Biodiversity Science Policy Research Associate: CEH

Biodiversity Science Policy Research Associate: CEH - Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Δευτέρα, Φεβρουαρίου 06, 2012

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Biodiversity Science Policy Research Associate
CEH - Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is the UK’s Centre of Excellence for research in the terrestrial and freshwater environmental sciences.

The NERC Research Associates' Programme is an initiative which is intended to offer individuals the opportunity to gain practical experience of working within a Research Institute, whilst acquiring specialist and wider skills that will be valuable in a range of careers.

The programme is aimed particularly at those who have recently completed postgraduate studies, but is open to individuals from other backgrounds and of all ages. Individuals will work on highly topical research projects, both important for future research within the environmental research community and appropriate to their backgrounds. Research Associates are given specific, measurable objectives which will be intended to develop their skills as a researcher and to demonstrate their suitability for a research career.

Description of work area

We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed scientist to work in an active interdisciplinary research team based at our Edinburgh site. The focus of the role is on conducting interdisciplinary research in three EU FP7 research projects, one of which (the SPIRAL project) is led by CEH at Edinburgh. These projects comprise small groups of natural and social scientists, many of which have extensive experience of working in interdisciplinary groups liaising with policy-makers, practitioners and civil societies.

Description of specific work to be undertaken and skills to be gained

The primary roles of this post will be to:

Support and facilitate project workshops; edit scientific outputs of Work Packages and provide support when necessary to the project coordinators;
Take an active role in evaluating the process and outcomes of an EU project.
Understand and apply social research theories and strategies.
Collaborate on the design of an evaluation framework, and apply this framework at all relevant workshops and meetings.
Interview individual stakeholders and facilitate self-evaluating sessions;
Carry out desk-based reviews drawing information from published and grey literature sources.
Assist in the production of reports and scientific papers detailing major research findings.

Skills required on appointment

You should have a BSc or equivalent in a relevant subject. You will possess strong team-working skills, including the experience of liaising with collaborators from across the UK and Europe. You will have excellent time management and IT skills, particularly related to report writing.

You will also need to demonstrate a flexible attitude, the ability to meet deadlines, a sound teamwork ethic and the ability to work on your own initiative.

Training and skills to be gained in summary
Skills will be gained in:

written and oral communication skills, including the ability to edit scientific documents rapidly
semi-structured interviewing and carrying out questionnaires
using qualitative data analysis software
carrying out desk-based reviews (capturing and processing different sources of information, from peer-reviewed journal publications, to reports, and other grey literature).
Scientific workshop organisation and facilitation

Salary

The salary for this research associate post is £19,540 progressing to £23,150 per annum. In addition, NERC offers 30 days’ annual leave and 10½ days’ public and privilege holiday per annum.

Closing date for applications: 20 February 2012.

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Πηγή: eurosciencejobs.com