Research Assistant

The Post

We are seeking to appoint a motivated researcher to help conduct an externally funded pilot randomised control trial of use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the home to reduce children’s exposure to second-hand smoke. You will be educated to degree level or above in a relevant discipline and have experience in conducting applied health research. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-institution team, the researcher will be housed in NHS Lanarkshire. The researcher will lead on recruitment, intervention delivery, and assist with collecting and analysing data. There will also be opportunities to draft reports and article, become involved in future funding applications, and contribute to research activities within the Institute for Social Marketing and Health (ISMH), University of Stirling.

Description of Duties

• The successful candidate will be responsible for recruiting participants, collecting and analysing data, and intervention delivery. For example, they will collect baseline and follow up data by telephone on tobacco use, current home smoking practices and nicotine dependence
• They will also arrange home visits and assist family members with collection of child saliva samples for analysis of cotinine levels (a good indicator of second-hand smoke exposure)
• The successful candidate will discuss NRT product choice with participants by telephone, arranging delivery via NHS Lanarkshire’s NRT postal service, and provide fortnightly telephone support to participants
• The successful candidate will work closely with the NHS Lanarkshire Tobacco Control Team Leader and the Principal Investigator (based at ISMH) to deliver the intervention and contribute to the analysis, synthesis and write up of findings for funder reports and submission to peer-reviewed journals

Essential Criteria

• Educated to degree level in a relevant discipline within Health Sciences (nursing, psychology, social policy, economics, politics, economic and social history, biology, pharmacy and other disciplines)
• Experience of conducting research (quantitative or qualitative)
• Experience of recruiting participants to research studies
• Experience of analysing quantitative data

For further information, including a full description of duties, essential criteria and details on how to apply, please see Vacancy details | University of Stirling