Research Assistant in the Department of Social, Genetic & Dev Psychiatry

Job id: 089685. Salary: £37,332 - £37,982 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 17 May 2024. Closing date: 27 May 2024.

Business unit: IoPPN. Department: Social, Genetic & Dev Psychiatry.

Contact details:Louise Arseneault. [email protected]

Location: Denmark Hill Campus. Category: Research.

About the Faculty

The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) is dedicated to discovering what causes mental illness and diseases of the brain. In addition, its aim is to help identify new treatments for them and ways to prevent them in the first place. The impact of the Institute's work was judged to be 100% 'world-leading' or 'internationally-excellent' in the Research Excellence Framework 2014. The IoPPN has a rich history of pioneering research, enhancing patient care, influencing policy change, raising awareness of conditions affecting the brain or sharing knowledge through education.  Visit here for more information: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn

About the Department

The SGDP Centre’s mission is to undertake research on the impact and interplay between genetic, environmental and developmental factors, and their roles in the causal processes underlying the origins and course of multifactorial mental disorders; to consider the implications for clinical practice and public health policy; and to train others in the methodologies involved.

The SGDP Centre continues to ensure its place at the forefront of international scientific research. The Centre makes major contributions to teaching, training and research by inspiring and nurturing collaborative research within an interdisciplinary context. Visit here for more information: www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/sgdp-centre/index

About the Team

The Platforms for Longitudinal Mental Health Data (PALM) team, led by Professor Louise Arseneault, focuses on increasing the discoverability and accessibility of longitudinal mental health data. The team works to maximise longitudinal data’s uptake and facilitate mental health research by developing platforms that provide easy access to information about longitudinal mental health data. The team’s projects include the Catalogue of Mental Health Measures and the Landscaping International Longitudinal Datasets project.

In September 2022, our team undertook a global search for longitudinal datasets across the world to offer a springboard for developing new and innovative mental health research while harnessing existing data resources. In August 2023, we submitted our report on the Landscaping International Longitudinal Datasets project to the project funder, the Wellcome Trust. In this report, we provided 1) a list of all longitudinal datasets we identified worldwide; 2) a comprehensive review of the richness of those datasets for mental health research; and 3) an in-depth analysis of a selection of the largest ongoing datasets to uncover innovative resources for researchers that can support transformative mental health research.

In furthering this goal, the Wellcome Trust has funded the creation and development of a platform for longitudinal mental health data to convert and expand the information included in our report (https://www.landscaping-longitudinal-research.com/what-we-found) into an online searchable tool that will be freely accessible.

We are seeking a Research Assistant to be part of an in-house team at King’s College London and work alongside a range of partners including a web developer and AI consultant, transparency and engagement coordinators and Lived Experience Experts (LEEs). As part of their role, the post holders will support the development of a new online platform that will hold metadata for more than 3,000 longitudinal datasets from across the world. The post holders will be responsible for conducting reviews of information about longitudinal datasets and extracting relevant details for the new online platform, ensuring that the information is accurate and up to date, liaising with internal and external collaborators, participating in the analysis of the metadata, searching for additional repositories of longitudinal datasets, thinking creatively about expansion and improvement of the platform, disseminating updates about the platform on social media and other channels and updating the pool of longitudinal datasets.

This is a full-time post (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered as a fixed term contract until 31 July 2025.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      Educated to degree level in psychology, computing, technology or related disciplines

2.      Knowledge or experience in psychology, mental health and related disciplines

3.      Technical skills including proficiency in using Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook and Canva

4.      Organisation skills in filing, document management and general administrative skills

5.      Knowledge of longitudinal datasets

Desirable criteria

1.      Experience in managing large volumes of data

2.      Experience using statistical computing programmes such as R or STATA

3.      Experience managing a varied workload with conflicting priorities

4.      Ability to work independently and in a team

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit’  pages.

We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

If you encounter any technical difficulties while applying online, please email [email protected]