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Research Associate in Psychology
Psychology
Location: Bailrigg, Lancaster UK
Salary:
£31,396 to £36,024
(Full time, indefinite until 30 July 2027)
Closing Date:
Sunday 05 May 2024
Interview Date:
Tuesday 21 May 2024
Reference: 0162-24
The Department of Psychology at Lancaster University is seeking to appoint a full-time postdoctoral Research Associate (RA) with research experience, experience working with children, and strong statistical skills. You will work on a project about curiosity in primary-aged children led by Dr Marina Bazhydai at Lancaster University and Dr Lily FitzGibbon at Stirling University, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
The project aims to collate, develop, and validate measures of curiosity in children aged 7-11. The resulting Curiosity Battery would include both behavioural and self-report measures, addressing different dimensions of curiosity. With support of the lead investigators, you will conduct a systematic literature review, develop study design and prepare study materials, including data collection and analyses, as well as be a leading author on academic publications resulting from this work.
Once created and validated, the Curiosity Battery will be made openly available to researchers and educators. You will contribute to stakeholder and public engagement events to share the Battery with potential users. You will also assist in co-designing longitudinal studies to test the predictive value of the novel test battery by examining relationships with children’s academic achievement and psychological well-being outcomes after one year, which will be conducted by two PhD researchers.
You will be an integral member of the dynamic research team at Lancaster and Stirling Universities and contribute to a line of studies assessing curiosity and its effects in primary school age children, and will have ample opportunity to develop new skills, collaborations, and research ideas.
ABOUT YOU
You will:
Have experience with conducting experimental research and working with children.
Demonstrate strong data management and statistical analyses skills.
Have experience – or a demonstrated ability to acquire new skills – to design psychometric evaluations and conduct analyses on psychometric data.
Demonstrate strong research integrity ethic and adherence to open science research principles.
Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check.
THE BENEFITS OF THE ROLE
Generous holiday leave - 25 days (pro-rata) annual leave plus University closure days and bank holidays.
Access to employee pension scheme, and annual flexible benefits scheme.
We are committed to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across the Faculty, and supporting family-friendly and flexible working policies on an individual basis. The Department holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award, which recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address gender equality in Higher Education and research.
The Psychology Department is a busy teaching and research active Department. It is home to a friendly group of over 40 Academic staff, with teams of Research and Professional Services and Technical staff. The Department supports a large cohort of Undergraduate students; a thriving group of Masters and Postgraduate research students; and a wide range of research projects including several cross-institution grants.
Further information about the Department is available at: http://www.psych.lancs.ac.uk
The University of Lancaster is committed to the development of research talent. Information about the Researcher Development programme is available at: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/research/researcher-development/
We welcome applications from people in all diversity groups.
Please upload a cover letter with your application. Please note that this is a full-time position for 3 years, to start from September 2024. The funding for this post is not renewable. The lead investigators will provide support and opportunities to develop successful applications for fellowships and grants. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be addressed to Dr Marina Bazhydai, Lecturer, at m.bazhydai@lancaster.ac.uk.
Further details:
Please note: unless specified otherwise in the advert, all advertised roles are UK based.
Find out what it's like to work at Lancaster University, including information on our wide range of employee benefits, support networks and our policies and facilities for a family-friendly workplace.
The University recognises and celebrates good employment practice undertaken to address all inequality in higher education.
We warmly welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of their age, religion, gender identity or expression, race, disability or sexual orientation, and are committed to promoting diversity, and equality of opportunity.