Research Assistant (3 positions available)

Organisation: Open Development and Education

Open Development & Education is an organisation with a multinational team that works
with governments, donors, aid agencies, and other stakeholders to solve the most pressing
educational challenges of our time. We specialise in implementing cost-effective education
programmes and rigorous research in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and
North America. Equity, evidence, and accessibility sit at the heart of our approach, and we
seek to build local capacity wherever possible through delivery and research.

Project Title: ‘Understanding quality characteristics of EdTech interventions and

implementation for disadvantaged pupils’

Funder: Education Endowment Foundation

Project: This is an exciting opportunity to work on cutting-edge research funded by the

Education Endowment Foundation. The research seeks to identify the core components or
mechanisms through which EdTech approaches improve pupil attainment, with a particular
focus on how these mechanisms interact with disadvantage.

Position overview: We are seeking three skilled and detail-oriented Research Assistants
to join our team and contribute to a systematic review. The successful candidates will be
responsible for assisting with coding and data extraction tasks to support the synthesis of
research findings. This position offers an excellent opportunity to gain experience in
conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses in a collaborative research environment.

Start date: end of April, beginning of May.

Salary: £15 p/h (180 hours across 3 months)

Work pattern: The working pattern and days per week are flexible and could be suitable
for a post-doc, PhD, Master’s student or anyone with the right experience. The Research
Assistant will work remotely and communicate regularly with the research team via email,
video conferencing, and other virtual collaboration tools.

Responsibilities:

● Apply tools to research papers and extract data from selected studies according to
predefined criteria and coding protocols.
● Collaborate with the research team to ensure consistency and accuracy in data
extraction procedures.
● Assist in the development and refinement of coding frameworks and data
extraction forms.
● Perform quality checks on extracted data to identify errors or inconsistencies and
resolve discrepancies as needed.
 ● Organise and manage extracted data
in databases or spreadsheets for further
analysis.
● Contribute to the interpretation of findings and synthesis of results in
collaboration with the research team.

Qualifications:

● Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g. education, psychology, social sciences,

statistics).
● Prior experience in research methods, systematic reviews, or meta-analysis is
preferred.
● Strong analytical skills and attention to detail, with the ability to accurately code
and extract data from scientific literature.
● Proficiency in using software tools for data management and analysis (e.g., Excel,
SPSS, R).
● Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work
effectively in a collaborative team environment.
● Self-motivated and able to work independently with minimal supervision, while also
being responsive to feedback and guidance from senior researchers.
● Familiarity with literature search techniques and databases (e.g, Google Scholar,
OpenAlex) is desirable.
● Experience with EPPI reviewer and Zotero is an advantage.
● Commitment to adhering to research ethics guidelines.

Application Process:

Interested candidates should submit a CV, cover letter (1 page maximum), outlining their
relevant experience, and skills to recruitment@opendeved.net with the subject line:
Research Assistant.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled..

Deadline

Vacancy will close on 2nd April 2024

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates are encouraged to apply

early.