Research Assistant

Location: Aston University Main Campus

Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 months)

Closing Date: 23.59 hours GMT on Tuesday 03 January 2023

Interview Date: Friday 20 January 2023

The Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) was founded in 2019. It is a substantial expansion of the former Aston Centre for Forensic Linguistics, which was founded in 2008. In the autumn of 2019 we appointed a total of 15 new staff to establish the Institute. This expansion was funded via a £6M investment including a £5.4M award from Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) fund. The Institute is divided into five centres: the Centre for Forensic Text Analysis, the Centre for Language and Law, the Forensic Data Science Laboratory, the Forensic Linguistics Databank, and the centre for Spoken Interaction in Legal Contexts. The Institute combines cutting-edge research with forensic casework and consultancy, undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and CPD courses.

We are seeking a Research Assistant to contribute to the BA/Leverhulme funded project The Discursive Effects of a ‘Pioneering Approach’: Police Interviews with Rape Victims post-Operation Bluestone, under the supervision of Dr Nicci MacLeod, Deputy Director of the centre for Spoken Interaction in Legal Contexts. 

The project will examine the ways in which a new innovative approach to the investigation of sexual offences might play out in the interview room, drawing on a small set of genuine police interviews with rape victims. The appointee will be responsible for transcribing the interviews to the required standard for discourse/conversation analysis; scrutinizing the data through a discourse analytical lens; and helping in the dissemination of findings to police partners and academic audiences. 

The successful candidate will hold at least an undergraduate degree in linguistics or a related subject, and ideally will either hold or be working towards a Master’s level degree in this area.  You must possess demonstrable abilities in transcribing spoken interaction to Jeffersonian (Conversation Analysis) standards, either with the assistance of software or entirely manually. Experience of applying standard research techniques to analyse data is also a requirement. You should have excellent verbal and written communication skills, and be competent with report writing and MS Powerpoint. 

For all enquiries please contact Dr Nicci MacLeod [email protected]

The post commences on 1st  March 2023

Unfortunately, due to the sensitivity of the data, the role requires someone who is able to complete the work on-site at Aston. The data sharing agreement does not allow for the data to be removed.

Further details:   Job Details      University Information   

Aston University is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.  It promotes equality and diversity in all aspects of its work. We are committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN Charter http://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charter-marks/athena-swan/ , recognised by a silver award, and we are a Disability Confident Employer Level 2. We strive to have robust inclusivity strategies in place, including race and sexual orientation, to encourage colleagues to have the confidence and freedom to be themselves in the workplace. For more information, visit: https://www2.aston.ac.uk/about/inclusive-aston

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

If you require the job details document or an application form in an alternative format please contact the recruitment team at [email protected]