Founded in 1898, we at the University of East London (UEL) are proud to change lives through education. Our goal is to advance industry 5.0 careers-first education and provide a clear path to the jobs and opportunities of the future. We’re committed to driving diversity in the 5.0 talent pipeline, working in partnership to promote talent wherever it is found and creating a balanced, inclusive, and green future.

If you are seeking a career that combines innovative education with a passion for crafting positive change, look no further than the University of East London. Founded in 1898 to meet the skills needs of the 2nd industrial revolution, we’re now in Year 7 of our ground-breaking 10-year Vision 2028 strategic plan, orchestrated by our Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Amanda Broderick.

But we can't achieve this goal alone. We need forward-thinking, innovative, and curious individuals like you to join our community and help us shape the future. As part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to work with a diverse range of people who share your passion for generating positive change. We’re an inclusive and welcoming community that is constantly moving forward, never satisfied with the status quo.

 If you're ready to join a team that values your outstanding skills and perspectives and is dedicated to making a difference, we invite you to explore a career with us. We are excited to welcome versatile individuals who are committed to advancing their careers while making a positive impact on the world.

About Us

The University of East London’s Health Campus is a pioneering community-focused centre that brings together health education, advanced research, clinical simulation, and public wellbeing initiatives within a state-of-the-art environment. 

Designed to support the development of future healthcare professionals, the campus integrates innovative health technologies, inter-professional learning, and strong partnerships with healthcare providers, schools, care settings, and local communities. 

As part of UEL’s vision to create the UK’s first University Community Health Centre, the Health Campus promotes preventative healthcare, addresses health inequalities, and provides a collaborative space that serves students, staff, healthcare partners, and the wider public.

About the Job

The Project Director will provide strategic leadership, governance and oversight for the delivery of the East London Pupils' Careers Education Consortium (ELPCEC), a major externally funded programme established through the Portal Trust bid. The programme is led by the University of East London in partnership with the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney and is designed to support young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), at risk of becoming NEET, or facing barriers to participation through targeted education, employability, digital and creative skills interventions.

Working across a complex multi-agency landscape, the Project Director will establish effective programme governance arrangements, manage risk and performance, oversee monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and ensure delivery of measurable outcomes relating to educational participation, employability, progression and social impact. The role will be responsible for reporting to funders and governance boards, driving continuous improvement, and developing a sustainable model that supports future growth and investment beyond the initial funding period.

We are seeking an experienced Project Manager to join the Portfolio & Benefits team within the Commercial & Programme Delivery Directorate.

Alongside programme delivery responsibilities, you will contribute to the continued development of project and programme management capability across UEL. As a member of the Portfolio & Benefits team, you will support the enhancement of project management frameworks, governance, methodologies, tools and reporting practices, contributing to the ongoing maturity of the University's project management function.

The Project Director will play a critical role in delivering UEL's civic and social mobility ambitions by creating opportunities for young people across East London, strengthening strategic partnerships, and positioning the University as a leading contributor to addressing educational inequality and improving life chances within local communities.

Key deliverables

• Successful delivery of the Portal Trust-funded programme to agreed scope, budget and timescales.
• Strong governance, reporting and stakeholder engagement arrangements in place across all partner organisations.
• Measurable improvements in participant engagement, progression, skills development and community outcomes.
• Robust monitoring, evaluation and impact reporting frameworks embedded throughout delivery.
• Sustainable partnership model and future funding strategy developed to support long-term programme growth.
• Demonstrable contribution to the Health Campus vision of improving health, wellbeing and opportunities for East London communities

The duties and responsibilities outlined above provide a general overview of the range of tasks that Project Manager at the University of East London may be required to perform. Please note that this job description is not exhaustive, and additional tasks aligned with the role's grade may be assigned as needed. 

Benefits Package

Here at UEL we understand it’s about more than just a salary. It’s about the entire package on offer along with our outstanding work environment and inclusive culture. We know the market rates for this vacancy and will offer a genuinely competitive salary DOE.

https://uel.ac.uk/benefits-professional-services-positions

We care deeply about your wellbeing and our benefits includes: 20% pension (4% from you, 16% from us), 25 days holiday (plus 3 days over Christmas) plus bank holidays, hybrid working for most positions, and we’re always open to consider flexible working arrangements. We have a subsidised gym membership, 3 times base salary life assurance, a cashback healthcare scheme and wide variety of other generous benefits including discounts on: Apple and Samsung products, holidays, clothing, fitness, lifestyle, dining out and weekly shopping.

Equal Opportunities 

As an inclusive, equal-opportunities employer, our Stonewall membership and Athena Swan awards reflect our ongoing dedication to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and we’re committed to closing the "diversity pay gap". We’re proud of the progress we’ve made and honest that there’s more to do. We’re determined to keep moving forward so everyone at UEL can thrive.

So, if you’d like to take your career to the next level with us here at the University of East London and are inspired by our environment and commit to success, we want you to apply today!

Closing Date: 27 Oct 2026

Team: Management Support - UELPS Ltd

Salary: £75,180 to £94,036 per annum inclusive of London Weighting

“Reading Together: Interpersonal Neural Mechanisms of Learning in Caregiver-Child Interactions”

*Unfortunately, we cannot accept international applications, unless self-funded, for this PhD

The Project 

A funded PhD position is available to address a fundamental question in developmental science: how does shared reading between caregivers and young children support early learning, and what are the interpersonal neural mechanisms that underpin these benefits? Shared reading is one of the strongest predictors of children's early language, literacy and cognitive development. Through shared books, children are exposed to new vocabulary, more complex language structures, as well as reciprocal interactions with adults. Experimental research has shown that interventions promoting caregiver-child book sharing can improve children's subsequent language outcome and attention skills. 

Shared reading is a dynamic, interactive process. Caregivers continuously adapt their speech, gaze, gestures and pacing in response to children's attention and behaviour. These moment-to-moment adjustments may create optimal opportunities for learning by helping children attend to, process and retain new information. The temporal coordination of adult behaviour and infant’s neural activity may therefore be a key mechanism through which shared reading supports development.

Currently, however, we understand very little about how learning unfolds moment-to-moment during these interactions, and how underlying neural mechanisms support later developmental outcomes.

The PhD project aims to move beyond quantity-based measures of shared reading to investigate the neural mechanisms through which caregiver-child interactions support learning. By addressing the following questions:

• How do caregivers and children coordinate their behaviour during shared reading, and which features of this interaction create optimal opportunities for learning?
• How does moment-to-moment neural activity, measured using dual-brain EEG, become coordinated between caregivers and children during shared reading?
• How does interpersonal neural coordination relate to children's attention, engagement and learning during shared reading?
• How do the timing and quality of shared reading interactions predict children's subsequent learning and developmental outcomes?

By integrating measures of behaviour, attention and dual-brain neural activity, the project will provide a mechanistic account of how shared reading supports early learning. Combining state-of-the-art caregiver-child EEG recordings with fine-grained measures of interaction will help reveal how learning emerges through real-time coordination between two people, providing new insights into the processes through which early shared experiences shape children's development.

The University and ISEY 

The PhD will be based at The Institute for the Science of Early Years and Youth ISEY, at the Stratford Campus of The University of East London. This research institute is led by Prof. Sam Wass, and the PhD will be supervised by Dr Ira Marriott Haresign. The successful candidate would be working within a wider team of 20 researchers at ISEY.

Knowledge exchange and dissemination will be a key part of this PhD and the successful candidate will be expected to share project findings and associated research with teachers and early years practitioners, as part of the training and development services that ISEY offers. Therefore, this role is especially suitable for someone passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice and translating research for a non-scientific audience. This may involve writing articles for educator-facing publications, attending early years events and running online and face to face training, support will be given in these areas. 

The applicant

Experience

The PhD candidate must have a first or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree and preferably a Masters in a discipline relevant to the project. While we expect that this project would suit graduates from a psychology background, we are happy to receive applications from a range of backgrounds that have potential to enhance the project (e.g. computer science, education psychology, media analysis...) 

• Experience working with children is highly desirable. 
• Familiarity with programming and data analysis tools is also preferable as the PhD will involve advanced quantitative data analysis, although support will be given in this area.

Successful applicants should have an interest in auditory or visual attention, speech and language processing, arousal, and EEG.

Methods 

The successful candidates will also potentially use our custom-built wearable devices and be willing to analyse multi-streamed timeseries (physiological and behavioural day-long recordings). 

Familiarity with eye-tracking and EEG is also highly desirable, as is experience with associated data analysis tools. 

ISEY also has a newly developed virtual reality and motion tracking lab and this project may also consider the use of these methods to address the research questions. 

Whilst some remote work is possible, the successful candidate will need to be willing to be based at the ISEY lab, in Stratford, London for at least 50% of the time. During data collection periods PhD students may need to be in London every day. 

Please note that we are drawing all applicants’ attention to the fact that unfortunately, the funding available for this project does not cover the higher tuition fees required for international students. As a result, we are only able to consider applicants who would be classified as UK/home students (including UK nationals and those with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme). If you are an international student, I’m afraid we will be unable to proceed with your application unless you are self-funding. 

How to apply

Applications must be submitted by email to I.Marriott-haresign@uel.ac.uk by the 20th November 2026. Interviews are likely to take place in December. 

• Please send your CV along with the names and contact details of two referees who will be contacted directly. At least one of the references must be academic. 
• Please also include a personal statement/cover letter (no more than 1000 words) which demonstrates your motivation and readiness for undertaking a PhD and for this specific PhD project.

Funding details and start dates

The PhD can start in January 2027. 

Funding covers tuition fees (approx £5-8k per year) and a stipend set at the ESRC/UKRI rate for London Universities (£22,780 p.a) if studying full time. Part time study is based on 0.6FTE and the stipend will be adjusted accordingly (£13,668), lasting for up to 5 years.

Closing Date: 20 Nov 2026

Team: Graduate Placement

Salary: Funding covers tuition fees (approx £5-8k per year) and a stipend set at the ESRC/UKRI rate for London Universities (£22,780 p.a) if studying full time.
Part time study is based on 0.6FTE and the stipend will be adjusted accordingly (£13,668), lasting for up to 5 years.