Overview

As a research assistant, you will join a team working on the project “Understanding and improving engagement and retention in NHS gambling treatment services”, which is led by Professor Matt Field and funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling. The research assistant will provide specialist research support to the project, particularly extracting and coding information, merging different datasets, and securely managing data. You will work closely with other members of the project team and stakeholders including clinicians and people with lived experience of treatment.

The overarching aim of the project is to use machine learning methods to understand why many people who are referred for treatment will drop out prematurely. To do this, two studies are planned. One will use a machine-learning-driven content analysis of referral notes and use this information, alongside contextual factors, to distinguish who is likely to attend their initial assessment versus who is not. The other study will use data from initial clinical assessments alongside contextual factors and treatment characteristics to identify characteristics of people who complete treatment and people who drop out prematurely, again using machine learning methods.  Important outcomes from the project include developing and validating tools that can identify service users who require additional support or different forms of support to help them remain engaged with treatment. This tool can be applied in future work and can inform additional research that will develop and evaluate interventions to improve engagement and retention in treatment.

The research assistant will play a key role in preparing and managing the datasets, including extracting, cleaning, merging, and coding data from clinical records, and supporting the development of initial analytic pipelines for supervised machine learning models.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Support research that applies advanced quantitative methods to identify predictors of engagement and retention in NHS gambling treatment services.
• Responsibility for extracting, coding, merging and securely managing information derived from healthcare records.
• Awareness of and contributions to research governance, including applications for ethical approval.
• Consideration of data management including compliance with data protection legislation and information security requirements.  
• Engagement with stakeholders including clinicians and people with lived experience of treatment for gambling disorder.
• Attend and contribute to project meetings and other relevant meetings in the School of Psychology and in other departments at the University of Sheffield.
• As a member of staff you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Essential criteria

• Undergraduate qualification in a relevant subject such as a BSc in Psychology, Computer Science, Data Science, Health Informatics, or another health-related field (assessed at application).
• Experience of working with large, complex multi-variable health or clinical datasets, that include identifiable and sensitive information (assessed at application and interview).
• Excellent organisational skills, including ability to work to deadlines and to manage your own workload (assessed at application and interview).

Desirable criteria

• Recent experience of working with NHS systems, including healthcare records.
• A postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject area, such as an MSc in Data Science, Health Data Analytics, Health Informatics or Computational Social Science.
• Experience with Natural Language Processing (NLP) or text mining, particularly for extracting information from free-text clinical notes, referral forms, or similar unstructured data.
• Knowledge of open research practices and willingness to engage with them (e.g. preregistration, preprints, data sharing) (assessed at application and interview).
• Interest in and knowledge of gambling addiction and its treatment.

Further Information

Grade: 6

Salary: £32,080 to £33,951 (grade 6.1 to 6.3) per annum pro-rata, dependent on skills and experience.

Work arrangement: Part-time (50% FTE)

Duration: 6 months

Line manager: Principal Investigator on research project, Professor Matt Field

Direct reports: Principal Investigator on research project, Professor Matt Field

Our website: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology

For informal enquiries about this job contact
Professor Matt Field on matt.field@sheffield.ac.uk

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place in early 2026. This will consist of an interview. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage within four weeks of the closing date. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process you can contact XXXX

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).

What we offer

• A minimum of 38 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Academic Career Pathways Route
• A range of generous family-friendly policies
  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • support for those going through the menopause
  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Criminal record

A standard DBS check will be needed for this role. More details on the checks can be found on the Government website: gov.uk/criminal-record-checks-apply-role (opens in a new window).

Possession of a criminal record is not an automatic bar to employment at the University of Sheffield. We recognise the value of steady employment in the rehabilitation process and examine each case in its own right. More information can be found on our Information for candidates page:- sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/candidates (opens in a new window).