The University of Sheffield are seeking a Research Group Manager to contribute to research undertaken by the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group (SARG). This is a managerial role with scope to influence the strategic direction. The role will work closely with SARG’s management team to develop and deliver strategic objectives, evaluate collective actions, and will be responsible for the financial, operational, risk and administrative management of SARG’s activities, supported by the Research Administrator.

Applicants should have a good honours degree (or equivalent experience), and be able to demonstrate experience of managing large research programmes in higher education or another sector. Experience in building and proactively handling relationships within research teams and a range of partners including academics, data providers and policy makers is essential.

Applications close on 28 February 2020.

Contract Type: Fixed-term for 36 months, starting as soon as possible.

Working Pattern: Full-time

Faculty: Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health

Salary: Grade 7

£31,866 - £40,322 per annum. Potential to progress to £44,045 per annum through sustained exceptional contribution.

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) is seeking to appoint a Policy Officer who is educated to degree level, ideally with a relevant postgraduate qualification, with demonstrable knowledge of public health issues and specifically Scottish alcohol policy.

The Role

The Policy Officer will help guide SHAAP advocacy and educational activities through identifying and analysing relevant policy, providing advice and guidance re-evidence-based positions, carrying out research, monitoring media and policy activity, responding to consultations, organising events and providing administrative support.

Based at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and representing the Medical Royal Colleges in Scotland and the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland, SHAAP provides a co-ordinated, coherent and authoritative medical and clinical voice on the need to reduce the impact of alcohol related harm on the health and wellbeing of people in Scotland and how to do this.  SHAAP aims to raise awareness and understanding of alcohol-related health problems with health practitioners, policy makers and the public, reviewing research and recommending evidence-based policies and practices.  We work in close collaboration with key organisations in the alcohol field in Scotland, the rest of the UK and worldwide.

Public Health England (PHE) is recruiting a full time, fixed term, Programme Officer, based at our offices in central London. The post holder will bring strong project management skill and knowledge of alcohol policy and research to develop organisational thinking on this specific policy area.

The post offers an excellent opportunity for a suitable candidate to develop their experience and knowledge within a dynamic and fast-paced team, working at a strategic level to influence future developments in the alcohol field.

Release is seeking a qualified solicitor to join their legal team. Applications are welcomed from those who have experience of social welfare law, including housing and/or social security, and/or criminal law. However, if you are passionate about working for a charity and don’t have experience in these areas we will consider your application.

Since Release’s inception in 1967, the organisation has continuously and actively advocated for open access to justice for all individuals with a specific emphasis on substance misuse and dependency.

Key objectives:

• To deliver high-quality legal services to clients of drug treatment centres in the London area.
• To provide advice, casework and representation in the category of welfare benefits, housing and debt.
• To provide legal advice on the national helpline to those impacted upon by the drug laws or have legal problems due to their drug use (training will be provided).

The Graduate Program in Psychology of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (Brazil) announces the opening of applications for the selection process for a scholarship of the National Program of PostDoctorate (PNPD/CAPES) in the addiction field. The duration of the scholarship is 12 months.

A fantastic opportunity to take the lead of an award-winning project has arisen at the Scottish Drugs Forum.

We are currently looking for a Senior Development Officer to manage and grow our highly successful Addiction Worker Training Project (AWTP) – a unique initiative which supports, trains and prepares individuals with a history of problematic drug and/or alcohol use to work in social care.

The Senior Development Officer, based at our Glasgow office, will be responsible for the operational management of a small team supporting the delivery and development of the AWTP.  They will be responsible, under direction from SDF’s Head of Inclusion and Peer Engagement, for fundraising, continued AWTP development, as well as reporting to a range of stakeholders.

This is an exciting position within a supportive team and this post will be instrumental in the continued success of this award-winning project which really does make a difference to people’s lives.

The Implementation Support Section (ISS) in the Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch (OCB) of the Division for Treaty Affairs (DTA) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides, inter alia, advice, technical support and project guidance on the implementation and practical application of the international conventions to which UNODC provides secretariat support.

Specific tasks to be performed by the consultant:

a) Develop an annotated table of content of the Report to be reviewed and approved by the supervisor. This table will serve as the basis for the Report. 
b) Collect qualitative and quantitative information on illicit drugs seizures and trafficking, illicit crop cultivation and production based on information provided by the Member states (based on Annual Reports Questionnaire - ARQ, submitted by governments for 2019 and previous years) as well as internal and external sources;
c) Collate and structure collected information for further analysis;
d) Conduct an in-depth analysis of the latest trends in illicit drugs trafficking at the regional and global levels;
e) Draft the report “World situation with regard to drug trafficking” with the latest global trends in illicit drugs trafficking (to be presented at the CND in March 2020). The report should be developed in lines with the standards set in the report presented to the CND in March 2019

Scottish Drugs Forum’s award-winning Addiction Worker Training Project (AWTP) is a unique initiative which supports, trains and prepares individuals with a history of problematic drug and/or alcohol use to work in social care.

The Senior Development Officer will be responsible for the operational management of a small team supporting the delivery and development of the AWTP.   They will be responsible, under direction from the Head of Inclusion and Peer Engagement, for fundraising, continued AWTP development as well as reporting to a range of stakeholders.

This is an exciting position within a supportive team and this post will be instrumental in the continued success of this award-winning project.

SDF offer staff excellent terms and conditions.  This post is offered on a 35hr working week, with flexi-time, pension and generous annual leave and public holidays as well as a city centre base.

The Cambridge laboratory focuses on the psychological and brain mechanisms of drug addiction, OCD, ADHD, depression and other psychiatric disorders, and uses translational methodologies to bridge fundamental discoveries in brain science with the development of new therapies. 

The successful candidate will share responsibility for delivering an experimental programme of research funded by the UK Medical Research Council to investigate the neural and psychological mechanisms of drug addiction. This behavioural neuroscience project seeks to understand why compulsive drug use develops in only some subjects by virtue of underlying traits such as anxiety, impulsivity and sensation-seeking. The successful candidate will be responsible for behavioural phenotyping, the collection and analysis of samples for gene expression and neurochemistry, and in collaboration with colleagues at the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre (WBIC) longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the structural and functional integrity of the brain before and after drug exposure.

The University of Bath are seeking an experienced and highly motivated researcher to join the thriving Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) and lead research on the tobacco industry. You will develop, lead and contribute to new and ongoing research projects relevant to STOP which may include: 

• the development and marketing of tobacco and new nicotine products, including critically examining tobacco industry targeting of vulnerable groups and circumvention of legislation; and/or
• tobacco industry interests in harm reduction; and/or
• tobacco industry influence on public health policy at global, regional and national levels

The STOP project

The STOP project brings together the global leaders in tobacco industry monitoring and research, advocacy, accountability and communication. This unique combination will help ensure our research is widely and effectively communicated and maximally impactful.

The project aims to develop a tobacco industry watchdog to deliver policy change. It is a partnership between the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, Thailand, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, and Vital Strategies, New York. 

Job Title

Professorship for “Addiction Assistance and Addiction Prevention in Social Work” at the Department of Social Work

The Role

• You will teach on our Bachelor and Master’s programmes at the Department of Social Work.
• Your teaching and research will focus on current theories and approaches in addiction assistance and addiction prevention connected to Social Work.
• You enjoy applying to interdisciplinary contexts the expertise gained in the course of your practical professional and academic work.
• You will also contribute to self-government at the department and to the further development of degree programmes and will be involved in academic continuing education.
• It is quite natural for you to deliver courses involving digital technology, possibly also in English.

An exciting opportunity exists for an exceptional candidate who is interested in undertaking a PhD project in the field of implementation science, within the Implementing work-related Mental health guidelines in general PRacticE (IMPRovE) NHMRC Partnership Trial.

Located within the Department of General Practice at Monash University, IMPRovE will implement the recently published Clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of work-related mental health conditions through a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial. Our key objectives are to increase the delivery of evidence-based general practice care for patients, assess the cost-effectiveness of our intervention and plan for national scale up. Components of the intervention will include academic detailing, peer-to-peer support and learning through a digital Community of Practice and the provision of resources.

The PhD project attached to this scholarship will focus on using implementation science theory and methods to contribute to a process evaluation of the IMPRovE trial. Supported by a large interdisciplinary team of investigators, and policy and practice partners, the PhD candidate will characterise the aspects of the intervention and our partnership approach that are likely to lead to successful change in GP practice, and to characterise aspects that may hinder success. This will involve initially undertaking a systematic review to identify the elements of a successful digital Community of Practice. Then, the focus will move towards evaluating the successful and unsuccessful components of the intervention as part of the process evaluation of the trial.

This position is located in the Data Development and Dissemination Unit (DDDU), Research and Trend Analysis Branch (RAB), Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs (DPA), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria.

The Programme Officer will manage the strategic and technical development of the Drugs Monitoring Platform (DMP), a comprehensive online system for collecting, monitoring and mapping drug-related data.

Based on the mandate on drugs as conferred by Members States, the DMP contributes to strengthening UNODC’s data collection, analysis and dissemination of information to enhance knowledge on drugs.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the  Secretariat Director will have overall operational responsibility for EASL International Liver Foundation staff, programmes, expansion, and execution of its mission, in line with the foundation’s strategy. S/he will initially develop a deep knowledge of the field, core programmes, operations, and business/financial plans.

Project Title

How do Heavy Drinkers Make Enduring Changes to Their Drinking Behaviour after Taking Part in "Dry January"?

Description

‘Dry January’ and other campaigns in which people attempt to abstain from alcohol for a month are increasingly popular. Temporary abstinence from alcohol combined with remote support may help heavy drinkers to reduce their alcohol consumption in the longer-term. However, we know very little about the psychological and social mechanisms through which people change their drinking behaviour.

This mixed-methods PhD project will directly address this important evidence gap. The candidate will conduct prospective observational studies that will recruit people who attempt a ‘Dry January’ or temporary abstinence at another time of year and ask them about the ways in which they attempt to change their behaviour and their social activities, the psychological changes that they experience, and their drinking behaviour several months later.

They will also conduct semi-structured interviews with people who have attempted to temporarily abstain from alcohol, and ethnographic studies of postings on Dry January forums and other online forums. 

The University of Sheffield, in partnership with Alcohol Change UK, is pleased to offer this fully-funded PhD Studentship as part of the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership.

Sheffield University has an opportunity in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) for an experienced and motivated Research Group Manager to contribute to research undertaken by the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group (SARG), one of seven research themes within the section of Public Health.

SARG is internationally recognised as a leading centre for alcohol policy, epidemiological and economic research, bringing together disciplines including public health, operational  Research, psychology, social policy, engineering and economics.

This is a managerial role with scope to influence the strategic direction of our research group. You will work closely with SARG’s management team to develop and deliver our strategic objectives, evaluate our collective actions, and will be responsible for the financial, operational, risk and administrative management of SARG’s activities, supported by the Research Administrator.

Project Title

Risk, Uncertainty, and Reward Experiences

Project rationale and description

This project focuses on the effects of various kinds of uncertainty on peoples’ reward-seeking behaviours, with a focus on the consumption of alcohol, gambling products and services, food and drugs. Learning more about the situational, social and psychological factors that promote unhealthy consumption could help us to develop better ways to help affected individuals. The project will use experimental (lab-based as well as online) and survey methods, and will suit someone with interests in cognition, behavioural economics, consumer behaviours, and social factors in health. 

Project Title

TeenPath: Social Environment, Health and Well-Being Among Adolescents in Ireland

Project Description

The project seeks to understand how family, neighbourhood environment and family social and economic circumstances interact with individual characteristics such as sex, personality and temperament to shape mental health, health behaviours and educational outcomes at the end of secondary schooling and the cusp of adulthood.

We ask three interlinked questions:

1. “how do peer relationships and exposure to social media influence the risk of developing anxiety and depression?”;
2. “how do family, neighbourhood and individual characteristics shape the development of health behaviours such as diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption?”;
3. “did the financial crisis and recession experienced in Ireland between 2008 and 2014 influence educational outcomes at the end of secondary school and if so, how?”