Research Assistant - Caregiving and Mental Health in Care-Experienced Young People (UCL Students or Graduates Only)

Reference
1086110

Branch
UCL

Start date
20/10/2024

Duration
9 Months

Hours and days
Part-time; 10 hours per week

Dress code
Not Applicable

Rate of pay
£18.18

Holiday rate
£3.40

Role

Unitemps are recruiting for a Research Assistant for the Psychology and Language Sciences Department. This role is for UCL Students or UCL Graduates Only. This is a part-time role at 10 hour per week. This role is for an October 20th start date and has a projected end date of July 31st 2025. Payment is set at £18.18 + holiday pay per hour. This role will be UCL hybrid working; part from home and part from the office. This role requires a DBS check that we will arrange with the successful candidate.

Context

We are seeking a dedicated and motivated Research Assistant (RA) to join our interdisciplinary team for the project "Exploring How Caregiving Promotes Mental Health for Care-Experienced Young People: Developing Logic Models Through Intersectional Approach." This project funded by the UCL Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing and aims to identify and explore the pathways through which caregiving relationships influence mental health outcomes in care-experienced young people (CEYP), with a focus on intersectional identities. The project will involve working with community partners to organise four workshops with diverse groups of young people with experience of care to map understandings of caregiving and how this contributes to care-experienced people’s mental health. The successful applicant will work across the departments of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology (Child Trauma and Recovery Lab) and the Thomas Coram Research Unit reporting to Dr Eva A Sprecher and Dr Veena Meetoo.

This role will be part time (0.2 FTA) for approximately 12-months with flexible working patterns negotiable to fit alongside existing studies or part-time work. Hybrid working is expected with some in-person data collection required alongside the opportunity for remote working.

For any queries about the role please contact eva.sprecher@ucl.ac.uk or veena.meetoo@ucl.ac.uk

Child Trauma and Recovery Lab

The Child Trauma and Recovery Research Group uses mixed-methods approaches to improve how we understand and support the trauma-related mental health needs of children and young people, with a particular focus on children who have contact with child protection systems or experience of the care system. We work alongside young people, caregivers and services to understand drivers of mental health and wellbeing and to test new and existing models of support and intervention. Successful applicants would have access to the lab group’s reflective practice spaces.

Thomas Coram Research Unit

The Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) has a long history of researching children and families that are most vulnerable to economic and social adversity. TCRU’s research areas include migration, gender, work and diverse families. The centre has a wealth of expertise in a wide range of research methods and a particular tradition in cross-national and multi-method research designs.

Duties and responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Ethics Documentation and Literature Review

• Leading on the application for UCL ethics for this project.
• Conduct literature reviews on relevant topics such as caregiving, mental health, and intersectionality.
• Opportunity to assist or lead in the preparation of reports, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other dissemination materials.

Data Collection and Analysis

• Assist in the design and facilitation of participatory workshops with diverse groups of care-experienced people of different ages, including those with experience of being unaccompanied asylum seekers.
• Collect qualitative data through workshops, group interviews/focus groups, and other participatory methods.
• Analysis of qualitative data.  

Project Coordination

• Coordinate logistics for 4 workshops, including scheduling, participant recruitment, and communication with partner organizations.
• Ensure accessibility for diverse participants, including arranging translation, travel, and childcare support.

Collaborative Engagement

• Work closely with the project team, including Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators, and external partners.
• Engage with CEYP advisory groups to ensure inclusive and meaningful participation.

Administrative Support

• Maintain project documentation and records.
• Support the timely delivery of project milestones and outputs.

In addition, the post holder will be expected: To actively follow and promote UCL policies, including Equal Opportunities and Race Equality policies.

The staff member will have a responsibility to carry out their duties in a way that embodies UCL’s environmental and social sustainability values, actively supporting UCL’s Sustainability Strategy, policies and objectives within the remit of their role.

The successful candidate will need to meet UCL’s expectations of core behaviours as outlined in https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/policies-advice/core-behaviours-framework

Skills and experience

Essential Criteria

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, social work, public health, or a related discipline (application)
• Master’s degree in a relevant field (application)

Experience

• Qualitative research data collection and analysis experience (application / interview)
• Experience working with children, young people or marginalized populations (application / interview)

Skills

• Strong organizational and project management skills (application / interview)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present research findings clearly (application / interview)
• Ability to conduct literature reviews and synthesize academic research (application / interview)

Attributes

• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with diverse groups of people (application / interview)
• A proactive and flexible approach to work, with the ability to adapt to changing project needs (application / interview)
• Commitment to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion in research. (application / interview)

Desirable Criteria

Experience

• Experience in organizing and facilitating workshops or similar participatory activities (application / interview) 
• Experience of working as part of a research team (application / interview)

Skills

• Familiarity with the ethical considerations involved in research with vulnerable populations (interview)
• Proficiency in qualitative data analysis software (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.ti) (application / interview)
• Knowledge of participatory research methods, focus group and interviewing experience (application / interview)

Attributes

• Sensitivity to the cultural and social dynamics affecting care-experienced young people (application / interview)
• Enthusiasm for contributing to impactful research that addresses systemic inequalities (application / interview)

Knowledge

• Knowledge and understanding of marginalised childhoods and mental health (application / interview)

Location
UCL; Hybrid working (part from home and part from the office)

Additional information

This job will close for applications at 11.59pm on Sunday September 22nd. Interviews will be held shortly after (October 16th).

This role Requires a UCL issued DBS check which we will arrange with the successful candidate.

This job will close for applications at 11.59pm on Sunday September 22nd. Interviews will be held shortly after (October 10th).

This role Requires a UCL issued DBS check we will arrange with the successful candidate. Unitemps is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment.

*Please note to be eligible to work within this role, you must have the right to work in the UK, be physically based in the UK and be able to travel to our London based office for a RTW check (if required).

*If you have a full-time contract of employment with UCL, you are not able to work through UCL Unitemps at the same time.

Unitemps reserves the right to close this advert for applications prior to the date specified above, if a high volume of suitable applications are received.

Unitemps payroll is monthly, one month in arrears, please see the payroll dates here.

Apply for job