Research Associate
Help Transform Diabetic Foot Care
Join the School of Psychology at Cardiff University as a Research Associate and play a leading role in an ambitious NIHR-funded programme examining the psychological and behavioural impact of a complex intervention on people living with diabetes and at risk of foot ulcers.
This is a rare opportunity to join an ambitious, high-profile programme in its final months and play a pivotal role in delivering findings with the potential to transform diabetic foot care. Working with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians, patients and NHS partners, you will lead the completion of key analyses from the REDUCE programme, a novel intervention designed to address the psychological and behavioural factors that influence diabetic foot ulcer recurrence and healing. With diabetic foot ulcers affecting thousands of patients and costing the NHS around £1 billion annually, this work has the potential to improve patient outcomes while delivering substantial savings to healthcare services.
As a Research Associate, you will have the opportunity to bring years of programme development and data collection to fruition. You will contribute to the final stages of the clinical, process and implementation evaluations, generate impactful publications, help shape recommendations for practice and policy, and support dissemination to academic, clinical, patient and commissioning audiences. The post offers a unique chance to influence how psychological and behavioural science can be integrated into the management of long-term conditions and to help deliver evidence that could lead to a step-change in the prevention of ulcer recurrence.
This role is ideally suited to an ambitious researcher experienced in a range of advance quantitative methods and who is motivated by achieving real-world impact. Joining the project at this crucial stage, you will be able to see the full journey from intervention development to practice-changing outputs, making a significant contribution to a programme that seeks to improve lives, reduce inequalities in health outcomes, and support more sustainable NHS care
For informal enquiries, please contact vedharak@cardiff.ac.uk .
This post is full-time (35 hours per week), available from 1 December 2026 and is fixed term until 31st May 2027
The majority of roles at Cardiff University are currently operating under “blended working” arrangements, with staff having the flexibility to work partly from home and partly from the University campus depending on specific business requirements. Discussions around these arrangements can take place after the successful candidate has been appointed.
Salary: £41,885 - £46,970 per annum (Grade 6). Appointments to roles at Cardiff University are usually made at bottom of scale unless in exceptional circumstances.
Cardiff University offers many excellent benefits, including 45 days annual leave (incl. bank holidays), local pension scheme, a cycle to work scheme and other travel initiatives, annual increments within the pay scale, and more. It's an exciting and vibrant place to work with many different challenges and is a proud Living Wage supporter. Business needs will require some degree of office-based working but the balance of time can be spent in the office or remotely (subject to agreement with the line manager).
Date advert posted: Thursday, 12 November 2026
Closing date: Sunday, 29 November 2026
Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.
Cardiff University is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions we will evaluate applicants on the quality of their research, not publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which the research is published. More information is available at: Responsible research assessment - Research - Cardiff University
Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.
