Université de Montréal / Faculté des arts et des sciences

Project: Study of factors that promote the participation, retention and engagement of university students in mental health and academic success initiatives and programs.

A postdoctoral research position with a donation is currently available at the LEAD laboratory in the Department of Psychology of the Université de Montréal. The postdoctoral position is part of a major project, philanthropically supported by MarieJosée Gagnon, co-director of the Université de Montréal’s Brave the Way campaign, and aiming to prevent mental health challenges related to university studies.

In collaboration with Professor Simon Grenier, the postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for conducting a research project aimed at better understand factors that promote student participation, engagement and retention in initiatives to support their well-being, resilience and mental health. The laboratory is looking for a one-year, fulltime postdoctoral researcher with no possibility of renewal.

Department of Psychology  Professor profile of Simon Grenier

The multimethod research project aims to improve our understanding of the factors and conditions that promote student participation and engagement in prevention activities and programs focused on well-being and mental health, the development of resilience, and academic success throughout their higher education experience. More specifically, the postdoctoral researcher will be responsible for supporting the implementation and development of a program on academic resilience based on evidence from scientific knowledge and the conduct of a series of studies related to this topic.

• The project is expected to include a systematic review of the literature to identify scientific knowledge related to implementation science and success factors to promote student participation, engagement and retention in mental health prevention initiatives.
• Conducting a qualitative study with different mental health initiative beneficiaries’ profiles.
• A quantitative study aiming at better understanding the impact of academic motivation on the intention to participate and maintain engagement in activities for student mental health prevention should be conducted as well.

The postdoctoral researcher will be asked to collaborate with a team of stakeholders and doctoral students to support the development of workshop content related to preventing mental health challenges related to the academic pathway.

The successful candidate will write scientific papers on student participation and engagement, graduate student mental health, motivation and academic resilience.

Expertise or a combination of expertise related to the following areas will be considered for hiring:

Theoretical:

• Implementation sciences
• Student mental health
• Academic resilience

Methodological:

• Multimethod research (qualitative and quantitative)
• Action research

The selection criteria:

• Hold a research PhD for five (5) years or less in an appropriate discipline such as psychology, criminology, psychoeducation, public health, educational sciences or implementation sciences or have equivalent training
• Academic excellence as demonstrated by academic achievement (GPA greater than 3.7/4.3 or 3.5/4, or equivalent)
• Experience in publishing, communications and research
• Methodological skills and experience in systematic review or multimethod research
• Prior experience in data analysis using software such as SPSS, R, Mplus, NVivo, etc. (experience with SPSS, R and NVivo will be particularly advantageous)
• Ability to read and write in English
• Knowledge and sufficient proficiency in French are required
• The postdoctoral researcher must have Canadian citizenship, permanent residence or hold a valid work permit for the period in question, or be in the process of obtaining one for the period in question.