Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow

**Salary**

The starting salary for Associate will be from £34,132 per annum pro rata on Grade E. For Fellow from £42,882 up to £45,413 per annum pro rata on Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience.

**Contractual hours**

18.75

**Package**

Generous holiday allowances, flexible working, pension scheme and relocation package (if applicable).

**Job category/type**

Research

**Date posted**

30/04/2025

**Job reference**

Q05059

**Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy**

This new part time (18.75 hours per week) post is available from 12 May 2025 on a fixed term basis until 31 October 2025.

**The post**
The Faculty wishes to recruit either a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow to support the work of Dr Rudy Arthur in collaboration with ekoIntelligence. This 0.51FTE post is available from 12 May to 31 October 2025. The successful applicant will work with Dr Arthur and ekoIntelligence to develop and construct new mathematical models of influence spreading in networks.

The post will include developing novel mathematical approaches for identifying and measuring the influence of motivated actors on the reputation of organisations in social and traditional media. These networks will be used to study how influence spreads and therefore to measure the reliability of information originating from each node. The postdoc will work with software engineers and analysts at ekoIntelligence to validate, implement and deploy models developed.

**About you**
The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or nearing completion for Associate) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. Applicants will be able to develop new mathematical frameworks to model spreading processes on network. Experience working with models like SIR and other contagion models on complex networks is required. Applicants must have demonstrated ability to work with large datasets of text e.g. Reddit posts or similar and be able to perform statistical analysis of such datasets. Experience with agent based modelling, information theory or dynamical systems theory is also desirable.

**Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.**

**What we can offer you**
- Freedom (and the support) to pursue your intellectual interests and to work creatively across disciplines to produce internationally exciting research;
- Support teams that understand the University wide research and teaching goals and partner with our academics accordingly
- An Innovation, Impact and Business directorate that works closely with our academics providing specialist support for external engagement and development
- Our Exeter Academic initiative supporting high performing academics to achieve their potential and develop their career
- A multitude of staff benefits including sector leading benefits around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave (up to 26 weeks full pay), Paternity leave (up to 6 weeks full pay), and a Fertility Treatment Policy
- A beautiful campus set in the heart of stunning Devon

**The University of Exeter**
We are a member of the prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities and in the top 200 universities in the world (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 and QS World University Ranking 2024). We combine world-class teaching with world-class research, achieving a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework Award 2023, underpinned by Gold ratings for Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Our world-leading research impact has grown more than any other Russell Group university in recent years, and we are home to some of the world’s most influential researchers, seeking to answer some of the most fundamental issues facing humankind today. More than 99 percent of our research is of international quality and 47 percent is world-leading (2021 Research Excellence Framework).

We encourage proactive engagement with industry, business and community partners to enhance the impact of research and education and improve the employability of our students. Read about our world leading research - Green Futures and how we are transforming education for a changing world. We are located in a beautiful part of the country and Exeter (a fast growing tech hub) is one of only a few UK cities to have been designated as a UNESCO Creative City

**Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment**
We are committed to ensuring reasonable adjustments are available for interviews and workplaces.

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