Research Technician for the Neuroscience of Education Research (NERD) Lab at the University of Missouri-Columbia

Position Summary:

Dr. Laura M. Morett’s Neuroscience of Education Research on Development (NERD) Lab in the College of Health Sciences – Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Missouri – Columbia is seeking applicants for a full-time Research/Lab Technician II. The lab conducts research on the cognitive and neural bases of typical and disordered language processing and acquisition, focusing in particular on hand gesture. A variety of methods, including electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and eye-tracking are used to examine language and gesture across the lifespan in typical development and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Job Description Summary:

The Research Technician will handle multiple organizational and administrative details of assigned projects, including but not limited to the recruitment, screening, and scheduling of study participants and conducting online and telephone interviews. The Research Technician will also coordinate the follow-up of study participants with some oversight of day-to-day operation of the project; develop, program, and test experimental paradigms; assist in the preparation of IRB applications, progress reports and other summary materials; and perform literature searches. Additional responsibilities include ordering materials, tracking research related supplies, detailed record-keeping, filing, assisting with the supervision and training of research assistants, the sending and receiving of study equipment, the cleaning and offloading of data from study devices (e.g., EEG, fNIRS, and eye-tracking), study participant payments, and other duties as assigned. The Research Technician will assist in the preparation of manuscripts for publication, conference presentations, and grant proposals. There will be opportunities to lead and/or collaborate on papers, posters, and presentations for scientific meetings. The Research Technician will work independently and collaboratively with other team members to fulfill the goals of the projects.

Job Responsibilities:

  1. Focuses on completing work effectively, efficiently, and in a timely fashion 
  2. Understands how own assigned duties relate to others in the team and how the team integrates with others
  3. May assist staff, faculty, students and/or general public with the basic operation of equipment and/or with production activities
  4. Uses existing procedures to solve routine problems and perform a range/variety of tasks/activities
  5. Recognizes and solves typical problems that can occur in own work area without supervisory approval; evaluates and selects solutions from established options
  6. Provides recommendations to supervisor as needed and/or requested
  7. Impacts the quality of own work
  8. Communicates basic technical information with team members
  9. Provides information to and exchanges information with appropriate and/or various parties
  10. Other job-related duties as necessary and job development

Anticipated Hiring Range: $12.73 – $17.75

Grade: GGS 005

University Title: Research/Lab Technician II

Internal applicants can determine their current grade and university title by accessing the Job Information page through the Additional Employee Info tile in myHR.

Shift: 20 hours per week, including evening and weekend availability when needed.

Minimum Qualifications:
High School Diploma or an equivalent and at least 1 year of experience from which comparable knowledge and skills can be acquired is necessary.

Preferred Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences or a related discipline (e.g., psychology, linguistics, neuroscience); familiarity with EEG, fNIRS, and/or eye-tracking and relevant data collection and analysis software (e.g., PsychoPy, R, Matlab); experience working with individuals with ASD; experience conducting experimental research on cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and/or language processing.

Application Materials:
Completed online application, cover letter, and resume are required.

Applications must be submitted on-line through the University of Missouri website:  https://hr.missouri.edu/job-openings (search for Job Opening 51441).

Application Deadline:

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled, with a targeted start date of August 15, 2024.


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