Research Assistant (1-Year Contract)

About the role

The Research Assistant provides operational research and research-administration support across multiple university research projects and initiatives. Working under the guidance of a Research Associate, Research Fellow, Principal Investigator or URO supervisor, the incumbent supports data collection and analysis, literature and evidence work, project coordination, research governance and stakeholder administration. The role suits someone with strong organisation, accuracy and reliable follow-through who can manage varied tasks under tight, competing deadlines.

Key responsibilities

• Collect, organise and process research data, and carry out literature searches, reviews, environmental scans and evidence synthesis
• Support qualitative research, including interview and focus-group logistics, transcription checking, coding and preliminary thematic analysis
• Help with research instruments such as interview guides, survey questionnaires and coding frameworks
• Support quantitative data work where needed, including data entry, cleaning, validation and tables or charts
• Draft research summaries, reports, working papers and presentation materials, and assist with grant writing
• Coordinate interviews, meetings and workshops, maintain project trackers and participant records, and handle participant administration such as consent and honoraria
• Ensure compliance with ethics protocols and data-protection requirements, and keep audio files, transcripts and datasets organised and secure
• Liaise with participants, faculty, researchers and external parties, and prepare correspondence and meeting notes

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree from a recognised university, preferably in Social Sciences, Psychology, Education, Humanities, Business, Data Analytics, Statistics or a related discipline
• Fresh graduates or candidates with up to three years of relevant research, project or administrative experience may be considered
• Prior experience in qualitative research, interviewing, transcription, coding, literature reviews or research administration is advantageous
• Strong organisational, communication and interpersonal skills, attention to detail and integrity

Required skills

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office is required
• Foundational knowledge of research methods, especially qualitative research, and ability to review literature and summarise findings
• Familiarity with SPSS, Stata or R is an advantage but not required