Research Assistant Opportunity
Position Description
The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is seeking a paid, part-time (10 hours a week), Research Assistant (RA) to begin as soon as possible to work with core Center team throughout the academic year (September 2023-May 2024). Reporting to the Center Director, the RA will support various research related needs across projects and activities conducted at the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness. The RA will also work in close conjunction with the Center Assistant Director who will oversee day-to-day activities and provide direction and support on assigned tasks. This will be a hybrid position – most work may be done remotely, but the RA will be expected to come into the office occasionally for Center meetings and events.
The RA will contribute to the following broad set of responsibilities at the Center:
- Updating, re-organizing, and expanding upon the Resources section of Center website. This may include, for instance, support with identifying the most recent scales for measuring well-being, resilience, and other factors.
- Assisting in the collection of recent research papers on topics which the Center is interested in studying and promoting. These topics include, but are not limited to, the connection between well-being and social health, equity, and digital media.
- Collaborating with the Center Communications Coordinator to provide valuable scholarly insights and feedback on communication materials, including knowledge briefs, social media posts, articles, and web content.
- Supplementing other Center RAs’ outreach efforts to local community organizations and public health departments.
- Assisting with more comprehensive literature reviews on positive well-being related topics.
- Supporting with coding/data analysis needs for research projects at the Center.
- Providing research and administrative support for tasks related to Center activities (for example, tracking relevant research and publications from Center researchers and affiliates, conducting background research on scholar profiles for the Center seminar series, and conducting analyses of different translational platforms to support the Center’s science communication objectives, etc.)
- Providing logistical support for Center activities related to the Positive Health Student Interest Group and other ongoing programming.
Qualifications
- 2nd year MPH student or 1st year doctoral-level student with a background in health communication, public health, psychology is preferred
- Proficiency with SPSS, SAS or R to analyze data
- Familiarity with survey software tools like Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms
- Competence in collecting qualitative data through interviews, focus groups, or observations, as well as quantitative data through surveys, questionnaires, or experiments
- Experience conducting literature reviews
- Understanding of the interplay between mental, social, and physical health
- Knowledge of community-based participatory action research principles
- Experience working with community partners in public health domain valuable but not required
How to Apply
Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. If you are interested in this position, please email Anubha Tyagi at this address, centerhealthhappiness@hsph.harvard.edu with “RA application” in the subject line. Please attach:
- Your updated CV
- A writing sample (such as a term paper, whitepaper, or peer-reviewed publication)
- A brief cover letter describing how your skills, background, and motivations relate to this position