Research Assistant

Summary:  

Support and assist King's Climate & Sustainability (KCS) to manage our engagement activities. These activities include Staff Sustainability Champions, King's Climate Action Network, behaviour change campaigns (waste and travel), Sustainability Projects Fund, Carbon Literacy Training and developing other relevant training materials. 

It is crucial that the Sustainability Engagement Assistant works alongside the Sustainability Engagement Officer, and as part of the KCS team, to understand and contribute to the team's engagement priorities for maximum impact.

Role information:  

This role is hybrid and flexible. The KCS office is based in Strand. 

Start date: Monday 6th January 2025 (flexible around the examination period) 
End date: Friday 6th June 2025  

Interview dates: 

Thursday 12th & Friday 13th December 2024 
 

Tasks may include (but not limited to):  

• Develop a database and conduct data analysis to track impact 
• Develop and align various feedback forms 
• Support engagement activities in advance of the waste campaign
• Provide admin support for ad-hoc tasks 
• Collect case studies from Sustainability Champions 
• Support the running of events (e.g. academic panel events on travel and offsetting)  
• Complete administrative tasks for Sustainability Champions audits in May 2025    
• Update guidance for sustainable travel 
• Support with the roll-out of Carbon Literacy Training 
• Support organising the annual Sustainability Awards ceremony 
• Help managing sustainability volunteers 
• Help developing sustainability training for Workrite 

• King's student or recent graduate  

• Proactive - able to take initiative in line with the team's priorities  
• Reactive - able to accommodate last-minute requests 
• Ability to plan ahead - able to develop plans for projects and communication goals ahead of schedule
• Ability to work independently 
• Ability to manage time effectively 
• Ability to demonstrate a passion for and commitment to equality & diversity and sustainability issues  
• Ability to analyse data and create visuals 
• Excellent at working as part of a team 
• Excellent attention to detail  
• Quick to react and change priorities and communication plans when needed

We are looking for a research assistant to support us for a short time with a number of projects in the Policy Institute's Evidence Development and Incubation Team.

The focus for the research assistant will be on a project looking at Londoners' experiences of housing security.  The main tasks for this project will be to conduct an academic standard literature review, and to conduct analysis on a dataset consisting of surveys asked at three time points.  This analysis will need to be carried out in R, and in accordance with the team's quantitative analysis handbook, which focuses on Tidyverse packages for data cleaning. Cleaning and analysis will be overseen and quality assured by experienced quantitative researchers in the team.  Ideally this analysis will lead to publications in an academic journal.  The research assistant will ideally have experience of academic publication or journal article writing, and would support with the identification of relevant journals, and write up of the results if time allows.  The research assistant will be recognised as an author on journal articles published using analysis they conducted. 

Depending on how the above work progresses, the research assistant may also provide assistance with other projects in the team, spanning social policy areas but with a primary focus on housing and homelessness.  This may include for example, cleaning and preparing quantitative data sets for analysis, conducting background research and providing general project coordination support.

Important to Note: in your application, please outline datasets that you have analysed using R, and the packages and/or analysis you have used on those datasets.

The role is for 140 hours in the first instance; 35 hours/week for 4 weeks.

This can be done full-time or part-time, with a minimum of 20 hours/week (the end date of the role will be adjusted accordingly, for part time working, but must be no later than 29th November).

Undergraduate or MA degrees (or currently completing) in relevant field (e.g. social sciences) or direct experience conducting quantitative analysis and/or policy research

Essential:

• Experience in carrying out quantitative cleaning and analysis in the R software environment using Tidyverse packages
• Experience conducting academic literature reviews
• Experience in policy research/social research
• Familiarity with housing and homelessness research or the homelessness sector
• Familiarity with academic journal writing/publishing

Desirable:

• Familiarity with carrying out qualitative data management, or a willingness to learn
• Experience working on quantitative or mixed methods research as part of a team

Overview: 

King's Climate & Sustainability are seeking an enthusiastic and organised student to assist with the administration of the KEATS Sustainability & Climate module for the academic year 2024/25. In this role, you will support the module lead with key communications, technical support, and student queries throughout the academic year and take on a key role in the organisation of our monthly seminar  series. 

The position is from October 2024 to end of June 2025 for 7 hours per week. Candidates are able to work flexibly around their other commitments. The role will be hybrid, with occasional need to come to the office on the Strand campus.  

Key responsibilities: 

• Module coordination: writing and sending  fortnightly announcements, field participant queries, general technical assistance, and assist with the distribution of completion awards. Liaise with our Digital Education Team. 
• Promotion: assist with the promotion of the module, and help to promote other sustainability opportunities to module participants. 
• Webinar coordination: Assist in planning, organisation and delivery of the Sustainability Seminar Series (online), which module participants attend. Liaise with speakers, set up webinars, send invites, and upload recordings to KEATS. 
• Collaboration: Work with the team and external partners (e.g. Science Gallery) to promote opportunities for engagement via the module. 
• Communication: Utilise excellent communication skills to increase engagement with the module and improve completion rates. 
• Feedback and reporting: Track engagement with the module, participant feedback and seminar engagement to help improve the module. 
• Module development: work alongside the Project Officer (Education) to develop plans to make the module externally available through King's Professional Education. 

Benefits: 

• Gain valuable experience in educational module support. 
• Develop technical and communication skills. 
• Learn about Education for Sustainability and climate and sustainability more broadly. 
• Work with a dynamic and supportive team who are passionate about making a difference at King's. 

How to apply: 

Submit your CV (max. 2 pages) and a cover letter detailing how you meet the criteria with relevant experience (max. 400 words). Please specify which King's faculty/department you are part of.  

Please submit these documents to sustainability@kcl.ac.uk  

Join us to #MakeChangeTogether at King's! 

For more information, please contact sustainability@kcl.ac.uk  

The candidate must be enrolled as a student at King's for the duration of the post (i.e. until the end of the academic year) and be in good academic standing.

• Candidate should have previously completed the KEATS Sustainability & Climate module and/or contributed to King's Climate & Sustainability initiatives previously (e.g. Climate Action Network) 
• Excellent organisational and time management skills: Ability to manage multiple tasks and adhere to deadlines, with a keen eye for detail. Ability to work to task with minimal supervision. 
• Technical skills: familiarity with Microsoft Office and KEATS virtual learning platform; good IT skills and ability to learn how to navigate new programmes quickly. 
• Effective communication skills: Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and concisely, particularly in writing. Ability to effectively engage and manage stakeholders and collaborate.