Research Associate – Research Integrity and Complexity

Role: Research Associate

Grade and Salary: Grade 7, £36,924 - £46,485 per annum

FTE and working pattern: 1 FTE, 35hrs per week, Monday – Friday

Contract: 6 Months Fixed-Term

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

Purpose of Role

We seek an ambitious and creative postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) for a period of 6 months, starting from February 2025. 

The PDRA will be working within the auspices of the WIDERA consortium project BEYOND (Beyond Bad Apples: Towards A Behavioural and Evidence-Based Approach To Promote Research Ethics And Research Integrity In Europe) under the guidance of Dr Daniele Fanelli, in a nascent Metascience Lab located in the School of Social Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. With the general objective of advancing Metascience and helping the progress of all disciplines, the PDRA will actively contribute to the development and testing of new methods to incorporate complexity into our understanding of scientific practices and research integrity. An essential component of the work entails developing a methodology to extract and process texts of scientific publications, making them ready for further coding and analyses. Other specific contributions may be agreed with the candidate, depending on their interests and skills. The post is for a period of 6 months full time, although more extended part-time arrangements can also be considered. Candidates who wish to extend their position will be encouraged to lead or collaborate on new grant applications for this purpose

Key Duties & Responsibilities

1. Help in the development and testing of methods to analyse how the complexity of a field's subject matter and methodology. 
2. Take part in dissemination activities, such as conferences, workshops and contributions to publications. 
3. Help with general management of the project and research group (e.g. web page, meeting notes, social media)

Essential & Desirable Criteria

Essential

1. Solid quantitative skills. 
2. A demonstrable interest in the objectives of the project.

Desirable

1. Good programming skills, including knowledge of the statistical package R
2. Familiarity and prior experience with Natural Language Processing techniques. 
3. Knowledge and practical understanding of basic concepts in information theory (e.g. Shannon Entropy, Kolmogorov complexity).

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

1. Ability and willingness to learn new digital skills and capabilities appropriate to your role and how it evolves
2. Understand and adhere to information security practices particularly as it relates to personal or sensitive information
3. Maintain awareness of my own digital wellbeing by being mindful of the length of time spent at a screen and the impact on mental and physical health in using digital technologies.

How to Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 19 February 2025.

Please submit your CV via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment.

For any enquiries about this position please contact Dr Daniele Fanelli ([email protected]).

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g., part-time working and job share options.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised, and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our university community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

About Heriot-Watt University

At Heriot-Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.