Research Fellow

Department

This exciting new data science research role sits within the recently established ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre, jointly led from York and Leeds universities by Professor Charlie Lloyd and Professor Adam Crawford along with a team of over 25 leading researchers from 13 academic institutions from across diverse social science disciplines. The Centre team comprises data scientists, qualitative researchers, Associated PhD researchers and professional support staff, and works with 38 regional, national and international partners.

Role

You will play an important role in undertaking research on the extent of police involvement with incidents involving mental health and other vulnerabilities.

Working closely with Professor Charlie Lloyd (Centre Co-Director, York) and Dr Dan Birks (Deputy Centre Director, Leeds) you will undertake a key study which will make an important contribution to the work of the Centre.

Public services routinely collect large quantities of data in their day-to-day activities. Within policing one such dataset comprises free text logs of incidents police respond to. These logs represent insights into the nature of incidents and are used to ensure that responses are appropriate to the problem at hand. Beyond this, they are an important resource for research aimed at better understanding the nature and diversity of problems police respond to. However, the unstructured nature of these logs confounds attempts to systematically extract insights from them for further analysis.

This project seeks:

• To develop a range of data analytic methods to extract insights from data routinely recorded by police. These data will comprise both structured and unstructured (free text) formats.

• Ultimately to develop data analytic approaches capable of categorising events which are likely indicative of police interactions with people with mental health needs.

• Then to move on to explore other types of vulnerabilities.

This project has the potential to offer significant impact, and the applicant will be expected to work closely with colleagues in a number of policing agencies. In addition, the development of new data analytic approaches will provide opportunities to contribute meaningfully to international developments in the field of computational social science.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• A PhD (this includes work submitted but not yet examined) in data analytics, data science and machine learning methods or their application in a relevant field or equivalent experience

• Knowledge and understanding of the application, strengths and limitations of a broad range of data analytic approaches, including advanced natural language processing approaches devised to extract insight from free text.

• Understanding and interest in the development and application of ‘real world’ research questions to administrative data sets, and a desire to explore how data science can deliver for public good.

• Well developed analytical skills, and the ability to think holistically about the application of data science in real world settings, including issues of bias and explainability.

• The ability and desire to work as part of an interdisciplinary academic team and with external stakeholders, communicating complex approaches to a range of audiences.

The successful candidate must be willing to undertake necessary security clearances for accessing police data.

Interview date: To be confirmed

For informal enquiries: please contact Professor Charlie Lloyd on charlie.lloyd@york.ac.uk

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University.

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork