Research Assistant Edinburgh, Scotland
Job description
The appoint will be at Grade: 7, Salary: £34,308 : £42, 155, fixed term opportunity for 12 months.
The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society is one of the UK's leading institutions for multidisciplinary research and teaching in areas critical to economic development and societal equity. We aim to attain excellence in the teaching of the core disciplines that contribute to a sustainable, resource and energy efficient society and are committed to undertaking high value, high impact research and knowledge transfer in topics of relevance to global challenges.
The School enjoys facilities consistent with its location in modern, purpose-built accommodation on the Edinburgh campus. The School is well equipped in respect of laboratories for materials, structures, engineering, building services and hydraulics research and teaching. Our research and teaching facilities in Dubai and Malaysia are contained within purpose-built campuses in Dubai Academic City and Putrajaya, respectively.
Teaching
The School's undergraduate teaching on our Edinburgh campus covers civil and structural engineering, architectural engineering, construction project management, quantity surveying, geography, urban studies, interior design and the biology suite. On our Dubai campus we teach civil & structural engineering, architectural engineering, architecture, construction management, quantity surveying and interior design. On our Malaysia campus we teach civil engineering, construction project management, quantity surveying and geoenergy engineering. We offer a high quality educational experience underpinned by practical and laboratory teaching, and informed by contact with professional practice. Most of our degree programmes hold the appropriate accreditation from the relevant professional body. This educational philosophy ensures excellent employment prospects for all of our graduates.
Programmes of postgraduate study are aligned to the expertise contained in each of our research institutes. Our postgraduate students therefore benefit from state-of-the-art knowledge in their chosen study area. You can find further information about the School's postgraduate programmes at https://www.hw.ac.uk/schools/energy-geoscience-infrastructure-society/postgraduate-programmes.htm
Research
The School is one of the leading research centres in the UK. It has sustained a high reputation for the international standing of its research over two decades.
Research within the School is organised into six Institutes: https://www.hw.ac.uk/schools/energy-geoscience-infrastructure-society/research.htm
- Institute of Life and Earth Sciences (ILES)
- The Urban Institute (TUI)
- Institute of Geoenergy Engineering (IGE)
- Institute for Infrastructure and Environment (IIE)
- Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Design (CESBD)
- Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE)
These Institutes support a wide range of research activities of relevance to a sustainable, resource and energy efficient society. Institute staff undertake research funded by research councils, charitable foundations, local and national government. Research outcomes are published in leading international and national journals and key findings are widely disseminated through other media and forms of output.
Detailed Description
We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic person to join our team as Research Assistant working on the Connectivity of Hard Substrate Assemblages in the North Sea (CHASANS) project led by Heriot Watt University in Orkney.
CHASANS is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and features a network of partners including National Oceanographic Centre, the Natural History Museum, the University of Hull, the University of Aberdeen, and Aquatera Ltd. The aim of the CHASANS project is to enhance our understanding of the connectivity of populations of marine fauna colonising artificial substrates across the North Sea. Team expertise in epifaunal ecology, oceanographic modelling, and population genetics will be used to generate a multidisciplinary dataset to validate biologically realistic models of larval connectivity between sites. The Research Assistant will be responsible for supporting data analysis generated by the ecological subgroup.
This part-time position is funded for 1 day per week over 3 years but there may be flexibility in increasing the weekly time commitment over a shorter time period.
Post is based in Orkney and there will need to be flexibility in the schedule to accommodate short periods of heavier data analysis.
Education, Qualifications and Experience
Essential criteria
- A first degree in a scientific discipline
- Experience in the area of marine science and data handling/statistical analysis
- Strong data management skills with demonstrable experience in handling of metadata and data archiving
- Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of working out at sea
- Excellent IT skills
- Good team player with good interpersonal skills
Desirable criteria
- An MSc in a scientific discipline
- Demonstrable skills in taxonomy of marine organisms
- Proficiency in GIS mapping tools and processing spatial data
- Proficiency in conducting statistical analysis using PRIMER, R, Matlab or similar
- Experience in generating ecological models from original and sourced data sets
'How to Apply'
Interested applicants must submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system: (1) a cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) a full CV; (3) A summary of their scholarship and teaching plans and ambitions; and (4) a list of publications.
Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.
Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .
We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.
Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.
