Healthy Ageing Impact Fellow

Part time - 0.5% FTE
Fixed term for 2 years

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 12 December 2021
Interviews are expected to take place on Friday 07 January 2022

A secondment opportunity is available for this post

This role is not eligible for sponsorship. Applicants require to have existing right to work in the UK.

The University of Stirling recognises that a diverse workforce benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers and welcome applications from those who would contribute to further diversification of our staff and ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion is woven into the substance of the role. We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds including gender, identity, race, age, class, and ethnicity.

Healthy Ageing Challenge

The UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge, aims to enable businesses, including social enterprises, to develop and deliver products, services and business models that will be adopted at scale which support people as they age. This will allow people to remain active, productive, independent and socially connected across generations for as long as possible. A portfolio of activities is being delivered under the Healthy Ageing Challenge, with academic research playing a crucial role in understanding the key issues facing the older population and ways in which support, and care can be delivered effectively. Further details can be found: Community of Practice | Home (ageing-better.org.uk)

The Social, Behavioural and Design Research Programme (SBDRP) is a set of 7 interdisciplinary academic-led teams, working in partnership with a range of stakeholders, to develop the research base and understanding of the needs of the ageing population, informing innovators and influencing market behaviours. The projects address: healthy ageing at work; art and technology to support healthy ageing; connectivity and digital design for promoting health and wellbeing across generations, places and spaces; designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing through coproduction and scale; innovations in the visitor economy of the natural environment to extend active life for people with cognitive impairment; healthier working lives and ageing for residential care workers and exploring how where we live affects dementia and brain health as we get older.

The post is a UKRI Fellowship (at a minimum of 0.5FTE for 24 months, subject to discussion and agreement with successful candidate) The post may be undertaken on a secondment basis from your current University or Organisation, and we encourage secondment from business and industry as well as academia. The successful candidate will join a small team (including Research Director and Programme Manager based at the University of Stirling) and would work as part of the HAC Research Director’s portfolio. The successful candidate must be based in the UK with the ability to travel to Stirling and to clusters in all parts of the UK (subject to prevailing Government guidance).

Working with the Research Director, SBDRP project teams and external partners, you will take a lead in raising awareness, driving change and delivering impact in the sectors engaged in town centre placemaking (for example, retail, transport, planning, design) around healthy ageing. This will take the form of engaging in a number of activities to make better use of social science research evidence to help the business sector to understand and develop innovations in the ageing market and create sustainable partnerships with research organisations who specialise in areas around ageing and place making. Throughout, you will be working with stakeholders across sectors, and with older people who are the ultimate beneficiaries of the project.

• To scope out the sectors engaged in town centre placemaking (retail sector and the wider eco system) to develop a clear ‘pathways to impact’/Theory of Change for healthy ageing research
• To establish an advisory group of key stakeholders in the relevant sectors to champion the healthy ageing agenda
• To translate research (& design) into policy and practice working with town centre stakeholders. The Impact Fellow will work with small groups in the relevant sectors (retail, transport, planning & wider eco system) to tackle a specific shared problem from an evidence base and produce a report or briefing. This will require the Impact Fellow to engage with local intergenerational communities.
• To engage with the SBDRP projects to facilitate high level dissemination and translation of the SBDRP findings and create an established and timeous path to impact for our projects across the Challenge portfolio. This would be additional to the all the SBDRP projects which have pathways to impact built in from the start of their projects. The projects would come together to work on a project to implement their methodologies and findings in a town centre context to develop a town centre of the future.
• To work with retailers and other stakeholders on an innovation competition (Healthy Ageing in a Future Town Centre) and lever in additional funding to the HAC
• To assist with impact measurement, developing and implementing impact measurement tools

Person Specification

This Fellowship is for a mixed method researcher who has an interest in working at the interface between academia and business. The role requires an individual with a track record of high-quality research with an interest in placemaking, and the translation of research into practice.

It is anticipated that the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate a strong understanding of current debates in social science and/or arts and humanities, and an appreciation of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral working. The ability to take a design / system-thinking approach is essential to challenge potential assumptions that drive the current approach.

Qualifications

• Hold a PhD in a relevant discipline (where no formal qualification is held, additional relevant experience is required above that noted below)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of knowledge exchange and impact work, taking research findings into real world application
• Knowledge and understanding of current research impact agendas
• Demonstrates ability to co-produce research projects that brings together different stakeholders including local communities, older people and industry partners
• Experience of co-production approaches in delivering research impact
• A track record of interaction with industry, employers, Government, and practitioners
• Experience of the UK HEI sector & business sector
• Demonstrates ability and skills to work effectively, collaboratively and collegiately with a diverse range of research partners and stakeholders (including academic colleagues and industry partners/business stakeholders) across a multi-disciplinary and multi sectoral environment
• Experience of successfully conducting high quality applied research both independently and collaboratively within strict timescales
• Excellent communication and negotiating skills including experience of writing/contributing to publications, presentation and social media skills
• Experience of writing for academic publication
• Active interest in and understanding of population ageing, placemaking and/or the retail sector
• Understanding of and commitment to co-productive working
• Has the experience of co-production of knowledge and implementation/ translation of knowledge with the business sector, public sector, civil society, or wider community
• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills and ability to enthuse an audience

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of working with older people
• Experience of co-production approaches in delivering research impact
• A record of high-quality publications
• Experience of leveraging funding for developing impact.
• Be able to work (and travel) across the UK (remote working is possible given government restrictions)
• Can inspire people with innovative ideas through excellent communication skills

The role holder will be required to evidence that they can meet the qualities associated with the following behavioural competencies, as detailed within the AUA Competency Framework.

The Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS) is an integrated multi-disciplinary team of academic and professional support staff with research and teaching interests in sociology, social policy, criminology, education, housing studies, social work and dementia. Working collaboratively with students, staff and stakeholders, the Faculty provide high quality undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as professional development in all these areas through our interdisciplinary links across the University and beyond. We have a sustained successful research record and in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, 80% of our research was assessed as internationally excellent or world leading, with the top 23% of our work judged as world leading across two units of assessment, Education, and Social Work and Social Policy.

In addition to teaching, social scientific research is undertaken in the Faculty under the following headings: Crime and Justice; Child Welfare and Protection; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Dementia and Social Gerontology; Educational Studies; Public Services and Governance; and Social Surveys and Social Statistics.

Full information about the Faculty can be found here: stir.ac.uk/social-sciences/

The University of Stirling is a leading UK teaching and research-intensive university, created by Royal Charter in 1967. Since its foundation, the University has embraced its role as an innovative, intellectual and cultural institution with a pioneering spirit and a passion for excellence in all that it does.

In 2016, the University launched its current Strategic Plan https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/our-vision/our-strategy/ (2016-2021), with targets to: be one of the top 25 universities in the UK; increase income by £50 million; enhance its research profile by 100 per cent; and ensure internationalisation is at the heart of everything it does.

With three-quarters of its research ranked world-leading and internationally-excellent (Research Excellence Framework 2014), the University’s groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research makes a difference to society and has a positive impact on communities worldwide. Stirling’s research is making a positive impact on people’s health, education and wellbeing, with key strengths across our research themes of: Cultures, Communities and Society; Global Security and Resilience; and Living Well. The University collaborates with international governments and policymakers, businesses, industry, and charitable organisations, to tackle and provide solutions to some of the toughest global societal challenges.

For more information on working at Stirling, please visit https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-at-stirling/.

The University offers great benefits such as generous annual leave and membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Additionally staff can benefit from a reduced membership rate at the University’s excellent Sport Centre facilities.

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