Applications are invited for the post of Research Assistant (RA) in the School of Psychology to work on a project investigating the role of early motor development in emerging social and communication skills from birth to 18 months. We are specifically investigating how different motor trajectories unfold; how motor trajectories interact with social and communication abilities; and whether the variation in developmental trajectories is discernible between groups of infants at low- or high-risk for autism.

The postholder will be based at the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, but also work with collaborating colleagues at Birkbeck, University of London. This is a full-time post, available from 1st March 2023, on a fixed term contract of 2 years. We are happy to consider requests for flexible working including part time/job shares.

This RA position is in the Comparative Cognition Group, directed by Professor Gillian Forrester. The postholder will be a member of this lab with responsibility for the provision of research support for a Simons Foundation funded project, “Identifying Early Markers of Autistic Spectrum Disorder in Naturalistic Motor Behavior using High-Frequency Sampling”.

The project team will consist of a dedicated postdoctoral researcher, research assistant, and PhD student. The project will be overseen by the PI (Professor Gillian Forrester) and two Co-Investigators, Dr Ori Ossmy (Birkbeck) and Dr Georgina Donati (Birkbeck). The team will also benefit from a collaboration with the NHS Royal Free paediatric high risk infant clinic.

The postholder will be primarily involved in project and management (including social media), participant recruitment and assisting the research team with data collection. The postholder must have recruitment experience, a track-record of working with children and or families and excellent in-person and online communication skills for engaging with a wide range of individuals including caregivers, practitioners and academics. Some experience of data collection and working with technology is desirable.

This position involves working with vulnerable infants, therefore the successful candidate requires a standard DBS check

Please contact Professor Gillian Forrester (g.forrester@sussex.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.

The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex.

Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship.

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

You can find out more about our values and our EDI Strategy, Inclusive Sussex, on our webpages.