Postdoctoral Research Associate (Research Fellow in Criminology and Contextual Safeguarding)

Working at Durham University

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The Department

Durham University's Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding, in conjunction with Durham University's Sociology department, seeks to appoint a talented individual to a fixed-term Research Fellowship.

The Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding (GCCS) launched in September 2025, building on the work of a decade-plus Contextual Safeguarding Programme and a team that has been at the forefront of reforming safeguarding systems to promote the welfare of young people in places where they spend their time. The GCCS is an interdisciplinary Centre based in Durham's Sociology Department with direct integration with various departments across the four faculties of the University - including Law, DUBS, Education and Psychology. It works to: transform how societies understand and deliver services that safeguard young people beyond their homes; create systems that look beyond the capacity of parents to protect children; and build sustainable partnerships in which safeguarding is truly everybody's business.

GCCS is committed to a radical transformation in how safeguarding is conceptualised, studied, and practiced, and by whom. Over the coming years, GCCS will achieve this by building a critical interdisciplinary effort to cement an emergent field of research. This Research Fellow role will directly contribute to this interdisciplinary effort by working primarily within the GCCS team but being structurally embedded within the Criminology team within the Sociology Department.

The Criminology team is closely connected to the Department's C-SHINE (Criminal Justice, Social Harm and Inequalities) research theme, an interdisciplinary research environment bringing together scholars working across crime, victimisation, policing, prisons, social harm, inequality, disability and neurodiversity, safeguarding, and criminal justice practice. C-SHINE is committed to producing theoretically informed and socially engaged research that contributes to policy, practice, and wider social change through collaboration with practitioners, policymakers, and community organisations at local, national, and international levels.

The Role

The postholder will join the GCCS team to consider the wider application of Contextual Safeguarding and associated themes via a Criminology lens. Crucially, the postholder will bring together the fields of criminology and contextual safeguarding to advance this area of investigation and conduct research of real-world and applied significance. The overall programme of research will be shaped collaboratively upon appointment with the GCCS and the Criminology team.

We welcome applications from those with research interests in areas such as youth justice, health and justice, hate and victimisation, evidence-based policing, organised crime, child criminal exploitation, crime and social harm, crime and disability/neurodiversity, transnational criminology, or criminology and race. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to interdisciplinary and applied research that is capable of informing policy, practice, and wider social change.

The GCCS is a hybrid team, with most members working remotely. Presence in Durham for GCCS business is expected a minimum of once a month, and there are 2-3 multi-day GCCS events that will require travel and overnight accommodation as well as any project-based travel. Additional Durham presence is likely to be required for Criminology business.

Key responsibilities:

• Demonstrate progress towards independent development of internationally excellent research/scholarship related to Contextual Safeguarding and associated areas of criminological inquiry, including youth justice, policing, exploitation, social harm, victimisation, inequality, disability/neurodiversity, and related fields.
• Work with GCCS Senior Leadership to develop clear plans for the pursuit of national and international funding opportunities to support research / scholarship and end-user engagement.
• To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications.
• To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences.
• To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
• To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals.
• To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
• To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.
• To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate.
• To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students.
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.

• To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.

This post is fixed term for 2 years. It is not anticipated that the post will be extended beyond the initial 2-year fixed term, as that is the duration of the funding available.

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 1 September 2026.

Working at Durham

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University:

• You'll receive 30 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year - a total of 42 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year.

• We ...