Research Assistant
| Posting date: | 17 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,558.00 to £33,951.00 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 24 December 2025 |
| Location: | Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taff |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | University of South Wales |
| Job type: | Contract |
| Job reference: |
Summary
We are currently seeking to appoint a Research Assistant for a 19-month period using funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for the project ‘People, Places, and the Public Sphere’. The Wales Institute for Socio-Economic Research and Data (WISERD) is a collaborative venture between the universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea and was established to promote cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary research in the social sciences across the UK and internationally. This funding is part of the ESRC's Centres Transition initiative, which helps research centres such as WISERD make their work more impactful and sustainable. https://wiserd.ac.uk/news/tackling-societys-most-urgent-challenges/
The project is being led by Professors Gary Higgs and Mitch Langford (GIS Research Centre, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, USW, based in Pontypridd) and colleagues based at the WISERD Hub in the SPARK building, Cardiff University. Further project details are available at https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/en/projects/people-places-and-the-public-sphere/. The project will build on research already conducted within WISERD adopting the types of interdisciplinary, mixed-method, and comparative approaches developed over previous phases of funding. Research to date has involved enhancing GIS based measures of accessibility to a wide range of public and private services, and this work package will widen the scope of the research to include drawing impact from the use of alternative modes of transport and new sources of open data.
The researcher will be involved in a cross-university project that involves constructing a place-based public facing data laboratory, underpinned by principles of open social science, to enable citizens, communities, and policy actors to fully participate in decisions about policies. The appointed researcher will also work with WISERD partners and others to be a world class Centre for training and capacity building and to support the development of future social science research leaders.
The successful candidate is expected to have a postgraduate degree in Computer Science (Geoinformatics), GIS/Spatial Analysis, or related discipline, and to have experience of applying open-source web-based GIS and mapping related data services. Familiarity with Geospatial data, Spatial databases, R-Shiny web applications, Power BI data visualization, and scripting in a language such as SQL, R, or Python would be an advantage. This is a full-time post for 19 months.
For an informal conversation about this post please contact Professor Gary Higgs, Director of the GIS Research Centre, gary.higgs@southwales.ac.uk or Professor Mitchel Langford, mitchel.langford@southwales.ac.uk
If you are a successful candidate and this position will be your first professional services role at the University/ RWCMD (or you are currently employed by PSS Ltd), you will be employed by Professional and Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of South Wales, which provides services to the University and Colleges.
Discover the advantages of working with us at USW: https://tinyurl.com/PSSatUSW
USW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All those working at the University are expected to share this commitment.
We are committed to employing a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment. Where colleagues can be themselves and every person is treated with dignity, fairness and respect. We actively encourage applications from diverse backgrounds and communities, especially with regards to age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and religion and/or belief. We benchmark our success through equality accreditations with Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter, Stonewall and Disability Confident.
If you’re a Welsh learner or a Welsh speaker, we’d be delighted to receive your application. At USW, you’ll have access to Welsh courses to enable you to develop your Welsh skills further, in order to provide a bilingual service to our students, colleagues and the public.
We welcome applications in Welsh and English. Applications in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than those made in English.
The project is being led by Professors Gary Higgs and Mitch Langford (GIS Research Centre, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, USW, based in Pontypridd) and colleagues based at the WISERD Hub in the SPARK building, Cardiff University. Further project details are available at https://pure.southwales.ac.uk/en/projects/people-places-and-the-public-sphere/. The project will build on research already conducted within WISERD adopting the types of interdisciplinary, mixed-method, and comparative approaches developed over previous phases of funding. Research to date has involved enhancing GIS based measures of accessibility to a wide range of public and private services, and this work package will widen the scope of the research to include drawing impact from the use of alternative modes of transport and new sources of open data.
The researcher will be involved in a cross-university project that involves constructing a place-based public facing data laboratory, underpinned by principles of open social science, to enable citizens, communities, and policy actors to fully participate in decisions about policies. The appointed researcher will also work with WISERD partners and others to be a world class Centre for training and capacity building and to support the development of future social science research leaders.
The successful candidate is expected to have a postgraduate degree in Computer Science (Geoinformatics), GIS/Spatial Analysis, or related discipline, and to have experience of applying open-source web-based GIS and mapping related data services. Familiarity with Geospatial data, Spatial databases, R-Shiny web applications, Power BI data visualization, and scripting in a language such as SQL, R, or Python would be an advantage. This is a full-time post for 19 months.
For an informal conversation about this post please contact Professor Gary Higgs, Director of the GIS Research Centre, gary.higgs@southwales.ac.uk or Professor Mitchel Langford, mitchel.langford@southwales.ac.uk
If you are a successful candidate and this position will be your first professional services role at the University/ RWCMD (or you are currently employed by PSS Ltd), you will be employed by Professional and Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of South Wales, which provides services to the University and Colleges.
Discover the advantages of working with us at USW: https://tinyurl.com/PSSatUSW
USW is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All those working at the University are expected to share this commitment.
We are committed to employing a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment. Where colleagues can be themselves and every person is treated with dignity, fairness and respect. We actively encourage applications from diverse backgrounds and communities, especially with regards to age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and religion and/or belief. We benchmark our success through equality accreditations with Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter, Stonewall and Disability Confident.
If you’re a Welsh learner or a Welsh speaker, we’d be delighted to receive your application. At USW, you’ll have access to Welsh courses to enable you to develop your Welsh skills further, in order to provide a bilingual service to our students, colleagues and the public.
We welcome applications in Welsh and English. Applications in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than those made in English.
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