The School of Biological Sciences is currently seeking to appoint a Research Assistant (part-time). The appointee will join the Environmental Change Biology Laboratory on a project focused on mosquito-borne disease risks under anthropogenic environmental gradients. They will work in a multidisciplinary team that includes ecologists, virologists, and mathematical modellers in collaboration across Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Glasgow, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
The successful candidate will work within the new 4-year “MosquitoNI: Mosquito-borne disease risk to Northern Ireland under environmental change” project, funded by BBSRC’s New Investigator Award scheme. The project focuses on understanding the implications of climate and land use changes for mosquito-borne disease risk, while addressing regional paucities in knowledge around arthropod vectors and their viruses in Northern Ireland. The successful candidate will be expected to work with wider governmental, charitable, and industrial stakeholders, alongside the public, to translate project outcomes and achieve effective engagement and outreach.
The candidate will provide research support across several components of the project, including field surveys for mosquitoes and their viruses, sample preparation and identification, experimental setup, and stakeholder and public engagement activities. They will gain valuable experience in insect vector biology specifically, alongside broader scientific techniques and in working with academic and non-academic partners.
About The Person
The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate that you meet the following essential criteria:
To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information.
This part time (0.5 FTE) post is available for four years. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.
What we offer:
Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/pay-reward-andbenefits
Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/diversity.
If you are an international applicant and don't already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application - http://go.qub.ac.uk/internationalstaffsupport
Candidate Information