Research Assistant or Associate

at  Imperial College London

05-DEC-2024

We are seeking a research assistant or postdoctoral research scientist with expertise in the analysis of geographic information system (GIS).

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• For appointment to Research Associate, you should hold (or expect to receive shortly) a PhD in Geographic Information Science, spatial statistics, infectious disease epidemiology or a related quantitative discipline. Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.
• For appointment to Research Assistant, you should hold an MSc in Geographic Information Science, spatial statistics, infectious disease epidemiology or a related quantitative discipline.
• Enthusiasm and interest in infectious disease epidemiology and global public health are essential for the post.

AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

• Download: Research Assistant Or Associate Job Description.Pdf
• Download: Employee Benefits Booklet.Pdf

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.
We reserve the right to close the advert prior to the closing date stated should we receive a high volume of applications. It is therefore advisable that you submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don’t hesitate to email us at support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk. We’re here to help.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a research assistant or postdoctoral research scientist with expertise in the analysis of geographic information system (GIS) data and an interest in infectious disease epidemiology to join the Vaccine Epidemiology Research Group (VERG) in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. The VERG consists of epidemiologists and laboratory scientists working on the epidemiology and immunology of viral and bacterial pathogens, with a particular interest in vaccines and genomics. We are a highly collaborative group with an international reputation.
Wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) shows promise as a sensitive and scalable approach to infectious disease surveillance. Investment in WES has grown enormously following its use during the COVID-19 pandemic to predict increases in case numbers and identify new variants. Researchers in the VERG are leading projects to identify and characterise pathogens in human wastewater and sewage, working with research partners around the world. We have developed laboratory methods and analysis tools to detect and sequence polioviruses, Salmonella Typhi and other pathogens in wastewater samples (e.g. https://polionanopore.org, https://www.typhoides.org).

WHAT YOU WOULD BE DOING

This is an exciting opportunity to join the VERG and lead our GIS work, working closely with partners in Asia and Africa. A key component of our work is the development and implementation of GIS protocols and tools for the design of WES systems including sampling site selection, characterisation and validation. This includes analysis of population, topographical and hydrological data to infer wastewater flow and estimate population denominators, as well as the analysis of geographic and spatial WES datasets on disease occurrence and spread.
You will be responsible for this work and will have opportunities for career development and collaboration within VERG and more widely. They will also have the opportunity to lead training programmes in this area and to participate in training visits to partner countries. The post offers substantial opportunities for publication of high impact research and engagement with centres of excellence in the UK and in countries at high risk of pandemic virus emergence.