Research Assistant in Realist Synthesis

Salary: £33,002.00 - £34,610.00  per annum, pro rata

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.

Closing Date: 16 February 2026

The Role

You will focus on undertaking a realist evidence synthesis to support ongoing work with the PSRC theme. This theme is dedicated to investigating and building evidence about how safe, effective, digitally enhanced and integrated care is best designed, delivered and implemented in the post-pandemic NHS.

You will work with researchers and external stakeholders from local authorities, across primary, secondary and voluntary sector settings and with patient and public groups. You will be tasked to complete a realist evidence synthesis according to a set protocol. This will involve gathering and reviewing published literature, evidence and data alongside actively engaging with a stakeholder group to support the evidence synthesis. The review is aiming to understand evidence about the use of digital technology in a specific area of health care delivery.

You will join a vibrant team of researchers within the Newcastle NIHR Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC). You will benefit from the active community, training and networking events. This post is an appointment to the ‘Safer integrated health and social care environments for patients with multiple long-term conditions’ theme.

This post is part time, one day per week, fixed term for a period of 12 months.

For informal enquiries contact: hamde.nazar@ncl.ac.uk

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/

For more information about the School of Pharmacy, please visit: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/pharmacy/.

For more information about the NIHR Newcastle PSRC, please visit: Pioneering Patient Safety Research - PSRC

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

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 the study, thus providing substantial 'added value'
• Undertake and contribute to public/patient involvement/engagement (PPIE) to support the study
• Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements
• 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
• Experience and/or understanding of public/patient involvement/engagement in research
• To ensure compliance with secure handling of data
• Work with data engineers to understand and inform functionality and patient usability and accessibility of digital tools and interfaces that facilitate safe integrated care

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills
• Detailed methodological knowledge of realism as a form of evidence synthesis
• Advanced skills directly related to the research study
• 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
• Working knowledge and appreciation of effective patient and public engagement and involvement strategies in research and quality improvement
• High level of skills in literature reviewing and systematic synthesis methodologies, e.g., systematic, scoping, realist reviews, etc.
• Experience of qualitative/codesign/consensus research methodologies (Desirable)
• Experience of research using behavioural/implementation science (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Ability to work unsupervised and on own initiative
• Flexibility and ability to multitask
• Consistent and appropriate approach to staff and situations
• Use of feedback for process improvement and staff development
• Team player, self-starter and able to manage complex workload
• Ability to respond enthusiastically and positively to students

Qualifications

• Honours degree in relevant subject
• Demonstrative skills in realism, whether through a training record, or through active projects or dissemination outputs using this as a methodology

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 Gold 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 REC.  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. 

Requisition ID: 28995