Research Assistant in Food System Externalities

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. 

We are seeking a highly motivated Research Assistant with strong analytical skills to work within Prof Marco Springmann’s team on contributing to research on food system externalities. This is an exciting opportunity to join a new multi-disciplinary research team focussing on the role diets and food systems play for planetary and human health.

You will provide project support and survey the data and existing analytical approaches for quantifying and economically valuing food system externalities such as climate change, air pollution, plastic pollution, antimicrobial resistance, and animal welfare. Based on the review, you will contribute to novel analyses of food system externalities in a chosen area of interest. Your work will contribute to improving costing approaches such as true cost accounting and cost-benefit analyses.

You will have a graduate degree in a relevant field, proficiency in data analysis and coding (e.g., in GAMS, R, or Python), a good knowledge of issues relevant to healthy and sustainable food systems, and excellent writing skills that allow you to synthesize diverse literatures spanning different disciplines. Some experience in food systems analysis is desirable.  Further particulars are included in the job description.

The post is full-time and fixed term for 3 years, with the possibility of extension and is available from May 2023 with a flexible starting date. It can be pursued alongside a PhD at the School.

Salary is on the Academic Grade 5 scale in the range £37,531 - £42,875 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service. Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year, pro rata for part time staff. In addition to this there are discretionary “Wellbeing Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available.The post is based in London at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Applications should be made by clicking the 'Apply' button above. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. Please quote the advert’s reference in your query.

The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as "Please see attached CV" will not be considered acceptable. 

Further details:   Job Description  

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