Postdoctoral Research Associate in Welfare Experiences & Mental Health

About us

This post is located within two innovative, interdisciplinary teams with an ethos of coproduction.

Firstly, it's located within the WelfareExperiences project (see below) - a team of more than 30 people, including parallel post-doctoral researchers in four other countries, and led by Prof Ben Baumberg Geiger at King's.

Secondly, it's located within the Centre for Society and Mental Health ('CSMH'), a cross-Faculty initiative between the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy (SSPP) and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN). The centre aims to understand the complex interrelationships between society and mental health, with a commitment to:

- Ensure that the impact of social context is central to how we understand mental health;

- Work in partnership with affected communities.

Departmentally, the post is based with the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine (GHSM). This is a unique interdisciplinary community that connects social scientists, biomedical researchers and clinicians, who explore the complex social determinants of health, illness and ageing in a global perspective. Founded in 2012, we are now ranked within the top 10 sociology departments in the UK. The Department is currently based in the fabulous surroundings of Bush House in central London.

About the role

This is a more-than-3-year post, fixed-term until 31st August 2028 in the first instance. It contains two elements funded from different projects, both of which are qualitative, and both on welfare experiences and mental health.

Firstly, the post-holder will be the lead UK qualitative researcher on the major, innovative WelfareExperiences project. This is one of the first international comparisons of the experiences of individuals receiving working-age benefits. By 'experiences', we mean issues related to concepts such as justice, security, and dignity. The project is mixed-methods and coproduced; you can find out more at

Your role will be to lead the UK qualitative fieldwork. You will be conducting innovative qualitative longitudinal research, which involves (i) an initial in-person interview; (ii) the person receiving benefits using an app to log every interaction they have with the system; (iii) responsive follow-up phone interviews. We expect that you will have capacity to do this with 15-18 diverse claimants. You will also be responsible for analysing this qualitative data, as part of an international team with the four other post-docs plus other researchers, as well as to do other tasks related to the project (inc. supporting coproduction, other work packages & wider impact work).

Secondly, you will do qualitative research with Prof. Ben Geiger and Prof. Karen Glaser as part of CSMH's programme on 'Work, Welfare Reform and Mental Health'. In particular, you will take forward pilot research on systems medicalisation and exclusion (some early thinking can be seen at ). This involves collaborating closely with an interdisciplinary team of researchers as well as the Centre's academic and community partners. There is also an expectation that the post holder will develop independent research (including fellowship applications) on this or related topics, with the support of the Centre.

The post holder will also commit a small amount of their time of their time to the delivery of teaching in the faculty. This will be agreed with your line manager and may include leading or teaching on one module for one term (once within the 3 years, not annually), plus supervising dissertations and student projects.

This is expected to be a full-time post (35 hours per week) - applications for undertaking this part-time are welcome, but the funding has a fixed end date. If undertaking this full-time, you will be offered an indefinite / a fixed term contract until 31st August 2028 in the first instance, view to extending subject to funding.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. A PhD (completed or in the final stages*) in sociology, social policy, anthropology, social psychology, mental health studies, or related (primarily social science) discipline.
2. Knowledge of research in the intersection between social sciences and mental health.
3. Strong experience in qualitative research methods (including interviewing, analysis and research ethics).
4. Experience in publishing academic journal articles.
5. Good collaboration skills, including with experts-by-experience, across research methods, across disciplines, and across countries.
6. Excellent written and oral presentation skills.
7. The capacity to work independently, systematically, and purposefully.

Desirable criteria

1. An excellent understanding of the British social security system.
2. Experience of conducting qualitative longitudinal research.
3. Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with experts-by-experience or individuals from affected communities.

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ' How we Recruit ' pages.

Interviews are due to be held in mid June

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.