Research Associate (Academic Support)
Reports to: One of the CSBC Principle Investigators

Overview of CSBC
The Centre for Social and Behaviour Change (CSBC), Ashoka University - India’s leading liberal arts University – is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The vision of CSBC is to establish an institution, based out of India that is globally reputed for thought leadership and excellence in impactful behaviour change interventions for low-income and marginalised populations. The Centre is focused on bringing new capabilities such as behavioural science, design thinking, advanced data analytics, and responsive feedback to governments, practitioners, and donors to help better design and optimise behaviour change interventions. We work closely with Central and State Governments as well as other stakeholders in the areas of nutrition, sanitation, financial inclusion, maternal and newborn care, data privacy, and agriculture.

Overview of Role
CSBC operates across three important verticals:

• Policy and Advocacy - aimed at providing technical support on building Behavioural Insights capabilities/units within Government, State Departments, and other NGOs
• Research - aimed at developing a strong body of behaviour science research in India, and 
• Visibility - aimed at encouraging the growth of the behavioural science community in India through promulgation of scientific, policy and results-oriented resources

The Associate will be working with the Research Vertical for supporting design and implementation of various academic projects in the field of behaviour science. The role would involve:

• Conducting a mix of secondary and primary research to gather behavioural insights
• Supporting the development and documentation of research designs (using different methods ranging from qualitative to experimental)
• Writing reports and assisting with the writing of articles for publication, along with developing other innovative knowledge products using insights generated from research.

Responsibilities

The Research Associate would be responsible to oversee the full gamut of activities ranging from design and implementation to planning analysis for different projects under the Research Vertical.

Support the development and documentation of experimental design protocols for research projects via:

• Organising research ideation workshops within the research vertical and external research experts
• Conducting literature reviews
• Drafting and piloting measurement instruments
• Conducting sample size calculations
• Devising implementation and deployment plans
• Assisting with development of pre-analysis plans

Support the execution of the lab, lab-in-the-field and field experiments through:

• Coordinating with the Field research team and providing regular updates to the PIs
• Planning and managing recruitment of subjects for different studies based on the research requirements
• Ensuring smooth delivery of the data collection process in line with the protocols
• Conducting regular quality control checks (on data entry and randomisation during the data collection phase)
• Coordinating with enumerators and subjects

Analysing secondary and primary data to support research projects:

• Assist in production of knowledge products by:
• Supporting the writing of reports, papers, articles, etc.
• Creating results decks with clean storylines and modern data visualizations
• Coordinating with Visibility team on dissemination strategy and planning

Required Qualification and Skills

• A Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, mathematics, statistics, or related fields.
• Experience conducting academic literature searches and reviews.
• Extensive experience with statistical analysis software (such as R or Stata).
• Familiarity with randomised controlled trials/clinical trials/quasi-experiments.
• Ability to write and present research findings articulately.
• Strong analytical skills and expertise in causal reasoning.
• Excellent management and organisational skills along with strong quantitative skills.
• Flexible, self-motivated, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and be a team player.
• Ability to excel in unstructured and changing environments.
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback.

Additional Desired Skills and Experiences

• Experience programming online surveys and virtual lab experiments in oTree, zTree, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey,
• SurveyCTO, etc.
• Familiarity with software designed for recruiting and managing a subject pool.
• Experience of managing large databases.
• Experience coding apps for smartphones.

This role is based in India. Hence, the candidate should have work authorisation in India (preferably Indian citizenship or Overseas Citizenship of India). The selected candidate will be offered a full-time (Monday-Friday) appointment for one year with the possibility for renewal based on the discretion of the Centre and its funders.

However, due to the COVID-19 situation, CSBC has switched to a work-from-home model of operations. Given these circumstances, the role would be on-boarded and executed remotely. The person would need to have their own laptop and access to a functioning internet connection. They would need to be available through regular working calls to virtually join team discussions and to support project requests.

Send your application to csbc@ashoka.edu.in
In your application please include:
Name of the position that you are applying for (full Job Title as mentioned above)
A cover letter, highlighting your experience relevant to the job requirements
CV (not exceeding two pages)
How you came across this job description
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