Research Assistant

**Research Assistant** **(**Job Number**:24001601**)**

Department of Mathematical Sciences

Grade 6: - £29,605 - £36,024 per annum

Fixed Term - Full Time

**Contract Duration**: 15 months

**Contracted Hours per Week**: 35

**Closing Date**: 16-Sep-2024, 5:59:00 PM

**Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement**: Not Applicable.

**The University**

At Durham University we are proud of our people. A globally outstanding centre of educational excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting - Durham is a university like no other. We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things professionally and personally.

Across the University we have a huge variety of roles and career opportunities, which together make us a large and successful community, which is a key hub of activity within our region and nationally.

We would be thrilled if you would consider joining our thriving University. Further information about the University can be found here.

**The Role and Department**

The successful applicant will be expected to analyse or re-analyse data resulting from educational and criminological trials. This includes the full pipeline from data cleaning, preparation of analysis, the actual analysis, the preparation of analysis results for presentation in meetings or reports, and further iterative reporting/reviewing steps down the line. The work involves routine statistical analysis techniques including statistical tests and mainstream statistical models including multilevel models (random effect models). The ability to carry out such analyses independently is important, even though the work will generally be carried out under the guidance of a Senior or Lead Statistician. There may also be specific tasks relating to methodological aspects, or the production and maintenance of statistical code (in R and/or Stata), or general tasks associated to the wider projects such as literature reviews. The ability and willingness to communicate quickly and efficiently with team members and collaborators (clinical staff, funders, etc) is particularly important.

The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of the UK’s best Mathematics departments with an outstanding reputation in teaching, research and employability of our students. It has an active programme of internationally recognized research in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics (including Applied Analysis and PDE, Theoretical Particle Physics and Mathematical Biology) and Statistics and Probability. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community. The Department currently has 116 permanent members of staff, and is currently in a process of significant growth. In 2021, we moved to a newly constructed building, shared with the Computer Science Department.

**Responsibilities**:

- To carry out statistical analysis in the statistical packages R or STATA.
- 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 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 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.
- Use your experience and problem-solving skills to investigate and resolve issues relevant to your role, for example problems relating to “data cleaning”, missing data, or computation, and make recommendations based on your findings.

**This post is fixed term from 1**st** October 2024 until 31st December, 2025. The position is fixed-term since no funding is available beyond end of 2025.**

The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their o