Research Experience

Postdoctoral Quantitative Research Associate

The Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience, King’s College London (2023 – 2025)

I’m part of U-Belong; a research project at King’s College London that aims to understand loneliness, social connection, and belonging in undergraduate students transitioning to university. In my current role, I have:

  • Developed and validated a psychometric scale assessing student expectations and experiences of social connection at university.
  • Led a UK-wide longitudinal survey on student loneliness, managing survey design, participant recruitment, data cleaning, and advanced analysis in R (including linear mixed models and k-means clustering).
  • Designed and implemented social network interview protocols using NetworkCanvas; integrated egocentric social network data with survey datasets for comprehensive insights.
  • Supported focus group design, data collection, and interpretation.
  • Communicated complex findings through academic publications, conferences, and public engagement, including co-creating the “Building Belonging at University” podcast with students and partners.
  • Designed and facilitated co-creation workshops, training over 50 student researchers, fellows, and ambassadors in research methods and recruitment strategies.
  • Built and maintained partnerships with academics, community groups, and charity organizations to support project goals.
  • Developed and managed project budgets and personal funding strategy, successfully securing additional resources.

PhD Researcher

School of Psychology, University of Nottingham (2019-2023)
  • Programmed online behavioural tasks using PsychoPy in Python to measure predictive motor control and learning in children, adolescents, and young adults.
  • Fitted complex mathematical models to large datasets, including Bayesian learning models and rise-to-threshold models, using MATLAB and Python.
  • Tailored recruitment and task design for target samples, including child-friendly animations.
  • Disseminated complex ideas through academic publications, conferences, podcast interviews, and artist collaborations.
  • Managed personal research budget, provided regular updates to funders, and secured additional funding where needed.

Research Assistant (Voluntary)

Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College London (2021-2022)
  • Co-facilitated focus groups exploring student assumptions about peer support and barriers to accessing peer support services.
  • Co-developed topic guides and vignettes to support inclusive, student-centered discussions.
  • Collaborated with staff at Student Minds to ensure focus group design was accessible and sensitive to student needs.
  • Supported six undergraduate students in running focus groups and creating recruitment materials.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

School of Psychology, University of Nottingham (June – July 2017)
  • Collaborated with Dr Emma Whitt, Professor David Clarke, and Dr David Keatley to develop an original research project investigating university students’ perceptions of the causes of fear of failure.
  • Designed and delivered a network diagram data collection approach where participants mapped and rated the strength of relationships between 14 interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and fear of failure.
  • Contributed to research design, data collection, and production of a research article.