Research Assistant
We invite applications for a Research Assistant post at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, part of the University of Cambridge. The post-holder will contribute to a vibrant and varied programme of clinical psychological research focused on assessment and rehabilitation in adults with acquired brain injury and children who struggle with attention and executive control.
The MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBU) is an internationally renowned research institute. In its long history it has developed influential theories, including of attention and executive function, working memory, and perception. It now has over 100 researchers studying normal cognition using behavioural experiments and state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques, and working with clinical groups including children with developmental difficulties, adults with acquired brain injuries, dementias and mood disorders. The CBU, and, of course, Cambridge more generally, is a vibrant international research environment offering tremendous formal and informal opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills and work with/talk to leaders and rising stars in their fields. The CBU has a long tradition of pioneering work in Clinical Psychology and employing research active clinical psychologists.
The successful applicant will join a dedicated team, led by Tom Manly, that has conducted pioneering and internationally recognised work in clinical assessment and rehabilitation including the development of the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), Goal Management Training (GMT), Assisted Intention Monitoring (AIM) and home-based online Attention Training. The responsibilities of the post are varied and will include:
Creatively contributing to the development of studies, including preparing paper-and-pencil, computerised and online materials;
Contributing to grant and ethics applications to support the work;
Working with clinical colleagues, database managers, charities and local groups to recruit relevant participants into studies;
Liaising with participants from clinical groups their families, as well as volunteers from the general population, in scheduling assessments, arranging online data collection etc.;
Travelling to participants' homes or other research sites over a sometimes quite considerable distances with necessary materials etc. for data collection;
Administering a broad selection of cognitive assessments, mood measures, interviews and questionnaires to study volunteers in the CBU, in hospitals, in schools, and in participants' own homes;
Contributing to data analysis and write-up of results for journal articles, books, conferences and public engagement activities;
Working with others in the CBU to develop skills for writing computerised tasks and online assessments and managing remote data collection;
Contributing more broadly to the scientific and clinical ethos of the programme, the CBU and the University of Cambridge (e.g. by sharing skills, accompanying other researchers to assessments, acting as a 'blind assessor' on others' studies, helping out in times of intense time pressure);
Communicating clearly, empathically and professionally with participants and families (including considering cognitive, mood and physical barriers) and ensuring high levels of confidentiality in the collection and management of data.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service check (enhanced with children and adults' barred lists). This appointment also requires a Research Passport application.
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
You should hold an undergraduate degree in psychology or a related field and have experience of conducting research involving adults with neurological disorder.
You should have excellent empathic and professional communication skills that can take into account participants' possible communication/cognitive problems, allow you to work sensitively with adult and child participants and their families, and communicate well with NHS and other staff. You should have a strong interest in clinical disorders and their assessment combined with a clear understanding of the boundaries between a research and clinical role; and an ability to manage participants' expectations accordingly. You should have a good understanding of statistics and psychological experimental design and some experience in delivering a research project and in managing an independent workload to achieve goals on time. This post sometimes requires assessment/interviewing of participants at distant locations and a valid UK car driving licence and willingness to travel independently are essential (you do not need to have a car but will need a licence that covers manual, not just automatic, transmission to use our Unit cars).
We would expect you to have a good level of proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel etc.) and statistics software.
Advanced knowledge of programming experimental tasks and advanced statistical packages would be an advantage but the post would offer opportunities to develop in these respects. We are committed to helping staff achieve an appropriate work/life balance but also welcome a flexible, "can do" approach that may, occasionally, include evening or weekend activities (e.g. for data collection or engagement events). Previous experience of working in the NHS or working with busy NHS therapists to achieve research aims would be an advantage.
The post would particularly suit candidates keen to gain/expand upon clinical and research experience. Similar posts at the CBU have proved a useful step in gaining places on clinical psychology and other training programmes and in developing a research career.
Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.
Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number.
For enquiries, contact Tom Manly, by email: tom.manly@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk. Information on the unit can be found at http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.
Please quote reference SU22323 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.