Application Deadline:
31/08/2010
UCL Department / Division: Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Duration of post: 3.5 Years
Grade: 6 £27,796-£29,318 per annum
Vacancy Information: The UCL ‘Adaptable Suburbs' project invites applications for a 3.5 year research assistant position at University College London commencing 1 October 2010. The Research Assistant will be employed in the department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering and will be part of a team of researchers from the disciplines of built environment (Dr Laura Vaughan, Dr Sam Griffiths), anthropology (Dr Victor Buchli) and geomatic engineering (Dr Muki Haklay, Dr Claire Ellul) and three PhD students, who will be recruited soon.
The ‘Adaptable Suburbs’ project is focused on understanding how small centres of socio-economic activity emerge through time, using Greater London as its geographical focus. It stems from a previous project which looked at twenty of London’s outer suburbs, see www.sstc.ucl.ac.uk. The research will provide evidence for policy decision making and for planning and design to improve the future sustainability of the aging built environment. It will also develop innovative methods for the integration of socio-economic data with information about the layout of urban areas. The project is funded jointly by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and the ESRC (Economic and Social Sciences Research Council).
Eligibility: Candidates must have obtained a 2i or equivalent and a Master’s degree in the relevant subject, ideally in GIS or Computing.
Applications should include a CV and a one-page statement of how your research experience relates to the requirements of the project. Applications should be submitted only through the UCL application system. Please include a contact telephone number and an email address. References will be taken up for all short-listed candidates.
Role: The Adaptable Suburbs project involves five researchers and three PhD students. The research assistant’s primary role will be to support the management of the main project outlets (website, blog), management of the main geographical information repository for the project, providing support for the use of these datasets (such as the automation of data preparation tasks and development of project tools) and general GIS support to the project team and development of the website that will support public engagement in the project through participatory on-line community maps. The role will also include some general project- management duties, such as preparations of advisory group meetings and similar tasks. The post also offers the opportunity to work towards a PhD in Geographical Information Science on a part-time basis.
Person Specification: Applicants should have a first or upper second class degree and a Master’s (an MRes is highly desired) degree in GIS or Computing. Knowledge of GIS and Spatial Database Management Systems is necessary, as well as a working knowledge of web applications and development (PHP, HTML/CSS, JavaScript). Strong verbal and written communication skills are needed with evidence of being able to write concise and accessible reports in non-technical terms. We will be looking for a strong team player, with the ability to build effective working relationships both within the Adaptable Suburbs team and with external project partners and associates. As the role will involve day to day management of the project, the person will need to have good attention to detail, showing evidence of this in their previous activities.
Closing Date: 31 August 2010 at 5pm
Contact Dr Muki Haklay (m.haklay@ucl.ac.uk) or Dr Claire Ellul (c.ellul@ucl.ac.uk) to receive further details on this post. This should be done as soon as possible since we will consider applications on a rolling basis and no later than 31 August 2010. We are planning to hold the interviews in Mid September and we hope to have the research assistant in place by 1 October 2010.
For further details and application, see http://bit.ly/cCc0zh
