Research Assistant / Technician 3

Staff - Union

Job Category
CUPE 116

Job Profile
CUPE 116 Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 3

Job Title
Research Assistant / Technician 3

Department
Research Support | Nunn | Vancouver School of Economics

Compensation Range
$4,618.00 - $5,036.00 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date
February 17, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date

Aug 1, 2024

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Summary

The Vancouver School of Economics (VSE) and collaborative universities, uses state-of-the-art data-intensive research. The VSE encourages collaboration with other world-leading researchers and institutions through workshops, exchanges and visits. The Vancouver School of Economics is Canada’s top-ranked department and among the leading economics departments in the world.
The research assistants will support the research initiatives of leading research faculty members at the Vancouver School of Economics.

The areas of inquiry are in political economy, economic development, and economic history. There is a particular focus on quantiative analyses of the characteristics of Indigenous societies within Africa. The ideal candidate will have past experience working both quantitatively and qualitatively with aspects of Indigenous societies and economic development to undertake empirical analyses.

The work entails data digitization, mapping and visualization (using Arc GIS), database management, and analysis of data (using R and STATA), which involves writing code and understanding and interpreting the output. Past knowledge of OLS, Logit, and IV estimators is required as well as an understanding of causal inference and methods to estimate standard errors; namely clustering, randomization inferences and Conley standard errors.

Also required will be writing, both of journal articles and grants applications. Candidates must have extensive knowledge of LaTeX and the ideal candidate will have past experience in academic writing – e.g., as an academic editor or similar position.

Organizational Status
The job entails close collaboration with faculty members from the VSE, University of San Diego, Harvard University, and MIT during the full process from data digitization to database management to mapping and visualization to model estimation to the writing of estimation results. The successful candidate will be involved in all aspects of research and will have past experience working in academic teams comprised of economists.
Work Performed

• Oversees data collection, digitization, manipulation, data storage, and analyses. This must be done in R and STATA.

• Digitization requires some understanding of Indigenous qualitative and quantitative sources, as well as ethnographic techniques.

• Tasks include reading ethnographies and anthropological accounts of pre-colonial societies, building data sets from these qualitative accounts, developing text parsing tools to extract information about individual ethnic groups from long-form texts, and using geographic software (Arc GIS) to map and visualize data.

• Works with high-profile, senior-level faculty in the design and execution of empirical tests. Supports the project/study by surveying literature and using empirical tools to work with data. Must be fluent in econometrics.

• Writes reports and assists with writing grant applications. Must have an extensive working knowledge of LaTeX.

• Oversees the day-to-day project management. Must have a chosen record of being able to work in a team of academic economists.

• Oversees data reporting and prepares information for presentation and publication. Must have experience using LaTeX and Beamer.

• Carries out any other related duties as required in keeping with the qualifications and requirements of positions in this classification.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
This is a research assistant position within a research project involving a variety of projects and sophisticated research methods. The work requires considerable judgement in the management of research priorities, data, applications, schedules, and task delegation. The ideal candidate will have past experience working in such environments.
Confidentiality: Employees of the University of British Columbia always work under strict confidentiality because of the nature of the data holdings. Any breach in data security would place the future of the VSE, and its many programs of research, at risk.
Accuracy and Accountability: Accuracy is essential since errors may have implications for published reports, grant funding, data access, and public relations. The Research Assistant is responsible for checking the reliability and accuracy of work done and reporting challenges and threats directly to her/his supervisor.
Supervision Received

The successful candidate will work under the direction of the Dr. Nathan Nunn (Vancouver School of Economics, Univ, of British Columbia) and work closely with Dr. Jacob Moscona (Dept of Economics, Harvard/MIT), Dr. Awa Ambra Seck (Harvard Business School), and Dr. Sara Lowes (Dept of Economics, UC San Diego).
Supervision Given
May coordinate and organize tasks of research assistants participating in the research team.
Minimum Qualifications
Completion of a relevant technical program or a university degree in a relevant discipline and a minimum three years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in Economics. Individuals with other educational backgrounds are welcome to apply if they have the requisite skills and experience.

• a strong quantitative and statistical background in economics;

• be comfortable reading substantial amounts of text, have past experience related to quantitative research involving Indigenous cultures (ideally within Africa), have extensive training in econometrics.

• Familiarity with Arc GIS, LaTeX, STATA, and R is required.

• A proven ability to work within an academic team with a common goal of producing academic research;

• strong written and verbal communication skills; and

• a long-term interest in pursuing research in economics.