Research Assistant

The Role and Department

A 18-month fixed-term Research Assistant (RA) position is available 5 hours per week in the Department of Psychology at Durham University. The successful candidate will join the research project “TIRED: Tiredness in Infancy and Relationships to Effective Distribution of attention” Project led by Dr Samuel Forbes, and funded by the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust. The project focuses on expanding our understanding of the role of tiredness in infancy and the relationships to attention, and developing new methods and questionnaires to help do this, using novel eye-tracking and pupillometry methods.

The Project Team: The research assistant will join a vibrant research group in the field of infant development, including 3 PhD students and will also have the opportunity to meet and network with our large array of national and international network of collaborators.

Expectations: The successful applicant will be expected to carry out day-to-day responsibilities running of the project, including: submitting ethics applications, recruiting infants, meeting collaborators, and learning about testing and analysing infant data with supervision. They will need to interact with various stakeholder groups (e.g. researchers, infants parents, collaborators). The work will be conducted using online methods (e.g. video conferencing), and face-to-face work in Durham University. The successful applicant will be expected to actively engage with the activities of the Department of Psychology. Standard RA responsibilities and specific requirements are listed in more detail below.

Responsibilities:

• To understand and convey information which needs careful explanation to the team or group of people through presentations, discussions and meetings which contribute to the production of research reports and publications.
• To write up results of research work, present information on research progress and outcomes to bodies supervising research in a clear and accurate manner.
• To analyse or undertake basic research by deciding how best to apply existing methodology according to overall context and objectives.
• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
• To contribute to the planning of research projects.
• To assist in contributing to support student projects on the use of research methods and equipment.
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
• To engage in continuing professional development by attending relevant training and development courses.

This post is fixed term for 18 months as Leverhulme funding is only available for this time.

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