Psychology Lab Technician - (00400.8)

The Psychology Lab Technician’s primary duty; Kamloops; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution seeks a Psychology Lab Technician to manage lab resources, provide technical support, and coordinate with faculty and students. The ideal candidate will have a four-year degree in Psychology or related fields and at least three years of relevant experience. Strong communication, organizational skills, and programming abilities are essential for this role, which is crucial for the effective operation of psychology laboratories.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to manage and coordinate multiple lab teaching equipment.
• Experience liaising with faculty, students, and external vendors.
• Strong technological skills related to data collection systems.

Responsibilities

• Maintain inventory and manage lab facilities.
• Provide support for data collection systems and troubleshoot hardware/software.
• Coordinate with TRU departments for lab equipment management.

Skills

Demonstrated knowledge of lab practices

Strong communication and interpersonal skills

Ability to work independently and prioritize tasks

Research experience

Knowledge of psychological equipment and software

Basic understanding of experimental design, data analyses and ethics

Knowledge of scientific data organization and management

Strong organizational, record-keeping and problem-solving skills

Programming skills

Education

Four (4) year undergraduate degree in Psychology, Neuroscience or a related field

Job description

Description

The Psychology Lab Technicians primary duty is to help ensure effective and efficient use of Psychology Laboratory resources and equipment by providing support related to equipping setting up maintaining trouble-shooting and orienting students and faculty to the facilities software and hardware in the Psychology laboratories at Thompson Rivers University.

Major duties & responsibilities

• Maintains the inventory of hardware and software for the Psychology laboratories.
• Maintains Psychology lab facilities by managing lab bookings and monitoring space and equipment use.
• Provides support related to data collection systems including set up, management, maintenance and training students on specialized data collection systems including hardware and software; provides technical support and troubleshooting for these data collection systems.
• Coordinates with Psychology faculty and TRU IT Services, Facilities, Purchasing, Finance and other TRU departments as necessary to organize purchasing, set-up, maintenance, updates and disposal where appropriate of laboratory hardware and software for teaching and research purposes.
• Liaises with software and equipment manufacturers as needed for subscription maintenance, updates and repairs.
• Works with faculty supervisors to provide student researchers and faculty with demonstrations on how to properly use laboratory equipment.
• Manage and coordinate lab teaching equipment (e.g. Backyard Brain kits); manage faculty sign-outs; develop and share demos for laboratory equipment users including for teaching purposes.
• Shares department news via social media; maintains relevant information for students on information boards, website and relevant social media outlets; maintains database of Psychology alumni and facilitates networking opportunities; and other similar duties.
• Collates and updates information for the Psychology Department website.
• Coordinates information sessions on the Honours program, student research opportunities, entry into graduate school, careers and other topics.
• Manages introductory psychology participant pool (e.g., SONA).

REPORTS TO

Dean (or delegate) Faculty of Arts

Requirements

Education

• Four (4) year undergraduate degree in Psychology, Neuroscience or a related field including Computer Science.

Experience

• Three (3) years experience in research psychology equipment and psychological software or computer programming.

Skills, knowledge or abilities related to the job

• Demonstrated knowledge of lab practices
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and prioritize tasks
• Research experience
• Knowledge of psychological equipment and software
• Basic understanding of experimental design, data analyses and ethics (including completion of TCPS2)
• Knowledge of scientific data organization and management, open science and pre-registration processes
• Ability to liaise with faculty and students as well as multiple departments across TRU and vendors external to TRU
• Strong organizational, record keeping and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work with confidential information
• Ability to deal with staff, students, colleagues and external vendors with courtesy, discretion and tact
• Programming skills

Working conditions

• Sitting or standing at desk for long periods of time