Research Assistant/Associate in Human Nutrition

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

The Role

We are looking to employ a Research Assistant/Associate as part of a multi-centre project funded by Alzheimer's Research UK. The project is exploring whether following UK-specific healthy eating recommendations is associated with better brain health and lower dementia risk. It will involve conducting a series of epidemiological analyses in the UK Biobank cohort. You will work as part of a collegiate and ambitious research team focused on diet and dementia risk reduction. You will have opportunities to develop new skills, present at national/international conferences, and publish in high impact peer-reviewed journals. You will have previous experience conducting epidemiological analyses in UK Biobank or similar large-scale cohorts focused on diet or other lifestyle factors and disease risk.

This position is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build research experience in nutritional epidemiology, especially those looking to pursue a future career in academia.

The project will be conducted using data from the large-scale UK Biobank Cohort, a repository containing dietary, lifestyle, genotypic, phenotypic, neuroimaging and disease incidence data. You will carry out a series of analyses exploring associations between adherence to UK-specific healthy eating recommendations (Eatwell Guide), neuroimaging outcomes and dementia incidence. You will conduct data cleaning, derive healthy dietary pattern scores, handle complex data such as neuroimaging and genetics data, and explore diet-dementia associations via regression-based approaches, including Cox hazard regression. The findings from the project will provide important information around the suitability of current UK healthy eating recommendations for dementia risk reduction.

This is a full time, fixed term post until 27 January 2028.

Key Accountabilities

• Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of their studies, thus providing substantial 'added value'
• Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements
• Determine appropriate methodologies for research, with advice and support where required
• Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and in time develop own research objectives and proposals for funding
• Begin to write, with appropriate support, proposals for individual research funding or, where funders do not permit this, contribute to the writing of collective bids
• Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
• Contribute to the writing up of their research for publication and dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
• Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
• May be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and in providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants
• Will need to work with the support staff and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute
• May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
• Develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment
• Conduct large-scale epidemiological analyses and present the findings to key stakeholders via presentations and peer-reviewed publications

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
• Detailed subject knowledge in human nutrition
• Likelihood of advanced skills directly related to the research projects
• High level of analytical and problem-solving capability
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others
• Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment
• Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications
• Advanced statistical expertise using R, Stata or an equivalent statistical package, including using regression-based approaches (e.g., linear, logistic and Cox hazard regression)
• Experience exploring associations between diet and disease risk
• Experience of conducting large-scale epidemiological analyses in UK Biobank or a similar cohort
• Experience of deriving healthy dietary pattern scores using dietary data from 24 hour recalls or food frequency questionnaires
• Has a track record of publishing research in peer-reviewed journals

Attributes and Behaviour

• Good time management
• Excellent attention to detail

Qualifications

• Good honours degree (or equivalent) in Human Nutrition, Biology, Physiology, Biomedical Science, Sport & Exercise Science, Epidemiology, Psychology or a related discipline with some subject knowledge in the relevant area (Research Assistant)
• A PhD in Human Nutrition, Biology, Physiology, Biomedical Science, Sport & Exercise Science, Epidemiology, Psychology or a related discipline (Research Associate)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution. We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population. At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme. In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.