Research Assistant

Salary: £33,951 to £35,608 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 6 September 2026

The Role

The research assistant will lead on recruitment and execution of experimental work with people with aphasia, under PI/co-I supervision, working with the postdoctoral researcher. A trained Speech and Language Therapist is needed in this role to ensure a supportive, productive working relationship with the people with aphasia participating in the studies, making home visits as required for testing. This may be regional with potential national visits. The researcher will collaborate on conference and journal dissemination.

Find out more about ECLS: Education, Communication and Language Sciences

For further information about the post, please contact Laurence White (laurence.white@ncl.ac.uk) and Julie Morris (julie.morris@ncl.ac.uk)

Duration of post is 12 months (60% of full-time).

Successful candidates will require satisfactory disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). People Services colleagues will support you with this during onboarding. 

Key Accountabilities

Research Assistant

• Coordinate recruitment of people with aphasia to the project
• Work directly with people with aphasia, leading on the data collection (language assessment and experimental testing)
• Take an active role in recruitment to the project, working with external stakeholders (e.g. aphasia charities) where required
• Work collaboratively with the project team on organising of workshops and other dissemination activities
• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, use problem solving to affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s)
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principal Investigator or groups overseeing the research project
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, books)
• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment) as appropriate

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Research Assistant

• Experience of working with people with aphasia
• Theoretical knowledge of aphasia and of speech perception
• Data analysis skills with quantitative data, ideally using R
• Experience of using statistical analysis packages (e.g., R)
• Ability to adapt communication to make research accessible for people with aphasia
• Attention to detail and ability to work at high levels of accuracy 
• Ability to present complex information effectively to a range of audiences
• Proven ability to analyse data and write-up results
• Experience of working collaboratively with colleagues
• Excellent IT skills in all major office applications
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems

Attributes and Behaviour

• Willingness to travel to support participant recruitment
• Commitment to working positively as a member of a multi-skilled research team 
• Ability to negotiate and prioritise multiple, competing responsibilities and to work to deadlines
• Commitment to continued professional development
• Understanding of good practice in equality, inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

Research Assistant

• Honours degree in Speech and Language Therapy
• Registered as an SLT with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (desirable)
• Full driving licence (desirable)
• Appointment subject to an up to date enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29652