Research Assistant in Adolescent Digital Wellbeing

How does video gaming affect adolescents, and how can families foster healthy gaming habits? In this role, you will contribute to the cutting‑edge Kaleidoscope research project aimed at answering precisely that question. The project offers a fantastic opportunity to develop social science research skills, take ownership on parts of the project in the context of a small team, and directly engage with the beneficiaries of the research.

What you would be doing

The Kaleidoscope project is a year‑long longitudinal study of approximately 300 adolescents and families, collecting deep behavioural trace data across gaming platforms alongside ecological momentary assessment, qualitative measures, and randomised controlled trials of family‑facing wellbeing interventions. Working in close collaboration with the PI and a postdoctoral researcher, you will play a key role in participant recruitment, onboarding, and retention – helping participants link their gaming accounts, proactively developing relationships with schools, and handling participant inquiries. You will also lead aspects of the qualitative data collection and analysis. This scope of the project means there is potential to pursue independent research directions, and to prepare results for publication as either lead or co‑author.

What we are looking for

• Bachelor or Master degree in a relevant discipline (including, but not limited to, psychology, communications, human‑computer interaction)
• Experience conducting research or engagement activities with young people, families, or schools
• Confidence leading qualitative data collection (e.g., interviews or focus groups), including with adolescent participants
• Comfort working with digital data systems and tools – you don’t need to be a programmer, but you should be able to look at dashboards or data files, recognise when something 'looks wrong,' and work with technical colleagues to investigate
• Strong organisational skills, to manage tasks like project budgeting and participant compensation
• Foundation in social science research methods (qualitative and/or quantitative)

What we can offer you

• Project‑specific benefits
• Genuine opportunities to contribute to peer‑reviewed publications at leading HCI and psychology venues, with expectations of co‑authorship on study outputs and opportunities for lead authorship
• Training and mentorship in open science practices (e.g., preregistration, open data, and reproducible workflows) that are increasingly expected in research careers
• Work at the intersection of psychology, human‑computer interaction, and psychiatry, collaborating with researchers across Imperial’s Dyson School of Design Engineering and Department of Psychiatry
• Opportunities to share research beyond academia (e.g., engagement with general public, media, and industry stakeholders)
• The opportunity to continue your career at a world‑leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
• As a member of research staff you have 10 development days to use to develop your skills and explore your career prospects
• Sector‑leading salary and remuneration package (including 41 days off a year and generous pension schemes).
• Be part of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative work culture with various staff networks and resources to support your personal and professional wellbeing.

Further information

Inquiries and Application Process

We welcome pre‑submission inquiries to evaluate fit for the role. Please contact: Dr Nick Ballou – n.ballou@imperial.ac.uk with “RA - Digital Wellbeing” in the Subject Line, your inquiry, and please attach a CV and writing sample. We may schedule an informal video meeting and recommend that you apply or not. Due to the volume of inquiries, those that do not follow these instructions may not receive a reply.

In the full application, please provide a paper, report, or other written work – including course or dissertation projects – that best demonstrates your experience engaging participants in research.

In your cover letter, summarise the project, identify your specific contribution if it was team‑based, and describe any challenges you encountered in participant recruitment, retention, or communication.

Notifications for shortlisted candidates will be sent out by July 31, with interviews taking place between Aug 5–19.

Further Information

This is a full‑time post (35 hours per week) based in the Dyson School of Design Engineering. The successful applicant will be embedded in Prof Sebastian Deterding’s Motivational Design Lab (5 PhD students), but work most closely with Dr Nick Ballou’s Kaleidoscope Lab team (1 PI, 1 Research Assistant, 1 Research Associate) as well as colleagues from the Psychiatry Department (Dr Martina Di Simplicio).

This role is for a fixed‑term contract for 12 months, with the possibility of extending to 24 months. This role is hybrid – min. 2 days per week present at our office at the Imperial South Kensington Campus, remainder can be remote. Occasional travel within Greater London to engage families and schools will be required.

The successful applicant will directly communicate with and study adolescents, and must follow safeguarding procedures, and thus requires a DBS check. As this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, at the appropriate level, will be required for the successful candidate.

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialise its download.

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.

We reserve the right to close the advert prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don’t hesitate to email us at support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk. We’re here to help.

About Imperial

Welcome to Imperial, a global top ten university where scientific imagination leads to world‑changing impact. Join us and be part of something bigger. From global health to climate change, AI to business leadership, here at Imperial we navigate some of the world’s toughest challenges. Whatever your role, your contribution will have a lasting impact.

As a member of our vibrant community of 22,000 students and 8,000 staff, you’ll collaborate with passionate minds across nine London campuses and a global network. This is your chance to help shape the future. We hope you’ll join us at Imperial College London.

Our Culture

We work towards equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination, and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities and industries, and are committed to employing a team that has diverse skills, experiences and abilities. You can read more about our commitment on our webpages.

Our values are at the root of everything we do and everyone in our community is expected to demonstrate respect, collaboration, excellence, integrity, and innovation.