If interested please visit
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs
or contact Ms Floriana Bortolotti (020 7679 1681,
[log in to unmask]). Please do not respond
to me at this email address. Apologies about the length of advert!!
UCL RESEARCH Department of Epidemiology AND public Health
DIVISION OF POPULATION HEALTH
STATISTICIAN (Ref 377)
Applications are sought for a statistician to
provide expert statistical advice and support to
staff within the Health Behaviour Research
Centre. The successful candidate will provide
consultation to researchers during all stages of
the research process from study design to
statistical analysis. The person appointed will
be able to draw on expertise from a number of
statisticians embedded within research groups across the Department.
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1 THE HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE
The Health Behaviour Research Centre (HBRC) is
one of the largest health psychology research
groups in the UK. It is funded principally
through three programme grants from Cancer
Research UK with additional project grant funding
from MRC, BBSRC, ESRC and NIHR. The Centre’s
research covers three broad areas: i) cancer
communication and screening (determinants of
uptake, impact of screening, public understanding
of cancer prevention), ii) food choice and weight
(determinants of food choice, genetic and
environmental influences on weight, epidemiology
of obesity, treatment) and iii) smoking
(epidemiology, prevention, treatment). Professor
Jane Wardle is the Director, Professor Robert
West runs the smoking research programme and
Professor Martin Jarvis is Emeritus
Professor. There are around 40 other staff in
the group including post-doctoral researchers,
research assistants, support staff and PhD
students. Staff at the HBRC collaborate with the
Institute of Psychiatry, the Institute of Child
Health, and work closely with the Colorectal
Cancer Unit at St Mark’s Hospital and the
Psychobiology Group in the Department of
Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL.
1.2 THE DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
is chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, and
houses roughly 170 staff divided into eleven main
research groups: namely; the International Centre
for Lifecourse Studies; Whitehall II Study; the
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging
(incorporating the National Survey of Health and
Development); the Cancer Research UK-funded
Health Behaviour Research Centre; Dental Public
Health, Psychobiology, Central and Eastern
Europe, Health and Social Surveys, Genetic
Epidemiology, Clinical Epidemiology, and Health
Care Evaluation Groups. There is also a
cross-cutting medical and social statistics
network and a great deal of collaborative
research is conducted through the International
Institute for Society and Health, housed within the Department.
For an outline of current research projects in
the Department please visit our website at
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/.
The Department contributes to undergraduate and
graduate teaching, and runs several seminar
series, which all members of staff are encouraged
to attend. For an institutional profile see Annexe A below.
1.3 DIVISION OF POPULATION HEALTH
The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
is in the Division of Population Health at UCL
which is part of the Faculty of Biomedical
Sciences (FBS). The Division aims to enhance the
health of patients and populations by promoting
public health and improving clinical
care. Members of the Division are the
Departments of Epidemiology and Public Health
(EPH); Infection and Population Health; Mental
Health Sciences (MHS); Primary Care and
Population Health; the Centre for Health
Informatics and Multiprofessional Education
(CHIME); and the associated MRC Clinical Trials
Unit (MRCCTU). Expertise in epidemiological,
clinical, statistical and behavioural science
provides the scientific basis to underpin an
internationally competitive research
programme. The current Division Director is
Professor Anne Johnson. Full details of the
individual departments and associated Unit can be found at:
CHIME
<http://www.chime.ucl.ac.uk/>http://www.chime.ucl.ac.uk/
Epidemiology and Public
Health
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology/
Infection and Population
health
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcps/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcps/
Mental Health
Sciences
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mental-health-sciences/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mental-health-sciences/
MRC Clinical Trials
Unit
<http://www.ctu.mrc.ac.uk/>http://www.ctu.mrc.ac.uk/
Primary Care and Population
Health <http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcps/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcps/
2 DETAILS OF THE POST
Accountable to: Professor Jane Wardle and Robert West
Based at: Torrington Place, London WC1
Principal Objectives, Duties and Responsibilities:
The role involves working with a number of teams
and researchers both within the HBRC and
collaborations outside the Unit. It is
anticipated that two thirds of the time will be
spent working within Professor Jane Wardle’s team
and the remainder with Professor Robert West’s
team, however the candidate will be required to
take a flexible approach to effectively meeting
the demands of the respective teams. Therefore
the role will require an adaptable team-player,
who has good organisational skills and ability to
participate in a number of concurrent projects.
The ideal candidate will also be an accomplished
communicator, with the ability to convey complex
statistical ideas with ease from a number of
platforms. The candidate will contribute
regularly to the overall academic success of the
department by attending and delivering seminars,
offering support and training to colleagues,
reviewing articles for journals and assisting with grant proposals.
Main duties and responsibilities:
· Provide expert statistical advice and
support to researchers in the HBRC
· Conduct complex statistical analyses
· Provide in-house training and support
on statistical methods relevant to the work at the centre
· Contribute to the preparation of
publications, reports and grant writing
· Assist in the design of studies with a range of research methods
Further duties and responsibilities:
· Following and promoting UCL
policies, including Equal Opportunities
· Maintaining own continuing professional development
· Maintaining an awareness and
observation of fire and health and safety regulations
· Carrying out any other duties
commensurate with the grade and purpose of the post
· Participating in departmental and
faculty seminars aimed at sharing research
outcomes and building interdisciplinary
collaboration within and outside the department
Subject to the regulations of the funding bodies,
appropriately qualified members of research staff
will be expected to contribute to teaching or other departmental activities.
This job description reflects the present
requirements of the post, and as duties and
responsibilities change/develop, the job
description will be reviewed and may be amended
in consultation with the post-holder.
3. PERSON SPECIFICATION
The post demands excellent knowledge of all
statistical methods relevant to behavioural research.
E = essential
D = desirable
Assessed by:
A= application
I = interview
R= references
Qualifications / Certification
· BSc or MSc in Statistics
E
A
· PhD
D
A
Skills
· Data manipulation and statistical analysis using SPSS, STATA, MLwiN
E
A / I
· Excellent aptitude and understanding of
common statistical methods such as regression,
time series analyses, multi-level modelling,
structural equation modelling, ANOVA, GLM and bootstrapping techniques.
E
A / I
· Ability to prepare data in
figure/tabulation format for scientific publications
E
A / I / R
· Ability to work with MS Office programmes
E
A / I
· Scrupulous attention to detail and quality control
E
I / R
· Good organisation skills
D
A / I
· Excellent interpersonal skills and
ability to communicate complex ideas effectively
to other members of staff with varying levels of understanding.
E
A / I / R
· Good oral and written communication skills
E
A / I / R
· Ability to work effectively as part of a team
E
A / I / R
Experience
· Working with behavioural researchers
E
A / I / R
· Writing and submitting work for publication
E
A / I / R
· Working in an research environment
E
A / I / R
Knowledge
· A proven knowledge, or interest in health
D
A / I
· Awareness of behavioural research
D
A / I
· Advanced statistical analysis techniques
E
A / I / R
Aptitude/Personal Qualities
· Willingness to work flexibly to meet deadlines
E
A / I
· Commitment and regular contribution to
the overall success of the department.
E
A / I
· Willingness to develop expertise in areas of behavioural
research, including diet, exercise and smoking.
E
A / I
· Ability to explain complex statistics to junior researchers
E
A / I
4. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
Salary Scale
The post is graded as Grade 7, the salary for
which ranges from £30,115 - £36,429 pa inclusive.
Progression through the salary scale is
incremental. Cost of living pay awards are
negotiated nationally and are normally effective
from 1st August each year. It is hoped that the
successful applicant will start as soon as possible.
Tenure
All research staff appointed to the College are
required to undergo nine months
probation. Probation is a period of initial
professional development during which the College
provides training and guidance to help new
entrants to the profession become fully effective members of their department.
General
The postholder will actively follow UCL policies including:
Equal Opportunities Policy
Policy and Guidelines for Conflicts of Interest
A Policy for Investigating and Resolving Allegations of Financial Irregularity
Personal Relationships at Work: Code of Conduct
Public Interest Disclosure
Policy on the Investigation of Research Misconduct
UCL’s Financial Regulations
UCL’s Policy on Data Protection
Code of Conduct for Undertaking Business on Behalf of UCL
Please see the Human Resources website
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/
for information on employment policies.
The Code of Conduct for Undertaking Business on Behalf of UCL can be found at:
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/finance/secure/fin_docs/code_of_conduct.htm>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/finance/secure/fin_docs/code_of_conduct.htm
Pre-employment Health Screening
Where appropriate to the work being performed,
confirmation of appointment will be subject to
satisfactory pre-employment health screening and
appropriate immunisation against infectious diseases.
Hours of Work / Annual Leave
Full-time hours average 36½ hours per week and
times of work are as determined by the Head of
Department (or any person so delegated, e.g.
grant holder/supervisor) to fit in with the
nature of the work. Annual leave is 27 working
days for a full-time member of staff. UCL also
closes for a period at Christmas and Easter, at
which times staff benefit from a total of 6
´closure days´ in addition to Bank Holidays.
Superannuation
The successful applicant will be eligible to join
the Universities Superannuation Scheme, which is
a final salary scheme with a current employee
contribution rate of 6.35% and an employer
contribution rate of 14% of salary. The College
will make no contributions to personal pension
plans for those who opt out of the above schemes.
Confidentiality
All employees are required to exercise discretion
and maintain confidentiality at all times.
Criminal Records Check
Where appropriate for the work being performed,
any offer of employment will be subject to a
satisfactory criminal records check.
Health & Safety
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities
placed on them under the Health & Safety at Work
Act (1974) and Fire Regulations to ensure that
the agreed safety procedures are carried out to
maintain a safe environment for employees and
visitors. UCL operates a No Smoking Policy,
which does not allow smoking at work other than in designated areas.
Data Protection
In accordance with the Data Protection Act
(1984), employees must obtain, process and use
information held on computer in a fair and lawful
way. To hold data only for the specific
registered purpose and not use or disclose it in
any way incompatible with such
purpose. Employees should disclose data only to
authorised organisations as instructed.
Equal Opportunities
It is UCL policy to ensure that no job applicant
or employee receives less favourable treatment on
the basis of their gender, race, colour, ethnic
origin, nationality (within current legislation),
disability, sexual orientation, marital status,
caring or parental responsibilities, age, or
beliefs on matters such as religion and politics,
or is not placed at a disadvantage by conditions
or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
Recruitment and Selection
All employees who are responsible for recruiting
new staff are required to attend an in-house
recruitment and selection training course before
they can be involved in the recruitment process.
Season Ticket Loans
A season ticket loan is available to staff who
have successfully completed their probationary
period with the facility to repay through a monthly deduction from salary.
Other Benefits
Other benefits of joining UCL as a staff member are many and include:
· Access to an extensive range of
in-house staff development opportunities. Staff
have use of the UCL libraries and UCL operates a
Study Assistance Scheme for those undertaking part-time work-related study.
· An excellent location for transport
networks being near Euston, King’s Cross and St.
Pancras stations and a choice of underground
stations connected to London’s other mainline
stations. A wide range of bus routes serves the area.
· UCL lies in Bloomsbury, just north of
Oxford Street, Covent Garden and the heart of the
West End with access to shops, theatres, cinemas,
bars and restaurants. UCL also has its own 550
seat West End arts venue (Bloomsbury Theatre)
which hosts drama, dance, music, debates and lectures during the year.
· The main campus has subsidised
cafeterias/bars and shops, a gym and a travel
agent. UCL staff can also benefit from corporate
membership at a Tottenham Court Road gym.
5. HOW TO APPLY
Application forms are available at
<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs
or from Ms Floriana Bortolotti (020 7679 1681,
[log in to unmask]). The form can be used in
conjunction with a CV, but all questions on the
form must be answered, the application form
signed and the equal opportunities monitoring
form completed. Only complete and full
applications can be included in the shortlisting process.
Applications should be addressed to: Floriana
Bortolotti, Department of Epidemiology and Public
Health, University College London, 1-19
Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK ([log in to unmask]).
We regret that because of administration costs we
are only able to respond to applicants whom we
wish to interview. If you have not heard from us
within one month of the application deadline
please assume you have been unsuccessful in application for this post.
References will be taken up for all short-listed
candidates. A reference will be required from
your immediate employer for the person
appointed. If you would prefer that we did not
contact your employer at the initial stage of
interviews please state this clearly in your
application and provide the name/address of an
alternative referee. Please provide email
contact details or fax numbers where possible to
ensure that all references can be gathered prior to the interview.
Travel costs will be reimbursed for all
interviewees, up to the equivalent of the most
economical train/air fare available from the point of entry to the UK.
All candidates invited for interview will be
expected to provide evidence of their right to
work in the UK at the time of
interview. Evidence may be presented in the form
of: a British passport or a passport or national
identity card from an EEA country or Switzerland;
a passport or other travel document endorsed to
show that the holder can stay indefinitely in the
UK or that they can stay in the UK and are
allowed to undertake the type of work that they
are being offered (for further advice, contact
Human Resources); or an Application Registration
Card issued by the Home Office stating that the
holder is permitted to take employment.
Where candidates require a work permit, final
appointment will be subject to receipt of that
permit, which can take up to three months from the point of application.
Please ensure that you indicate in your
application where you saw this post advertised.
Closing date for applications: Midday Friday 29th August 2008.
ANNEXE A
INSTITUTIONAL PROFILES
university college london (<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk)
Introduction
UCL is one of the UK’s premier universities and
is ranked in the world’s top 10. It is a
world-class research and teaching institution
based in London whose staff and former students
have included 20 Nobel Prize winners. Founded in
1826, it was the only university in England at
that time which admitted students regardless of
race or religion. UCL was also the first to
admit women on equal terms with men. Today, UCL
is an inspiring university in which to work and
study and it continues to thrive on the diversity
and creativity of its community.
UCL is in practice a university in its own right,
although constitutionally a college within the
federal University of London. With an annual
turnover exceeding £600 million, it is
financially and managerially independent of the University of London.
The UCL community
UCL currently employs approximately 8,000 staff
and includes academic units as diverse as the
Slade School of Fine Art, the Bartlett School of
Architecture and the Institute of Child Health
which is associated with Great Ormond Street
Hospital. In total, there are 52 Academic
Departments and Institutes whose activities span
the following: arts and humanities, social and
historical sciences, law, architecture and the
built environment, engineering, mathematical and
physical sciences, life and clinical sciences,
and medicine. UCL’s academic and research staff
are a truly international community with more
than a quarter coming from 84 countries outside the UK.
12,000 undergraduates and 7,000 graduate students
study at UCL, of whom over 25% come from 140
countries outside the UK. UCL offers 275
undergraduate programmes and more than 220 taught
postgraduate programmes as well as the
opportunity to carry out postgraduate research in
all of its subjects. More than a third of the
student community is engaged in graduate studies,
with about 40% of these graduate students pursuing research degrees.
Quality of UCL’s teaching and research
Two measures of the current quality of UCL’s
teaching and research are the results of the
external teaching quality assessment reviews and
the periodic Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
During the teaching quality reviews conducted in
the period 1993-2001, 75% of all reviews of UCL
departments resulted in ratings of ‘excellent’
(22+ points out of 24). Of these, four
Departments received the maximum 24 points.
In the 2001 RAE, 60 UCL Departments achieved top
ratings of 5* and 5: of these, 15 Departments
have since been classified by the Higher
Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) as
'best 5*' for HEFCE research funding purposes -
that is, departments which either received the 5*
rating both in 2001 and in the previous RAE in
1996 or which improved their 1996 rating to 5* in
2001 while maintaining or increasing numbers of
research active staff. These 'best 5*'
departments span the full range of UCL’s disciplines.
Another measure of UCL’s research excellence has
been its success in bidding for external
competitive funds from the Joint Infrastructure
Fund (JIF) and the Science Research Investment
Fund (SRIF). With the addition of required
matching funds, JIF and SRIF are allowing UCL to
invest more than £350 million into
state-of-the-art infrastructure for cutting-edge
research and teaching programmes.
Location and working environment
Based in Bloomsbury, UCL is a welcoming,
inclusive university situated at the heart of one
of the world’s greatest cities.
UCL’s central campus is within easy reach of
Euston, King’s Cross and Marylebone mainline
stations and the following Underground stations –
Euston Square, Warren Street, Goodge Street and
Russell Square. Road connections to the M1 and
M40 motorways give easy access to the north and
west road networks. There are also good transport links to Heathrow airport.
school of life and medical sciences
In 2007 the School of Life and Medical Sciences
was established to co-ordinate the work of the
Faculties of Life and Biomedical Sciences. These
structural changes have further enhanced the
exceptionally strong base of research and teaching in Biomedicine at UCL.
ucl faculty of biomedical sciences
(<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/biomedical-sciences/>http://www.ucl.ac.uk/biomedical-sciences/)
UCL encompasses one of the strongest
concentrations of biomedical research in Europe.
There are groups of international standing in
many fields throughout the Royal Free and
University College Medical School, which was
formed by a merger in 1998. UCL has also merged
with the Institute of Ophthalmology, the
Institute of Neurology, the Institute of Child
Health and the Eastman Dental
Institute. Associated Hospitals with these
Institutes are: Moorfields Hospital; the National
Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen
Square; the Great Ormond Street Hospital for
Children; and the Eastman Dental Hospital. The
Royal Free Hospital, University College
Hospitals, the Whittington and North Middlesex
Hospitals are part of the undergraduate and
postgraduate teaching complex of the Medical School.
On 1st August 2006 the four postgraduate
institutes listed above joined with the Faculty
of Clinical Sciences and the Wolfson Institute
for Biomedical Research to form the new Faculty
of Biomedical Sciences (FBS). This structural
change further enhances the exceptionally strong
base of research and teaching in Biomedicine at UCL.
The clinical activity of FBS is delivered by 14
Divisions and Institutes: Division of Medicine,
Cancer Institute, Division of Surgical and
Interventional Sciences, Division of Population
Health, Division of Infection and Immunity,
Institute of Women’s Health, Ear Institute,
Centre for Health Informatics and
Multiprofessional Education (CHIME), Division of
Medical Education and the five Institutes listed
above. The departments are situated on three main
sites - the Bloomsbury Campus, the Hampstead
Campus, and the Archway Campus - and operate
mainly in conjunction with four central London
National Health Service Trusts and primary health
care practices. There are also strong academic
links with NHS Trusts in Greater London and the South East.
royal free and university college medical school
In August 1998 UCL Medical School merged with the
Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine to form
the Royal Free and University College Medical
School of University College London. The
combined School delivers the undergraduate
teaching mission of the faculty of Biomedical
Sciences. It has a medical student population of
approximately 2,000 students, who are based at
the three main teaching sites – Bloomsbury
campus, the Hampstead campus and the Archway
campus. The students also undertake part of the
course at district General Hospitals, General Practices and the community.
The School introduced a new six-year
undergraduate medical curriculum in September
2000.The new course involves integration of
clinical teaching into the early years and
continues basic science teaching through to the
end of the degree programme. An intercalated BSc
year is now compulsory for all non-graduate
entrants and the new six-year course requires
careful management of the capacities available in
the School's NHS and other partners. Aside from
the intercalated BSc component, the undergraduate
programme is divided into three Phases. Phase I
comprises years 1 and 2, which concentrate
extensively on the life sciences. Phase II
comprises years 3 and 4 which have a mainly
clinical basis, and Phase III comprises year 5 of
the medical undergraduate programme which is also
clinical and includes a number of external
placements. The Professional Development Spine
is an innovative part of the curriculum, which
runs throughout the course and aims to introduce
students to the professional knowledge, skills
and attitudes they will require to function as doctors.
Dean, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and
Vice-Provost Health, Professor Edward Byrne
Dean for Research, Professor Ian Jacobs
Vice-Dean for Research, Professor Raymond MacAllister
Vice-Dean for Education, Professor Jane Dacre
Vice-Dean for Primary Care, Professor Irwin Nazareth
Vice-Dean and Campus Director (Hampstead), RFUCMS: Professor Humphrey Hodgson
Vice-Dean and Campus Director (Archway), RFUCMS: Dr David Patterson
#####################################
James Miller
Department of Statistics
University of Glasgow
15 University Gardens
G12 8QQ
0141 3302474
[log in to unmask]
The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401
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