Research Associate - Safety Epidemiologist (Scotland)

About Us

The Toxicology & Forensic Sciences Department is based in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King's Waterloo Campus. It brings together over 70 researchers working on analytical techniques for improving the health and justice systems. Overall, the aim of the Department is to develop and improve forensic science methodologies and explore and minimise harms on human health and public safety.

About The Role

The Research Associate will support the work of the Preventable Deaths Tracker for Scotland ( https://preventabledeathstracker.scot/ ), the first digital vigilance platform that enables learning from medico-legal death investigations.

The Preventable Deaths Tracker (PDT) is a relational database currently run on WordPress that automatically collects coroners' Prevention of Future Deaths reports (PFDs) published in England and Wales since 2013 and Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAIs) written by sheriffs since 1999. There are over 6,300 PFDs and 900 FAIs published as of August 2026 in the databases update daily. The PDT in England and Wales has been used to conduct a range of research and policy reports ( https://preventabledeathstracker.net/research/ ), so now we want to do expand on these efforts in Scotland.

The core mission of the PDT is to save lives by enabling learning and prevention of avoidable and premature deaths. The PDT's areas of focus are:

1. Tools: Develop digital solutions for using, identifying, and disseminating statistics and lessons from avoidable deaths across Great Brittain.
2. Epidemiological surveillance: Assess trends and identify safety signals for action to prevent future deaths.
3. Practice and policy: Evaluate actions taken or inactions following death investigations to inform practice and shape policy interventions for prevention.

The primary role of the Research Associate is to lead the epidemiological surveillance research (area 2) for Scotland to understand the types of deaths that result in FAIs, assess trends and identify patterns to prevent future deaths.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 12 months. The role is funded by the charity, Changing Ideas.

The post is designed for flexible/hybrid working with both a mix of online and in person meetings, seminars and events.

Research staff at King's are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD in epidemiology or another relevant discipline (e.g. public health, health data science, statistics), or equivalent relevant experience and/or training.
2. Strong knowledge and practical experience of epidemiological research methods, including developing and applying appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative methods to address research questions.
3. Evidence of relevant data analysis skills using statistical software/programming languages (e.g. R, Python or Stata), including applying appropriate statistical methods, interpretation of outcomes, and producing reproducible analyses.
4. Evidence of data and project management skills, including a high attention to detail and strong research integrity.
5. Evidence of performing evidence syntheses and critical appraisal, including scoping and/or systematic reviews and identification/use of grey literature.
6. Evidence of excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience of publishing peer-reviewed manuscripts and explaining complex findings to academic and non-academic audiences.
7. Ability to independently plan, manage and deliver research projects, including prioritising competing activities, coordinating project activities, monitoring milestones and deliverables to agreed deadlines.
8. Ability to work collaboratively with others, including building effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, contribute to the development of junior researchers and/or students, and represent research professionally to a range of academic, policy, professional and public audiences.

Desirable criteria

1. Experience analysing mortality and/or safety/harms data.
2. Knowledge of the death investigation system in Scotland, including Fatal Accident Inquiries.
3. Knowledge of the Scottish public sector landscape, including the Scottish government, NHS Scotland, local authorities, regulators and other public bodies, including their respective roles, responsibilities and accountability structures.
4. Experience of identifying research opportunities and contributing to or leading successful research grant/funding applications, including developing research proposals and collaborations.
5. Experience of translating research findings into practice or policy impact, including engaging with policymakers, key stakeholders, the media, and members of the public or people with lived experience.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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

At King's, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King's guidance.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

Interviews are due to be held in September.

We are also recruiting for a Research Assistant position, please see https://www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/156945-research-assistant-preventable-deaths-tracker