Research Fellow, Social Change

Overview:

- Full-time, Fixed Term position until December 2026
- Salary Level Academic Level B + 17% Superannuation and Flexible Working Arrangements
- Based at the Melbourne CBD campus, but may be required to work and/or be based at other campuses of the University

About You

This position reports to the Director of the Social Change Enabling Capability Platform (ECP), which sits within RMIT’s Research and Innovation Capability Portfolio. The Social Change ECP works with researchers in various disciplines to foster societal impact of research. Through collaborations with industry, government, and community, the Social Change ECP pursues engagement and impact activities to solve complex local, national, and global challenges with innovative interdisciplinary solutions. The Social Change ECP aims to ensure RMIT’s research creates value and benefit for our research partners and, in doing so, creates impact for the economy, environment, and society.

A specific focus of the Research Fellow position is to explore human information behaviours and practices across interdisciplinary research areas that foster community engagement, research translation, and societal impact. The Research Fellow position provides an opportunity for an emerging researcher to further build their research career supported with research training and mentorship. The role of the Research Fellow is primarily to plan, develop, and engage in high quality research and impact-related projects in line with the Social Change ECP’s focus, in support of the University’s strategic research priorities. A particular focus of the role will be developing the Social Change ECP’s work related to transformations in research practice for social change, including such areas as open research practice, scholarly communication practices, impact literacy, community co-design, and adoption of innovations.

The Research Fellow will carry out team-based research projects, focusing on interdisciplinary, industry-relevant, human information behaviour investigations using social research methodologies, including qualitative and/or mixed method approaches. The Research Fellow will embed their research expertise into the life of the School through the development of high-quality, productivity-driven research networks across RMIT and with local and national, internal, and external partners. The Research Fellow will be expected to engage in high quality research projects and to produce high quality outputs, to make a significant impact in information behaviour research and be influential in expanding the knowledge of human-focused, impact-focused projects across relevant disciplines.

To be successful in this position, you’ll have as a minimum:

- Demonstrated track record and recognition for quality research outputs that will contribute to existing high performing RMIT research teams, evidenced by such things as publications, development of new research initiatives, and contributions to policy and practice.
- Demonstrated experience in designing and conducting research in information science with a focus on interdisciplinarity, human information behaviour, and social sciences methodologies aligned to the Social Change ECP and at least one of RMIT’s strategic research priorities.
- Demonstrated experience with social research methodologies, including qualitative and/or mixed methods approaches, as well as open research practices, training, and infrastructure.
- Experience in engaging with industry, government, or community on collaborative research projects, with scholarly and professional communication practices, and/or research translation activities to foster societal impact.
- Ability to work independently whilst also leading teams and working collaboratively across different disciplines.
- Experience in curriculum development for delivery of content within universities and/or to professional communities, including diverse approaches to literacy development.
- Experience in securing competitive funding and successfully managing funded research projects, including collaborative research and development initiatives.

About the College

The College of Design and Social Context encompasses RMIT University’s renowned art, architecture, design, built environment, communication, and social science disciplines. The college has 24,500 students and over 1,000 staff located in 8 schools. The College’s academic programs are generally market leaders and in high demand. Based on a strong foundation of practise led, industry partnered teaching and research, we aim to deliver skilled graduates with a deep sense of purpose, and high impact research and innovation. Find out more about research in the College of Design & Social Context at

The Research Fellow position is located in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. The School has a strong industry-focused approach to education and research, where people, community, and industry partners become active su