Research Assistant — AI Health Simulations (Psycho-Oncology)

University of St Andrews; St Andrews; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 38,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support (eligibility)

USS Pension Scheme

Hybrid working environment

Staff discount scheme

Free staff parking

LinkedIn Learning access

34 Days Annual Leave + 5 PH

Job summary

University of St Andrews invites applications for a committed Research Assistant to work with Dr Andrew O'Malley on the MiniAFTERC project funded by Beatson Cancer Charity. The role focuses on coordinating the pilot, ethics submissions, and analysing chatbot interactions in a simulated clinical setting.

The successful candidate will run simulations, collect transcripts, and perform accuracy assessments against manual ratings while maintaining robust study documentation.

Qualifications

• Good first degree in a relevant subject such as psychology, nursing, medicine, health sciences or public health.
• PhD (or near completion) in a related discipline would be advantageous.
• Experience of empirical research involving human participants, and ideally of digital health, psycho-oncology or behavioural interventions.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the day-to-day running of the pilot, including ethics submission to the University of St Andrews Medical School Ethics Committee and ongoing compliance with approved protocols.
• Work with Prof Gerry Humphris to collate simulated patient scenarios spanning high, moderate and low fear of cancer recurrence, including edge-case responses.
• Run simulation sessions with a chatbot and capture transcripts, audio recordings and outputs in line with information-governance requirements.
• Conduct accuracy assessments comparing AI-generated FCR4 scores with manual scoring by trained raters.
• Maintain version-controlled study documentation and contribute to project meetings.

Education

Bachelor-level degree in a relevant subject (psychology, nursing, medicine, health sciences or public health)

Research experience with human participants

Job description

University of St Andrews invites applications for a committed Research Assistant to work with Dr Andrew O'Malley on the MiniAFTERC project funded by Beatson Cancer Charity. The role focuses on coordinating the pilot, ethics submissions, and analysing chatbot interactions in a simulated clinical setting.

The successful candidate will run simulations, collect transcripts, and perform accuracy assessments against manual ratings while maintaining robust study documentation.