Directorate : School of Social Sciences Salary : Grade 6 (£30,505-£35,880) Contract Type : Full Time or Part Time, Fixed Term (10 Months) Rewards and Benefits : 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff (Part time workers should pro rata this by their FTE). Purpose of the Role The Theoretical and Empirical METaknowledge (TEMET) lab at Heriot-Watt is seeking a Research Assistant (RA) to help with data collection and other tasks, starting from January 2025 or earliest thereafter. Detailed Description The RA will work within the pan-European WIDERA consortium project iRISE (Improving Reproducibility In SciencE) under the guidance of Dr. Daniele Fanelli. The core tasks involve collecting data and text from published studies and preparing them for analysis. Depending on skills, involvement in developing and testing Natural Language Processing techniques may be possible. Secondary tasks include event organization and small administrative tasks related to the project. Funds are available for up to 10 months full-time employment, with options for extended part-time work. Key Duties and Responsibilities Help to identify and collect samples of scientific studies from suitable databases, collect meta-data of these articles, and prepare extracted texts. Contribute to developing novel methodologies to analyze the scientific literature. Assist in dissemination activities, such as conferences and workshops. Help with general project and research group management (e.g., web page and social media communication). Education, Qualifications and Experience Essential Master's degree in a quantitative subject. Knowledge and experience in literature searches and data collection. Desirable Programming and statistical skills (especially R and/or Python). Interest in graphical methods of knowledge representation, quantitative text analysis, and NLP. Understanding of basic concepts in information theory. How to Apply Submit via the Heriot-Watt online recruitment system: (1) Cover letter, (2) Full CV, (3) Details of two references. Applications accepted until midnight on Tuesday 7th January 2025.