Research Fellow (110354-0325)

For informal enquiries, please contact Mike Tildesley (Professor) at Mike.Tildesley@warwick.ac.uk

Fixed Term Contract and Full Timeb36.5 FTE hours per week for up to 36 months

The funding for this post is from the Medical Research Council and is available from April 2025 until March 2028

Project Title

Emergence, Persistence and Control of Avian Influenza Zoonotic Risk (funded by the Medical Research Council)

KEYWORDS:  – highly pathogenic avian influenza, epidemiological modelling, transmission and disease control

What scientific question will you investigate?  / Outline of the project aims

The overall aim of this project is to develop an understanding of the demographic, management and behavioural characteristics that affect transmission risk of avian influenza viruses (AIV) within and between poultry farms and between poultry and humans in Indonesia. This will allow us to provide critical information for farmers, government authorities and the general public in Indonesia to implement appropriate surveillance and interventions for reducing the risk of human exposure to HPAI.

The key deliverables of this grant will be an increased understanding of the human health implications of HPAI outbreaks in Indonesia, an identification of high-risk regions and an exploration of appropriate adaptive strategies for future outbreaks. The Indonesian team has a proven track record of working with local policy makers which will ensure that our policy recommendations are communicated to appropriate national authorities and local practitioners. The project investigators and the successful candidate for this position will also collaborate closely with the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation during the project, thereby maximising both the regional and global impact of this research.

About the research group

The Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER)

You will join the SBIDER group in the School of Life Sciences and the Mathematics Institute at Warwick University. We are a diverse group of interdisciplinary scientists who develop models of biological systems and work closely with policy makers and stakeholders in the UK and around the world.

For more information about SBIDER visit https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/zeeman_institute/

Any requests for further information about the role can be directed to Professor Mike Tildesley (Mike.Tildesley@warwick.ac.uk)

We and the wider University of Warwick environment offer substantial opportunities for professional development including regular opportunities to attend international conferences.

We will consider applications for employment on a part-time or other flexible working basis, even where a position is advertised as full-time, unless there are operational or other objective reasons why it is not possible to do so.  

We are looking for someone with expertise in infectious disease modelling in LIMICs, particularly with experience in working on zoonotic diseases. Applicants should be proficient in the development of spatial epidemiological models, incorporation of behavioural data into epidemic models,  and the fitting of these models to real world data (including manipulation and pre-processing of empirical data). In addition, applicants should have experience in interacting with policy makers and designing in silico experiments with real-world policies in mind.

For further information regarding the skills required for this role please see the personal specification section of the attached job description.

If you are near submission or have recently submitted your PhD but have not yet had it conferred, any offers of employment will be made as Research Assistant at the top of level 5 of the University grade structure. Upon receipt of evidence of the successful award of your PhD, you will be promoted to Research Fellow on the first point of level 6 of the University grade structure. 

School of Life Sciences

For further information about the School of Life Sciences please see our website at

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci

We believe that collegiality, openness, inclusivity and diversity are essential for an excellent environment; this ethic has enabled us to gain an Athena SWAN Silver award.  We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you are excited by this role, we encourage you to apply, even if your past experience does not match exactly.  We also encourage applications from all groups with protected characteristics.

Born in the 60s with a mindset of boldness, imagination and collaboration, the University of Warwick is a world-leading research-intensive university with the highest academic and research standards. We’re one of the world’s top universities, ranked 67th in the world and 10th in the UK*, with 92% of our research assessed to be ‘world leading or internationally excellent’**. 

You'll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress. Here at Warwick, we offer you opportunities to follow your ambitions as long as you bring the energy and determination to succeed.

*QS World University Rankings 2024

** Research Excellence Framework 2021

To find out more about us visit our website.

CLOSING DATE: Sunday 6th April 2025 at 11.55pm

To apply, please click ‘Apply’ below and submit an application form by the closing date. Please plan for any potential delays as you will not be able to submit an application past this deadline (even if you opened the form at, say, 11.30pm).

Please attach a CV and cover letter.

Your CV should include your most recent employment experience, any other relevant experience, and education history.

Your cover letter must detail how you meet each of the essential criteria found in the Job Description document below (desirable criteria too, where possible).

Please see here for guidance on writing a cover letter. We highly recommend using individual criteria as headers and giving examples below, though you are free to format the letter as you wish.

To streamline our hiring processes, we can only accept applications via our official website, warwick-careers.tal.net.

Interview Date: To be confirmed

Start Date: To be confirmed

We will provide you with a great range of benefits, which include an attractive pension scheme, 30 days holiday plus Christmas closure, excellent learning and development opportunities, and savings on a wide range of products and services. We offer a generous maternity/paternity/adoption/parental leave policy, and onsite childcare facilities. 

We recognise the importance of a healthy work/life balance and offer you access to flexible working, for more information click here. 

We are proud to say that we are a Living Wage employer.

If you are considering relocating to the UK, read our Relocation Guide to find out more about what Warwick has to offer and what might be involved in the process.

Warwick is committed to building an organisation of mutual respect and dignity, promoting a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive working and learning environment.  We recognise that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to be recognised, respected, and valued.  Where possible, we go beyond legislation to provide a place where everyone can thrive, supporting all staff to achieve their full potential. We aspire to remove economic, social, and cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent people from succeeding. 

We therefore welcome and encourage applications from all communities regardless of culture, background, age, disability, sex/gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion/belief, or sexual or romantic orientation. To find out more about our social inclusion work at Warwick visit our webpages here. 

The University currently holds a Race Equality Charter Bronze Award, Athena Swan Sliver Award and a Disability Smart Bronze Award. The University of Warwick is also one of the six founder institutions of the EUTOPIA European University Alliance. 

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)

The University of Warwick is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all those we work with. 

In line with the DBS Code of Practice, the successful candidates for any roles involving regulated activity, will be subject to a DBS check at the appropriate level. The University will take all necessary measures to ensure that any individual subject to a barring order does not undertake any work with the barred group specified (i.e. children and/or adults).

We expect all employees, volunteers, and partners to share our commitment to safeguarding.

Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders

The University undertakes not to discriminate against anyone who makes a disclosure relating to a conviction. The information disclosed at application stage is only visible to the central DBS team (i.e. not recruiting managers) to ensure there is no bias during the shortlisting process.