The Centre for Housing Research (CHR) wishes to appoint a Qualitative Research Assistant to develop its research on housing and home.  The successful candidate will work closely with CHR Director’s Drs Kim McKee and Louise Reid, taking forward our work on housing and home. We are developing interests in projects that span the fields of social housing, welfare reform and place-based stigma, linking these to issues of sustainability. We wish to appoint a Qualitative Research Assistant who can contribute to the development of our ongoing and future work in these areas.  

Candidates should have at least Masters’ level research experience in urban and/or social geography (or cognate areas in related disciplines).  Preference will be given to candidates who have completed or are near to completing their PhD.  Experience of project design and management, qualitative methods and analysis, and policy-relevant research are essential. The job will involve some or all of the following tasks: contributing to funding bids; designing and undertaking qualitative research; helping to disseminate research findings in written and oral forms; and working with colleagues to help raise the profile of CHR’s activities.  

Established in 1990, CHR is one of the leading inter-disciplinary housing research centres in the UK.  It is an independent research centre within the Department of Geography & Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews.  Our programme of research is policy-relevant, theoretically informed and centres on geographical and sociological understandings of housing and home.  Following our change of leadership in 2014, our work is now focused around two strategic themes: 1) Housing, Families & Communities, and 2) Places, Policies & Practices.   

Over the past 25 years CHR has attracted research funding from the European Commission, Communities and Local Government, the Housing Corporation, Communities Scotland/Scottish Homes, the Scottish Government, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Leverhulme Foundation, the Carnegie Trust, the British Academy, Shelter and the Economic and Social Research Council.  We have a wealth of theoretical, methodological and disciplinary expertise amongst our team of academics, data analysts and doctoral researchers.  Our work has informed and influenced policy and practice within the fields of housing and regeneration, the third sector, economic development and carbon reduction from the local, through to the national and international level.  Collaborative working and knowledge exchange are central to our activities. We are also a key repository for housing-related support data through our Supporting People: Client Records and Outcomes project.  Key members of academic staff within, and associated to, CHR are: Dr Kim McKee, Dr Louise Reid, and Dr David McCollum.  

The post is available from January 2015 for 18 months.

Interviews will be held on 7 November 2014

Please quote ref: MR1480

Closing Date: 30 September 2014

Further Particulars MR1480AR FPs.doc

School of Geography & Geosciences,
Department of Geography & Sustainable Development,
Centre for Housing Research
Salary: £25,513 - £28,695 per annum
Fixed term: 18 months
Start: 5 January 2015 or as soon as possible thereafter