Research Associate

3 weeks ago


Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

The role

We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated postdoc to work on our Leverhulme funded project investigating the Evolution of Animal Play.

This interdisciplinary project will use broad phylogenetic comparative data across taxa with ambitious, in-depth behavioural studies of wild dolphins to shed new light on the origins of animal play and its functions in dolphins.

Start date 1st Jan 2025.

What will you be doing?

  • You will spend time collecting empirical data from a well-studied, wild population of dolphins to test key hypotheses on the adaptive functions of play; specifically, whether juvenile social play in male dolphins leads to skill progression of reproductive behaviour, and whether juvenile social play also functions to develop social assessment skills. This will require you to spend time at a remote field site in Western Australia for a few months per year with other research team members.
  • You will be responsible for fieldwork, data analysis and paper writing.
  • In addition, you will be responsible for conducting a meta-analysis on mammalian play using phylogenetically informed statistical models to test evolutionary theories about the importance of play behaviour.

You should apply if

  • You will have a PhD (awarded or imminent) in a relevant subject, a strong background in conducting fieldwork with wild animal populations and using mixed-modelling statistical approaches.
  • Extensive knowledge of R or MATLAB is required and experience collecting and analysing acoustic and/or drone-mounted video data is desirable.
  • You will need excellent data handling and management, and communication skills.

Additional information

For informal enquires, please contact: Stephanie King,

Our strategy and mission


We recently launched our strategy to 2030 tying together our mission, vision and values.


The University of Bristol aims to be a place where everyone feels able to be themselves and do their best in an inclusive working environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their full potential. We want to attract, develop, and retain individuals with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives – particularly people of colour, LGBT+ and disabled people - because diversity of people and ideas remains integral to our excellence as a global civic institution.

£37,099 to £41,732 per annum


  • Research Associate

    5 days ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleApplications are invited for up to three Post-Doctoral Research Associates to work on information theory, decentralised decision-making, and engineering applications. The positions are funded by the EPSRC AI Hub on Information Theory for Distributed Artificial Intelligence (INFORMED-AI), a joint initiative between the Universities of Bristol,...

  • Research Associate

    3 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThe role is to assist with the METEOR and COMET research projects, which can be thought of as two phases of a single science studies research and engagement project whose aim is to improve the use of applied meta-research evidence in the decision-making processes of research institutions that affect their research culture, indirectly enhancing the...

  • Research Associate

    1 month ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleWe are seeking an enthusiastic and self-motivated (Senior) Research Associate to undertake an experimental programme developed to understand the durability and alteration of minerals and materials relevant to the disposal of radioactive waste.This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development of the post-closure safety case for the...

  • Research Associate

    3 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleAn enthusiastic and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate is required to add their expertise to a team investigating immunological mechanisms that link sight-threatening uveitis and inflammatory arthritis. We have identified cytokine-regulated mechanisms that determine the pathogenic potential of T helper cells that orchestrate tissue...

  • Research Associate

    1 month ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThis is an exciting opportunity for a Research Associate / Senior Research Associate position to join the Diverse-Ability Interaction Lab (Dive Lab), led by Dr Oussama Metatla, within the Bristol Interaction Group (BIG) at the University of Bristol.In the Dive Lab, we study interactions between disabled and non-disabled people to design, engineer and...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Care Research Full time

    Job summaryThis role works as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research's (NIHR) Research Delivery Network (RDN). The Regional RDN South West Central (RRDN) is hosted by UHBW.Working together the two RRDN Health & Care Research Directors (one Medic and one Nurse, Midwife or Allied Health Professional) will be the senior officers responsible...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom National Institute for Health and Care Research Full time

    Job summaryThis role works as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research's (NIHR) Research Delivery Network (RDN). The Regional RDN South West Central (RRDN) is hosted by UHBW.Working together the two RRDN Health & Care Research Directors (one Medic and one Nurse, Midwife or Allied Health Professional) will be the senior officers responsible...

  • Research Associate

    2 months ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleApplications are invited for the role of Postdoctoral Researcher at the UKRI Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) Transforming Net Zero with Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductor Device Technology (REWIRE) to provide leading contributions to power electronic semiconductor devices. The role-holder will provide professional expertise and contribute creative...

  • Research Associate

    2 months ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThe LEAP Digital Health Hub is an EPSRC-funded partnership that aims to catalyse innovation, research, and collaboration in digital health in the South West of England and Wales. LEAP brings together five leading regional universities and Health Data Research UK (HDRUK) plus a network of 60+ partners in industry, charities, NHS trusts and social care...

  • Research Associate

    3 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThe post-holder will be required to work on a project entitled 'NFYA: a novel, potentially druggable, mechanosensitive mechanism of cardiac fibrosis' under Dr Mark Bond's supervision. The project is funded by the British Heart Foundation for 3 years and will involve characterization of the role played by the NFY transcription factor as a...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThe Particle Physics group of the University of Bristol ) UK, seeks a Research Associate or Senior Research Associate to join its machine learning R&D team. The successful applicant will be the lead developer for ML workflows on newly released FPGA-based ML -acceleration platforms, including the Xilinx Versal series. The key objectives of this...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThis is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Research Associate (SRA) to join the MyWorld project. The role of this Senior Research Associate will be to explore the use of Immersive Technologies to support our understanding and relationship with the natural world in new ways, through the co-ordination and development of experimental immersive...

  • Research Associate

    2 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThis post is to join an HFSP funded project 'Evolution at the plant apex: identifying steps enabling a major organismal radiation'. An interdisciplinary project involving collaboration with co-Is in Edinburgh (Sandy Hetherington), Ghent (Tom Beeckman) and Kyoto (Rieko Fujinami), the project aims to identify morphological, developmental and genetic...

  • Research Associate

    4 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThe School of Earth Sciences seeks to appoint a PDRA for 2 years to detect and classify the spatio-temporal patterns of volcano deformation using the rapidly growing global archive of satellite imagery. The researcher will work with closely with the COMET LICSAR processing team and Bristol's Visual Information Laboratory to develop new approaches to...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleA postdoctoral position is available under the guidance of Dr Thomas Gorochowski in the School of Biological Sciences (University of Bristol) in collaboration with Dr Thomas Ouldridge (Imperial College London) as part of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional grant called EEBio, which investigates ways to improve the robustness of engineered...

  • Research Associate

    4 weeks ago


    Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleA postdoctoral position is available under the guidance of Dr Christopher Clements in the School of Biological Sciences (University of Bristol) and in collaboration with Dr Thomas Gorochowski, as part of a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional grant investigating the role of genetic engineering in ecological restoration. This is an open-ended...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleWe seek an enthusiastic and creative Postdoctoral Research Associate who will add their expertise to a team investigating the cellular persistence of the human retroviruses HIV-1 and HTLV-1 and novel therapeutic approaches to eliminate their viral sanctuaries. The work of the selected candidate will be aimed at elucidating the role of cellular...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleOne Postdoctoral Researcher position (Research Associate) in soft robotics and tactile robotics is available to support the activities of the University of Bristol and Bristol Robotics Laboratory on the £6 million ISCF Research Centre for Smart, Collaborative Industrial Robots (CESCIR) ).The role will develop soft, tactile and dextrous robotic...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThis Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position will combine a mixture of genetic part design, massively parallel reporter assays, nanopore sequencing, and the development of new tools and methods for engineering cyanobacteria for environmental bio-restoration applications. It will build on advances within our team to develop methods that can...


  • Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom University of Bristol Full time

    The roleThis post holder will be nanofabricating small crystals of quantum materials (QMs), and characterising their electronic properties. Focussed ion beam (FIB) microscopes will be key for fabrication, leveraging the recent acquisition of two new FIBs in the School of Physics, including a plasma FIB, with options to etch with various ion sources. The...