Research Technician in Psychology and Psycholinguistics

Role Description

Department

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Department of Education as a full-time Research Technician specialising in the areas of Psychology and Psycholinguistics. The role is available on a fixed term basis for two years in the first instance.

The Department of Education has identified investment in technical research support for academic staff and postgraduate research students as a priority and seeks to build on existing research strengths by expanding capacity for research support and technical expertise. The Department of Education is a vibrant and growing department, ranked 5th in the UK for research according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) results (2021). The successful candidate  will work with colleagues across the four research centres. More information about the department can be found on our website: www.york.ac.uk/education.

Role

The Technical Specialist will provide support to research within the department as required with a particular focus on the provision of technical expertise in the specialist fields of Psychology and Psycholinguistics. The successful candidate will help to ensure the delivery of high quality research, will be expected to provide skills development for PGR students and will help to maintain and improve the department’s reputation as a high calibre provider of cutting-edge psychology training.

Key responsibilities include:

• Set up and help with the running of experiments including eye-tracking and EEG experiments. Support staff and PGR students in using observation equipment.
• Support staff and PGR students with data management, cleaning, storage and analysis, providing technical and methodological guidance and support - and training where needed.
• Provide recruitment and data collection support and training, drawing on knowledge of survey software, such as Qualtrics, and recruitment websites such as Prolific.
• Run statistics and methods drop-in sessions to offer support with data analysis, providing mentoring as needed when staff try out new methods or software.
• Disseminate coding-based methods of analysis, such as R (including data visualisation skills and support); encourage open research approaches, including supporting EROS initiatives such as the department’s R cafe

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• Degree, or equivalent relevant experience. PhD in psychology,psycholinguistics, education or related area (or equivalent experience / nearing  completion of PhD
• Broad understanding and in-depth knowledge of the relevant safety legislation & regulations
• In depth and current theoretical and practical knowledge of psychology and psycholinguistics
• Proven track record in the application of the technical skills associated with the specialism
• Excellent IT and analytical skills using a range of specialist software
• Competent in the operation and maintenance of equipment in a technical specialism with the ability to analyse and interpret complex data and to design and deliver training on technical matters related to the specialism
• Experience of training others in lab techniques and use of complex equipment
• Experience of applying knowledge to improve service of technical specialism
• Experience of working and writing reports for managers in an area of technical specialism

Interview date: TBC

For informal enquiries: please contact Professor Kathryn Asbury, Director of Research (Email: kathryn.asbury@york.ac.uk)

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork