The Students’ Union and University are looking for two Student Researchers to work with us on a nationally funded collaborative educational enhancement research project titled: How are staff supported to undertake student-staff partnership opportunities? This work is funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and is conducted in partnership with the University of Sussex, University College London, the University of Brighton, and the University of Salford.

Main Activities and Responsibilities:

As a student researcher you will be trained to undertake interviews with university staff members who have led student-staff partnership projects, as well as students who have worked on partnership projects. 

We anticipate there is likely to be approximately 6 – 10 narrative interviews. Narrative inquiry will provide opportunities for the participants to tell their own nuanced and complex stories, and describe how everyday academic, personal, and social circumstances can influence their experiences. 

Listening to, and subsequently analysing, the stories that participants tell from their own perspective can give an insight into their experiences, enhance understanding, and thus improve provision for future students. The interview transcripts will be reviewed by the lead researchers and systematically coded using NVivo to develop a thematic analysis from the data.

You will be engaged in co-creating a toolkit of practical resources and talking head videos for staff members undertaking student-staff partnerships alongside contributing to a published research article and a presentation at an educational development conference in Autumn 2023.

Skills:

Experience of qualitative research methods, including: 

• Experience of setting up, conducting and transcribing interviews and focus groups (preferably including in online settings)

• Ability to conduct thematic qualitative data analysis of data.

• Ability to present your findings in a variety of media.

• Ability to follow ethical procedures around the collection, storage and use of data.

You will need to be confident working independently to effectively complete agreed tasks. 

You should have excellent communication skills and be able to contribute to collaborative decision making, as part of a team of academic staff, under the supervision of the project leads.

Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with the Union’s policies, University policies and all relevant legislation – including Health and Safety, 1992 Education Act and Data Protection.