Under general direction and guidance of the principal investigator (PI) and/or co-PI, part-time administrative support is required for a suite of research projects related to music psychology and education (musical memory, barriers to music education, attitudes to singing, and benefits of singing for persons with Parkinson’s Disease). Studies involve online data collection with human participants of various age groups. The candidate must have experience in data management and communication skills for interactions with research team members, people from various UPEI constituencies and persons from organizations and institutions off campus. Applications are welcomed from individuals who have strong organizational, communication, and management skills, a willingness to learn related skills, and an interest in the role of music in everyday life.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Communications

• Meets regularly with PI / Co-PI, plans and carries out details of procedures and methods and takes action in the application of policies or standards widely accepted within the institution
• Works closely and collaboratively with the PI / Co-PI and other team members and co-ordinates team research meetings
• Takes minutes and distributes meeting announcements, sets up doodle polls to find time for meetings, follows up on “to do’s” from meetings
• Updating of project website (public and private facing)
• Makes some contacts outside the organization that require tact and courtesy, e.g., sending email to a school principal or head of an after-school club for teenagers

Data management 

• Monitors data (checking integrity, data merging, and organization for statistical analysis)
• Checking and maintaining flow of work, e.g., checking that surveys or access to surveys have been received and returned by individuals
• Transfers data from surveys to a spreadsheet (or assures that data have been automatically transferred by computer) ready for team members to analyze
• Organizes and oversees execution of the monthly testing schedule for collection of data from student cohorts and maintains participant data base
• Identifies issues during data collection and analysis, and proposes solutions
• Maintains the research-team bibliography (using open-source software) on adolescence, music neuroscience, language development, music education
• Maintenance of ethics proposals

Financial/ budget management

• Assists with day-to-day laboratory activities and accounting
• Has spending authority and access to budget for dealing with travel, hospitality, and purchasing
• Monitors compensation of participants and other budget matters
• Assists in preparing research funding proposals and scientific reports

Other support as may arise, e.g.,

• Assists in development of ethics proposals
• Prepares collaboratively for publications and conference presentations
• Facilitates training (mentoring) of other research team members

QUALIFICATIONS:

• B.Sc or B.A. (Hons) in a related field (e.g., psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, management, linguistics, engineering, music therapy, music) plus experience or an equivalent in education in experience
• Previous evidence of meticulous record keeping, including updating, of large quantities of data 
• Ability to take responsibility
• Good organizational skills
• Good communication skills
• Background in spreadsheet management
• Analytical ability
• Experience with the operations of a research or work environment
• Demonstrated record of working independently and in a team environment
• Experience with Excel, graphs, and tables
• Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy in analysis and writing

Assets include, though not required:

• Knowledge of music, including pop music, ability to read music
• Familiarity with high school system in PEI
• Experience with adolescents
• Bilingual/multilingual
• Some expertise in either quantitative or qualitative data analysis
• Prior experience with publishing
• Beginning track record of scholarship and research