Position Overview
The University of Minnesotaâ™s Institute of Child Development (ICD) has a position open for a full-time Research Coordinator. This position is funded jointly by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NICHD), seeking to align measures of predictors of STEM achievement and health outcomes. The projects are a collaboration between the ICD (Dr. Stephanie Carlson) and the University of Chicagoâ™s Center for the Economics of Human Development (Dr. James Heckman), together with Educational Testing Service (ETS; Dr. Patrick Kyllonen) and the University of Bonn (Dr. Thomas Dohmen). The projects aim to measure and model a combination of personality traits, executive function skills, and economic preferences to predict later academic and health outcomes. The studies begin in 4th and 8th grade and include remote surveys with children and caregivers, as well as cognitive and behavioral tasks online or in the lab. We seek applicants with prior experience working with child or adolescent populations and with participant recruitment, as well as behavioral/clinical research experience. 

The Research Coordinator will report to Dr. Stephanie Carlson. Duties will include IRB management, participant recruitment and screening, informed consent and assent, cognitive and behavioral assessment, database management, and onboarding and supervision of undergraduate research assistants. The position has funding for 3 or 4 years, contingent upon a 6-month probationary period and successful completion of duties.

This position is based on campus. Per UMN policy, work may be done remotely when appropriate and approved by your manager.  All UMN employees are expected to follow applicable public health and safety procedures.  

Job Responsibilities

Recruitment of child and adolescent participants (30%)

• Understand the research and participant recruitment process and comprehend the value and importance of gathering, organizing, and maintaining research data results
• Conduct email and telephone recruitment of child participants by calling families indicating an interest in participating in this or other research projects
• Identify and establish communication with community organizations that could partner in advertising to a broader diverse and representative participant pool
• Screen confidential health information for assessment of inclusion and exclusion criteria to assess study eligibility
• Develop rapport with children and families to ensure a positive research experience
• Develop procedures for effective follow-up with longitudinal participants
• Draft correspondence and send participant emails or mailing packets, including attachments with information regarding appointments, driving directions, and helpful hints
• Schedule, update, and cancel appointments with families participating in the research study
• Organize and track study files (electronically and by paper) including participant appointment information, calling log, and files to be sent to families such as welcome letters and directions
• Coordinate regular contact with families for retention, such as birthday cards
• Learn and follow all participant recruitment reporting requirements for the project using online reporting tools

Data collection (30%)

• Complete Human Subject ethics training
• Adhere to the study protocol
• Obtain informed consent and assent from children, adolescents, parents, and teacher participants
• Prepare and maintain electronic surveys for remote data collection
• Reliably administer standardized and research-based behavioral tasks to children
• Monitor and support participants in completing survey measures in a timely manner
• Use standard desktop software to manage documentation and track study progress
• Ensure protection and storage of data and participant information on secure servers
• Work evening and weekend shifts as needed to test participants
• Manage and monitor online participant payment system
• Communicate with Dr. Carlson, the GRA, and the University of Chicago project coordinators on a regular basis regarding recruitment and assessment progress and any or all issues related to participants (children, parents, teachers).  

Data management (20%)

• Support the Graduate Research Assistant who will be overseeing data coding, scoring, and analysis
• Learn and follow best practices in data organization and processing streams
• Train and supervise undergraduate research assistants
• Ensure reliable and timely completion of data coding and cleaning
• Perform quality control/quality assurance procedures 
• Adhere to data security and privacy practices 
• Create tables and figures as directed for project meetings, conference presentations, and publications

General Laboratory Support/Coordination (20%)

• Develop processes to mentor and train undergraduate research assistants in participant recruitment, data collection, and research ethics with child and adolescent participants. 
• Support graduate students and lab staff in tracking and monitoring undergraduate research hours.
• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for general lab tasks to support training of new lab personnel and transfer of expertise to new staff.
• Coordinate lab and project meetings among lab personnel.
• Take notes at research meetings and track agenda items. 
• Update and monitor lab web resources to document study materials, current staff, undergraduate research assistants, and provide research resources to the public.
• Work with lab staff and graduate students to draft the annual lab newsletter.
• Assist the lab in conducting internal audits of IRB materials and research data collection on multiple projects.Work with current and past lab members to document and organize study materials and data resources in electronic format.
• Work with department staff to address facility needs or information technology needs in the lab.
• Identify areas for improvement in functioning in the lab and work with the Principal Investigator to develop and implement improvement plans.
• Assisting PI with lab-wide coordination
• Communicating with study coordinators, lab trainees, and collaborators
• Maintaining lab-wide documentation (lab meeting minutes, lab SOP, etc).
• Schedule and attend weekly lab meetings
• Onboarding new employees and volunteers
• Purchasing lab-wide materials and ensuring compliance with purchasing procedures/documentation. 
• Undergraduate RA supervision regarding data entry
• Assisting the PI with planning and coordination of lab events
• Communicate with Information Technology support staff regarding project needs
• Provide support to faculty and staff preparing manuscripts and conference presentations, including literature searches, article summaries, formatting of text and references, construction of tables and figures, and typographical editing 

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS in child psychology or related field, or a combination of related education and work experience to equal four years
• Experience working in a research environment, including interviewing and/or testing children.
• Experience with Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with people from a variety of communities, backgrounds, and identities.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Coursework in psychology, child psychology, or educational psychology
• At least one year of post BA research experience or coursework
• Ability to manage multiple tasks on a daily basis
• Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills, including attention to detail and documentation of work
• Experience conducting consent process and collecting data over a Zoom platform.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively, including communication with study faculty, junior and senior research staff, organizations serving diverse communities, and individual families and children
• Excellent public relations skills and abilities to interact professionally and warmly with other professionals as well as diverse children and families.
• Intention to commit 2 or more years in this position

About University of Minnesota Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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