Research Associate

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

CAHSS / Edinburgh College of Art

Full-time: 35 hours per week 

Fixed-term: 13th November 2028

The Opportunity:

An exciting opportunity has arisen with the BRAID Programme as Research Associate for Social Return on Investment.  

Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) is a £15.9M UK-wide programme dedicated to integrating Arts and Humanities research more fully into the Responsible AI ecosystem. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, it runs from 2022 to 2028.     

Whilst AI is increasingly framed as a dynamic solution to social ills, there is scant demonstration of its social value, or rigorous evaluations of anything beyond simple cost savings.  The successful applicant will seek to understand how best to understand and measure social return on AI investment in at least two contexts, depending on complexity (e.g., education, health, public media). It is anticipated that the research will involve a review of existing literature and methods for assessing social return, the development of database of existing evaluation resources and metrics, the development of two case studies, and validation of a series of values and measures applied in each context to demonstrate value.     

The post is full-time (35 hours per week), fixed term until 13 November 2028. The post is expected to be extended until 13 February 2029, subject to a no-cost funding extension being granted.  We would be happy to consider flexible working patterns, and 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:   

The successful applicant will hold a PhD in a demonstrably cognate discipline, such as sociology, economics, psychology, STS or philosophy and be able to demonstrate strong qualitative research skills, as well as an understanding of the benefits and limitations of AI tools and methods in context. Prior experience of assessing the social and/or economic return arising from the application of technology would be an advantage. Quantitative researchers are encouraged to apply where they can also demonstrate strong qualitative research skills.  

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 (mapped to the job description) 
• An example of written work (e.g., can be a paper, thesis chapter, article) 

 As a valued member of our team you can expect:  

• A competitive salary 
• An exciting, positive, creative, fast-paced 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 7th November 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.

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.