"Lab Assistant"

Position Information

The Developmental Transitions Lab and the Culture and Child Development Lab at the University of California, Riverside, are jointly seeking a part-time Lab Assistant to start in November 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is initially for a six-month term, with the possibility of renewal depending on funding, lab needs, and performance.

The Developmental Transitions Lab (https://dtl.ucr.edu/) conducts research on how family environment and puberty shape both psychological risks and resilience in child development. The Developmental Transition Lab is launching a new project on child maltreatment prevention, for which the Lab Assistant will provide primary support. The Culture and Child Development Lab (https://cheunglab.ucr.edu/) examines how children develop across diverse cultural contexts and how parents, teachers, and peers shape their developmental trajectories. The Lab Assistant will provide administrative and research support for an ongoing research-practice partnership project focused on integrating climate and environmental issues into STEM education. The Lab Assistant will support both labs. For both labs, the roles and responsibilities of the Lab Assistant include administrative duties such as recruiting, interviewing, and managing teams of research assistants; assisting with IRB submissions, material transfers, data use agreements, and security protocols; setting up and maintaining data storage and filing systems; scheduling and ordering; and contributing to the overall lab culture and mission. The Lab Assistant will also contribute to scientific projects by conducting literature reviews, entering and preparing data for analysis, ensuring rigor and reproducibility, and authoring posters or manuscripts for presentation and publication. The Lab Assistant will allocate roughly equal time to responsibilities across both labs. This position is ideal for a motivated individual interested in pursuing an advanced degree in psychology or a related field.

The full salary range for the Lab Assistant is $23.22 - $26.05. However, the expected pay scale for this position is $23.22 - $23.03. We base salary offers on a variety of considerations, such as education, licensure and certifications, experience, and other business and organizational needs.

Applicants must have current work authorization when accepting a UCR staff position. Currently, we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa for staff.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

Please note that effective July 2025 the realized minimum pay for this position will be $25 an hour.

Requirements

Educational Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in psychology or a related field. Required
• Minimum of 1 year of laboratory experience or two years of college courses in the natural, physical or social sciences and laboratory experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience; and knowledge and abilities essential to the successful performance of the duties assigned to the position. Required
• Undergraduate level statistics course and experience with statistical programs (e.g. R, Python, SPSS, etc.) Preferred

Experience Requirements

• Experience conducting independent research in psychology. Preferred
• Experience with managing teams of research assistants. Preferred
• Experience with maintaining data security and IRB protocols. Preferred

Minimum Requirements

• Demonstrated background in, and passion for, research in psychology or related fields
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational and time management skills

Key Responsibilities

• 50% The Lab Assistant will be involved in IRB submission, recruiting, interviewing, and managing teams of undergraduate research assistants. Recruitment activities may involve posting or sending flyers and/or attending university/community events. Interviewing involves reading and selecting applications and holding interviews with applicants. Managing teams of undergraduate research assistants involves being responsible for onboarding/offboarding, training on lab tasks, overseeing data entry, developing efficient workflows, and promoting the professional development of research assistants by holding occasional workshops, journal clubs, etc.
• 40% The Lab Assistant will be involved in data security, storage, monitoring, analysis, and reproducibility. Data security will include assisting with the development of protocols to maintaining participant confidentiality, and assisting with paperwork for the IRB, material transfers, and data use agreements. Data storage will include assisting with setting up laboratory systems to store and organize large-scale data from various longitudinal and geographical sources. Data monitoring activities include organizing and maintaining databases, developing processes of quality control checks for data entry, and conducting quality control checks. Data analysis activities involve developing progress reports and conducting higher-level data cleaning and descriptive statistics. Data reproducibility activities involve assisting with the development of codebooks, methodological and analytical protocols, and lab manuals regarding data entry.
• 10% The Lab Assistant will be involved in other miscellaneous administrative and scientific tasks including scheduling, ordering supplies or equipment, organizing and facilitating lab meetings, sending emails, conducting literature reviews, and contributing to the overall lab culture and mission.