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Research Assistant (ID:13814)

Details


1116823


University of Leicester


21/09/2026


Other - See Job


Monday to Friday 37.5 hours per week


Smart Casual

Pay


£16.92


£2.04

Description

Role
The University of Leicester is seeking to appoint a full-time Research Assistant, or several part-time Research Assistants, to join the externally funded AIM4Forests project and work as part of a small international team. Funded by the UK Government, the project is improving the University’s Earth observation forest alert system by removing barriers for new users and creating an application for the SEPAL cloud computing platform at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

 
You will support Earth observation data analysis and testing under the guidance of experienced research staff, helping to develop training materials and technical documentation for the forest alerts application. 
 
You will join the Institute for Environmental Futures, a transdisciplinary research environment bringing together researchers from the social, natural and life sciences to address the climate and extinction crisis.

Duties and responsibilities
You will acquire, evaluate and interpret Earth observation data, forest-cover change ground data and other specialist information, contributing your findings to the final project report. You will undertake data analysis using Google Earth Engine and SEPAL, test and critically evaluate the prototype forest alerts application against an agreed protocol, and work with the technical team at the Food and Agriculture Organization to support its further development.

 
You will create accessible, professional training materials for new users, including video tutorials, a written user guide and other agreed media. You will document experiments, methods and findings for technical reports and potential publications, prepare professional presentation materials, and contribute to workshops, conferences and research outputs. 
 
You will work collaboratively with project colleagues, researchers, partners and stakeholders, participate in team meetings, and help mentor students or interns where required.

Skills and experience
You will have completed, or be close to completing, a relevant postgraduate degree at Master’s or doctoral level, or have equivalent professional experience. You will have experience of Earth observation data analysis, strong analytical and scientific problem-solving skills, competency in a relevant programming language, preferably Python, and experience of Linux operating systems and cloud or high-performance computing. Skills in Google Earth Engine are also essential.

 
You will be able to produce high-quality technical reports, user documentation, academic publications or comparable written outputs, and communicate effectively while working across different organisations. 
 
Experience of writing technical documentation, processing and interpreting Sentinel-2 imagery, data science or machine learning would be advantageous, as would knowledge of deforestation-related environmental issues and relevant policy responses.

Location
University of Leicester

Additional information

To apply, please submit your CV and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role.

Informal enquiries are welcome, and should be made to Professor Heiko Balzter (hb91@leicester.ac.uk)

Duration: ASAP to 16 December 2026.

Closing date for applications: Sunday 06 September 2026.

Unitemps is acting as an Employment Business, supplying temporary workers, in relation to this vacancy.

The University of Leicester has been changing the world, and changing people’s lives, for 100 years. When you join us, you’ll become part of a community of Citizens of Change, which includes not only our staff and our current students but also thousands of Leicester graduates around the world.

As a diverse and forward-thinking employer, we embed the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion into everything we do. That includes not just our core missions of teaching and research, but also our support for staff, students and our local community through our values of Inspiring, Impactful and Inclusive.

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