Research Technician

The School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences is seeking to grow its team of Research Technicians who provide research and technical support to staff and students.

We are seeking to appoint two Research Technicians (each 0.5 FTE, 2.5 d/w) or one full-time Research Technician for an outstanding candidate, on a 3-year fixed-term basis to start in November 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter. Working closely with academic staff, students and other School staff, postholders will contribute to the vibrant and high-quality research culture in the School.

We welcome applications from individuals with experience of providing technical support for psychological research or experience of working in environments involving cognitive testing, speech/language research, nutrition/food science research or other wet lab experience. The successful candidates will join a small team of Research Technicians who collectively provide high quality support for the research labs and technical resources used by staff and students in the School and assist with the teaching of students in research methods and statistics. They will receive mentorship and supervision and will be provided with training and personal development opportunities to enhance their technical and research-related knowledge and skills.

Applicants will have 

• A degree-level qualification (or equivalent skill level) in a relevant field (psychology, neuroscience, language science, food science)
• Experience of successfully delivering work activities within professional guidelines and/or organisational policies (e.g. relating to Health & Safety, Research Ethics, lab standard operating procedures)
• Broad understanding of and experience of the process of acquiring and analysing research data (quantitative and/or qualitative) with human participants
• Experience of either undertaking research of a technical nature or providing technical support to staff or students
• Ability to set up experiments using software/platforms such as MatLab, Psychtoolbox, PsychoPy/Python, Elan, Gorilla, E-Prime, online questionnaires
• Ability to use data analysis packages or write scripts/ programmes for data analysis (P)
• Ability to use and maintain specialist psychology equipment & software (e.g. EEG/ERP, Virtual Reality, motion capture, eye tracking, BIOPAC, editing suites, NVivo)
• Effective verbal and written interpersonal and communication skills 
• Good problem-solving skills 
• Ability to work independently, organise and prioritise workload, and know when to ask for help 
• Willing to work collaboratively to create a collegiate and respectful environment 
• Commitment to enhancing the student experience

Please see the job description and personal specification for further details.

The closing date for applications is 23.59 on Sunday, 3rd November 2024

Interview date – TBC

For more information, please contact:

Contact Name: Dr Anantha Sivasubramaniam
Contact Job Title: Senior Research Technician
Contact Email address: a.k.sivasubramaniam@reading.ac.uk

Alternative Contact Name: Dr Shan Shen
Contact Job Title: Technical Head of CINN Research Facility
Contact Email address: Shan.shen@reading.ac.uk

Candidates who do not already have permission to work in the UK should note that by reference to the applicable SOC code for this role, sponsorship will not be possible under the Skilled Worker Route. There is further information about this on the UK Visas and Immigration Website.

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

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