Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Participatory Design

School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Part-time (40%), fixed-term position through to April 2027

Base salary will be in the range $82,057.75 - $109,246.18+ 17% Superannuation (Academic Level A)

Based at our St Lucia Campus

About This Opportunity

We’re looking for a passionate Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Participatory Design) to join a national concussion research initiative. You’ll lead participatory design sessions and co-create interactive prototypes with a wide range of stakeholders—from patients and clinicians to children—in a major study supporting the uptake of the new Australian and New Zealand Concussion Guidelines (https://anzconcussionguidelines.com).

Working with a world-class team of neurologists, GPs, neuropsychologists, implementation scientists, and human-centred designers, you’ll help translate cutting-edge research into real-world clinical impact across Australia. This is a unique opportunity to shape a transformative health initiative with national significance.

Key Responsibilities Will Include:

• Research:

• Planning and facilitating in-person and online participatory design activities involving diverse stakeholders.
• Designing and prototyping interactive technologies and systems for evaluation with clinicians, patients, health professionals, parents and children.
• Working closely with healthcare professionals, researchers, and industry partners to promote the uptake of the guidelines, foster relationships, and ensure effective knowledge translation to end-users.
• Authoring high-quality research publications, contributing to competitive grant applications, and supporting the supervision and development of students and early career researchers in the field.
• Planning and facilitating in-person and online participatory design activities involving diverse stakeholders.
• Designing and prototyping interactive technologies and systems for evaluation with clinicians, patients, health professionals, parents and children.
• Working closely with healthcare professionals, researchers, and industry partners to promote the uptake of the guidelines, foster relationships, and ensure effective knowledge translation to end-users.
• Authoring high-quality research publications, contributing to competitive grant applications, and supporting the supervision and development of students and early career researchers in the field.
• Supervision and Researcher Development: Supervise honours and higher degree students, provide performance feedback and training, and resolve conflicts.
• Citizenship and Service: Develop partnerships, demonstrate leadership through mentoring, engage in internal service roles and committees, perform administrative functions, provide support to colleagues, and uphold university values.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance.

About Uq

As part of the UQ community, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. UQ has made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options and flexible start/finish times, access to exclusive internal-only vacancies, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You

• Completion of a PhD in human-centred design or a closely related field.
• An emerging profile in research in participatory design, interaction design, or a closely related field.
• Experience creating participatory design and analysis methods tailored to specific contexts of technology use.
• Evidence of technical ability to develop interactive prototypes for design, research and evaluation.
• Leading authorship of publications in esteemed peer-reviewed journals and/or highly-ranked conferences.
• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.
• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles and contributions towards external activities.

The successful candidate may be required to complete a number of pre-employment checks, including: right to work in Australia, education check, mandatory immunisations, blue card check.

You must maintain unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Employer sponsored work rights are not available for this appointment.

Questions?

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Ben Matthews matthews@uq.edu.au.

For application inquiries, please reach out to the Talent Acquisition team at talent@uq.edu.au, stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.
 

Want To Apply?

We welcome applications from all individuals and are committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. To be considered, please ensure you upload:

• Resume

• Cover letter responding to the ‘About You’ section

Our strength as an institution lies in our diverse colleagues. We're dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion, fostering an environment that mirrors our wider community. We're committed to attracting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent. If you require an alternative method to submit your application due to accessibility needs or personal circumstances, please contact talent@uq.edu.au.

Other Information

UQ is committed to a fair, equitable and inclusive selection process, which recognises that some applicants may face additional barriers and challenges which have impacted and/or continue to impact their career trajectory. Candidates who don’t meet all criteria are encouraged to apply and demonstrate their potential. The selection panel considers both potential and performance relative to opportunities when assessing suitability for the role.

Applications close Tuesday 14 October at 11.00pm AEST (R-56747). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for the week commencing Monday 27 October.