Research Assistant position in Sports Science

The Department of Health Sciences is situated at Campus Sundsvall and Campus Östersund. The institution educates and conducts research in a number of subjects, with a focus on people, health and well-being.



Job description

We are recruiting a research assistant with a background in quantitative research methods to join our research team, where we are investigating individualised strategies that aim to improve female athletes’ training, health, well-being, and performance.

Using biopsychosocial and cross-cultural approaches, the project focuses on sex-hormone-related challenges and opportunities associated with the menstrual cycle and contraceptive use. The Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre (SWSRC) focuses primarily on winter sports, but this international collaboration includes female athletes from a range of winter and summer sports and countries. The research assistant will work closely with the principle investigator and collaborators. Specific duties will involve day-to-day project management (e.g., coordinating international partnerships and project-related administration), data collection and analyses (e.g., recruiting participants, collecting lab-/field-based data and statistical analyses), research communication (e.g., writing manuscripts and conference presentations) and applied knowledge transfer.


Requirements

Essential requirements for this position include:

- A MSc in sports science or a relevant field
- Fluent in both written and spoken English
- Proficient in quantitative research design, methodology, data collection and modern statistical analyses (e.g., mixed models) using relevant software (e.g., SPSS, R)
- Experience of using various physiological, performance and perceptual measurement tools
- Experience of interpreting, reporting and visualising lab-/field-based data
- Experience of working with high-performing female athletes and/or sports teams/organisations
- Well organised and highly motivated, with the ability to manage own workload and multiple priorities, as well as working within a research group


Assessment

Applicants will be assessed according to the essential requirements listed above. In addition, the following criteria will be evaluated:

- An understanding of interdisciplinary (e.g. biopsychosocial, socioecological and cross-cultural) factors affecting training, health, well-being, and performance in high-level sport
- An understanding of the barriers, challenges, and opportunities present when collecting data from female athletes within lab- and field-based environments
- Experience of managing, planning and conducting multidisciplinary research within a team (involving athletes, managers, coaches, practitioners, and academics)

While not essential for the role, desirable attributes include:

- A PhD in sports science or a similar field
- Post-doctoral experience in sports science or a similar field
- Experience of publishing applied sports performance research in international, peer-reviewed journals
- Experience of using mixed-methods and/or interdisciplinary research methods
- Experience of working with diverse athlete populations (e.g., developmental, senior, disabled, multi-cultural)
- Experience of working with female athletes on specific sex-hormone-related research projects
- Established relationships with high-performing female athletes and/or sports teams/organisations
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, evidenced through positive and productive relationships with existing collaborators and stakeholders within performance sport

 

Personal qualities

The successful candidate will need to be highly motivated and organised to be able to independently co-ordinate this international research project under the supervision of the principle investigator. They will also need to be able to communicate effectively with a wide range of individuals (e.g., researchers, coaches, athletes, practitioners, administrators, etc.) and demonstrate an ability to think critically.


Other assessment criteria

The research assistant role will require the candidate to have a background in sports science, quantitative research and a particular interest in female athlete training, health, well-being, and performance. The applicant will have excellent IT skills (including Microsoft Office and software used for video conferencing, referencing, statistics and data visualisation, etc.). International connections (within sport and academia) will be viewed favourably.

 

Terms of employment

This employment is a special fixed-term employment consisting of 75% of full-time employment starting on 2024-03-01 until 2025-02-29 or as agreed.

Place of employment: Östersund, but with the possibility to work remotely.
 

Information

For more detailed information contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Kerry McGawley, mailto:kerry.mcgawley@miun.se, or the Head of department, Prof. Marko Laaksonen, mailto:Marko.Laaksonen@miun.se, +46 (0)10-142 8384.

 

Application

Application documents must be submitted in English (preferable) or Swedish and should include a letter of interest (maximum one A4 page, Arial font size 11, single spaced), a curriculum vitae (maximum two pages), a description of your educational and scientific merits and a list of publications and conference proceedings (if relevant).

Please submit your application through the recruitment system by no later than 5th February 2024.

Mid Sweden University has two campuses; in Sundsvall and in Östersund, both located close to students, colleagues and the surrounding society. At the same time, it is located conveniently close to the sea, forests and mountains, which provides a great quality of life. Here, new knowledge is created by means of internationally successful research and education that contribute to the development of our society. This way, we actively contribute to a sustainable future and a better world.


Welcome to a university where people meet, get inspired and think in new ways. 


Mid Sweden University works actively for equal opportunities and strives to embrace the qualities that diversity and equality bring to the organization. Prior to any recruitment work, Mid Sweden University has taken a position on consulting support, recruitment channels and marketing. We therefore kindly ask media vendors, recruitment sites and the like not to contact us.