Student Casual - Thrive Research Assistant - GEES - LES - Grade 5 - 906609

University of Birmingham; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a research assistant to support a project aimed at enhancing community engagement through therapeutic gardening. This role involves analyzing collected data and preparing materials for publication, contributing to a meaningful initiative that improves health and wellbeing in the community. The successful candidate will work closely with academics and community staff, gaining valuable experience in research and data analysis while fostering an inclusive environment. If you are passionate about making a difference and have a background in geography or related fields, this is an exciting opportunity to join a forward-thinking project.

Qualifications

• Experience of designing and conducting interviews and focus groups.
• Proven ability to prepare manuscripts for publication.

Responsibilities

• Analysing qualitative and quantitative data.
• Writing the final report with support from the project team.

Skills

Data Analysis

Report Writing

Interviewing

Focus Groups

Education

Undergraduate degree in Geography or related subject

Masters in a related subject

Currently studying for a PhD in GEES or related discipline

Job description

Job Description

Position Details

School or Department: Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Grade: 5

Positions available: 1

Hourly rate: £15.94 + holiday entitlement

Casual contract from: 1/6/25

Closing date: 16/5/25

This vacancy is only open for University of Birmingham students. Please be aware that the vacancy may be taken down early dependent on the number of applications received.

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham.

Background

Thrive is an organisation that promotes the use of gardening to improve health and wellbeing and furthers therapeutic gardening interventions. In 2022, it was 50yrs since the TV gardens in King’s Heath Park (an under-utilised resource in a densely populated area with great public transport/buses) were first used to encourage the public to garden. Thrive (running therapeutic programmes in the TV gardens since 2013) have been awarded Heritage Lottery funding to restore the TV gardens heritage as a community resource - for health and wellbeing purposes - encouraging more local groups of all ages and ethnicities to engage with this inclusive and sustainable green heritage.

This research project will aim to evaluate the success of the ‘Thrive Birmingham and TV Gardens’ project through the collection of data from diverse groups of users, staff, volunteers, community groups and carers. The majority of data collection is complete and this has focused on the core aims of the project, on improving accessibility, encouraging new people to come and experience the heritage, enhancing wellbeing and making the local area a better place to live, work or visit.

Role Summary

The research assistant will work with academics in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Thrive staff at King’s Heath Park, Birmingham to analyse the data which has been collected during 2025 and work on the preparation of material for publication. There may be some supplementary data collection required.

Main Duties

What will the students be doing as part of the role:

Analysing qualitative and quantitative data

Attending and contributing to project meetings

Writing of the final report with support from the project team

Some collection of qualitative and qualitative data if required

Person Specification

Necessary Preferred

Undergraduate degree (BA or BSc) in Geography or related subject

Experience of designing and conducting interviews, focus groups and questionnaires

Experience of processing and analysing data from interviews, focus groups and questionnaires

Experience of report writing

Supervision of undergraduate student projects

Currently studying for a PhD in GEES or related discipline

Masters in a related subject

Proven ability to prepare manuscripts for successful publication

Experience of working with children and/or vulnerable adults

Additional Information

If data collection is required, the applicant must be able to be located in Birmingham for 1 day a week.

The successful applicant will be supervised by two academics within Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences.

The successful applicant will need a DBS certificate.