Vacancies and opportunities
Research Fellow in Connecting Generations (University of Southampton)
Section: Gerontology
Location: Highfield Campus, University of Southampton
Salary: £36,636 to £44,746 per annum
Full Time Fixed Term until 31/03/2027
Closing Date: Friday 06 February 2026
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Reference: 3308126CC
We are delighted to welcome applications for a Research Fellow post within the ESRC Connecting Generations programme to examine intergenerational flows of support in later life and the increased cost-of-living in the UK.
ESRC Connecting Generations is a collaborative project between the long-established Centre for Population Change (University of Southampton, University of St Andrews, and University of Stirling), the University of Oxford Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, and the Resolution Foundation. ESRC Connecting Generations aims to innovate in knowledge and understanding of intergenerational relations and population change. The Centre is led by Professor Jane Falkingham. For further details, see https://www.cpc.ac.uk/research_programme/connecting_generations/
This project will examine intergenerational flows of support in later life and the increased cost-of-living in the UK, via data collected from two project Directives from the Mass Observation Study, University of Sussex. Qualitative narratives were collected in Spring 2023 and also August 2024 in order to investigate the role of intergenerational support in mitigating the rising costs of living and whether growing costs have adversely affected intergenerational flows of support.
This research position is in the Department of Gerontology within the Faculty of Social Sciences, where Professors Evandrou and Vlachantoni are based. You will be part of a collaborative team including other project Researchers, the CPC Research Manager and Knowledge Exchange team, as well as Faculty members from both the Department of Gerontology at the University of Southampton and other Departments and partner institutions.
To be successful in the role you will have, or will be close to completing, a PhD (or equivalent professional qualifications) with a background in Gerontology or Social Policy and strong qualitative research methods skills in a relevant discipline. You will have knowledge and expertise in data analysis and be skilled in the use of e.g. NVivo or other software. You will have proven ability to plan and organise your work independently and as part of a team and have the ability to write research presentations and papers for peer review publication.
The Research Fellow post is full-time fixed term for 12 months and is available from the 1st March 2026. Due to external project funding, the latest start date is 1st April 2026 with a fixed term end date of 31st March 2027.
The University of Southampton holds an Athena SWAN Silver Award demonstrating commitment to equal opportunities in the workplace.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Prof. Maria Evandrou, email: maria.evandrou@soton.ac.uk
Further details:
Job Description and Person Specification
Research Assistant Placement Opportunity: The implications of family complexity for leaving and returning to the parental home
This position is available to students currently funded within the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership
Project supervisor: Professor Ann Berrington a.berrington@soton.ac.uk
Institution: Centre for Population Change Connecting Generations (CPC-CG), School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences, University of Southampton
Starting between 20th February and 13th March 2026, the placement is available full-time for 3 months or part-time for 6 months
Placement involves some in-person meetings, otherwise can be remote or hybrid
Project description
Transitions to residential independence have become protracted and increasingly reversible in the UK with significant increases in the percentage of young adults living with their parents in their late twenties and early thirties. This research examines how the experience of family complexity, such as parental separation, repartnering, living with half- and step-siblings, in adolescence is associated with patterns and reasons for leaving and returning to live with parents. The work will use rich prospective data from the Next Steps cohort https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/next-steps who are now aged 34.
Work to be undertaken
1. Familiarisation with the Next Steps data using questionnaires, code-books and the dataset, specifically the measures of parental SES, family circumstances in adolescence, the questions at age 25 & 32 on the timing of leaving and returning to the parental home, and questions on reasons for intergenerational coresidence. The project team has already worked on the data, cleaning it, and deriving key variables. The RA will read and summarise key texts on the substantive topic. RA and supervisor will agree on the research questions.
2. Undertake some cross-tabulations to understand relationships between the exposures and outcomes. With the supervisor's assistance, the RA will develop an analytical framework in order to conduct binary and multinomial logistic regressions of the timing and reasons for leaving and returning home.
3. Undertake regression modelling of relationships between family complexity and adolescence and different patterns of transition to residential independence by age 32.
4. Help write a CPC working paper based on the results, which may then be considered for submission to a journal for publication. The RA will also be supported in the dissemination of this work, e.g. through talking to stakeholders, giving an academic presentation, or writing a CPC Policy Brief.
Anticipated benefits for the student
• The RA will become part of an existing team of researchers within the CPC-CG research centre working on the project "Transitions to adulthood and the buffering effect of intergenerational support".
• You will gain experience in how to use complex, longitudinal data where issues such as sample design, attrition and item non-response need to be accounted for.
• You will benefit from participating in the weekly brown bag lunchtime informal research group meetings where PhD, postdocs and faculty discuss their ongoing work, interesting papers and provide feedback on each others work.
• You will also be able to participate in the CPC-CG ECR network, where there are talks and discussions, e.g. on how to apply for your first fellowship.
Anticipated benefits for the host
• The team will gain insights for policy from the rich data within the Next Steps survey.
• We are keen to learn new perspectives and skills from highly motivated researchers, and have a tradition of welcoming visiting PhD and postdocs to our centre.
Required skills, knowledge and experience
• Experience of STATA / R (essential)
• Previous experience of using and good understanding of multivariable regression, specifically of using logistic regression models (essential)
• Excellent spoken and written English with proven track record in ability to write up results, e.g. as PhD chapter, journal article (essential)
• Interest in substantive topic area (desirable)
• Previous analysis of large-scale longitudinal data, e.g. from UK Birth Cohorts or Understanding Society (desirable)
Funds provided by the host
CPC-CG will pay up to a total of £200 travel expenses for the RA to attend meetings in Southampton, present their work in academic seminars, or to relevant stakeholders.
How to apply
This position is available to students currently funded within the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. SCDTP Students should send a CV and covering email to Professor Ann Berrington a.berrington@soton.ac.uk, outlining their interest in the position and highlighting relevant expertise and experience.
Deadline 13th February 2026
