collaboration with partners from the Australian National University and Natural England and has been funded by the UKRI through the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative.

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.

The salary for this post is £41,064 to £48,822 per annum.

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• Expertise in the quantitative analysis of survey data
• Expertise in R or another similar statistical programming language
• Expertise in the management of complex survey data sets and associated metadata
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Conscientious and methodical approach to work

Click to view a copy of the full job description (opens new browser tab)

Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

- Cv

- Cover Letter

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, 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 20th 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 will be held in the week commencing 27th October 2025.

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.