Research Assistant

The post holder will be an active member of the School of Social Sciences Education and Social Work (SSESW), the Centre for Evidence-Based Youth Services (CEBYS) and MediaLab.

This role involves creation of a prototype of a knowledge elicitation tool for engaging with policymakers. This will be a partnership between the Centre for Evidence Based Youth Services and MediaLab. The role requires experience in games development, production and an interest in the use of serious games. The output will provide the basis for a facilitated interaction with policy makers involved in crime prevention.

The candidate will report to the Project’s Principal Investigator’s (Dr Colm Walsh and Dr Darragh Lydon) as well as to the co-investigator, Prof. Paul Best. They will participate in regular project team meetings and provide updates to the centre.

The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate that you meet the essential criteria:

• Have or about to be obtain a BSc or MA in a relevant field such as:
  • Games Development
  • Computer Science
  • Interactive Media
• Demonstrated proficiency in games engines such as Unity/Unreal/Godot and Digital Content Creation tools such as Blender/Maya/ Adobe Creative Suite.
• Familiarity with a relevant programming language (C#/C++/Python)
• Experience in developing prototypes and performing user testing to inform development.
• Experience of participating in a research project.

This is not an exhaustive list. To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information on our website.

This post is available for 9 months or to 31^st March 2027, whichever is soonest. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more on our website.

Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visitour website.

If you are an international applicant and don't already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application.

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