Brain & Behavior Lab Research Associate

University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA); Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 52,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

The UCLA Department of Psychology seeks a reliable, highly organized Staff Research Associate (SRA) in the Brain and Body Lab. Under the PI, Dr.

Bridget Callaghan, you will coordinate a federally funded brain-gut study, run research sessions, recruit participants, and help manage IRB submissions and data analyses. You will contribute to manuscript preparation and posters, with opportunities to develop programming tasks, engage with a multidisciplinary team, and support lab operations in a

Qualifications

• Strong prior research experience in a lab setting within Psychology or related field. (Required)
• Experience with neuroimaging data acquisition and analysis, particularly FSL. (Preferred)
• Prior interest in, or experience with, working with developmental, or psychiatric, or special population groups. (Preferred)
• Excellent interpersonal skills for interacting with study participants, some of whom may be psychologically vulnerable due to their age (e.g. children or adolescents) or early experiences, as well as with other laboratory members. (Required)
• Excellent oral and written communication skills for communicating with research participants, representing the lab publicly, as well as when writing (e.g., updating the website, IRBs, scientific publications). (Required)
• Excellent organization skills and attention to detail required for adherence to study protocols, managing the lab, maintaining research equipment, curating database. (Required)
• Strong general computing skills (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite) in both Mac and PC). (Required)
• Understanding of lab research methods. (Required)
• Ability to effectively prioritize, multitask, and manage co-occurring deadlines, projects, and team members, and to display adaptive and responsive decision making and problem-solving skills. (Required)
• Ability to use standard office equipment, including multi-line telephones, recording equipment, and scanners. (Required)
• Statistical background, basic competence in statistical programming (R, SPSS), and programming skills in R, Python, Psychopy, linux/unix, or shell scripting. (Required)
• Demonstrated ability to maintain professionalism and good decision making when confronted with difficult people or situations, either on the telephone or in person. (Required)
• Demonstrated ability to handle confidential materials with discretion. (Required)
• Knowledge of payment processing systems. (Cash-net and PCI). (Preferred)
• Knowledge of forms and submission procedures to obtain research approval from the UCLA Institutional Review Board and Office for the Protection of Human Subjects. (Preferred)

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the lab, including developing and maintaining a recruitment database and research data.
• Preparation, submission, and maintenance of IRB applications.
• Scheduling lab events and research meetings, and supervising undergraduate research assistants.
• Designing and implementing experiments, programming experimental tasks, recruiting and scheduling participants, running research sessions, and analyzing data.
• Assist with manuscript preparation and revisions for publication and posters.

Skills

Research experience

Neuroimaging (FSL)

Interpersonal skills

Oral & written communication

Organization & detail orientation

Computing (MS Office)

Lab methods

Prioritization & multitasking

Professionalism & discretion

Confidential materials handling

Payment processing systems

IRB / regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Psychobiology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science or related field

Tools

FSL

R

Python

SPSS

PsychoPy

Linux/Unix

Job description

The UCLA Department of Psychology seeks a reliable, highly organized Staff Research Associate (SRA) in the Brain and Body Lab. Under the PI, Dr.

Bridget Callaghan, you will coordinate a federally funded brain-gut study, run research sessions, recruit participants, and help manage IRB submissions and data analyses. You will contribute to manuscript preparation and posters, with opportunities to develop programming tasks, engage with a multidisciplinary team, and support lab operations in a