Summer Programmes Office Assistant

This position will support the research team working on the King?s College London AHRC Thematic Impact Acceleration Funded project, Sudan Memory Project History and Inventory. A key aspect of the project is researching and recording a comprehensive oral and written history of the Sudan Memory project (https://www.sudanmemory.org/) since 2013, including through oral histories with the founding partners. The Research Assistant will support the research team in achieving this by completing the following activities:

• Scheduling 12 interviews between research team and interviewees.
• Tidying up and editing autogenerated interview transcripts.
• Translating Arabic portions of transcript to English.
• Adding keywords and metadata to interview recordings and transcripts.
• Naming and saving interview files and transcripts so that they can be accessed by research team.

• BA in History, Journalism, or another related field.

• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Fluency in English and Arabic
• Excellent organisational skills
• Past experience managing digital assets is preferable.

A&H Student Secretaries

A&H Student Secretaries

A&H Student Secretaries

About the role 

We are seeking a postgraduate candidate for a Research Assistant role to participate in our recently funded research project under the Education for Sustainability Fund, entitled: ?Towards a Radical Pragmatism of Climate Pedagogy ? Student Centred Curriculum Design to Address Climate Anxiety?. 

The project aims to reshape how we teach climate change at university level through co-producing a curriculum with current UG and PGT students in our module ?Climate, Environment and Uneven Development? in the Department of International Development. Through insights from best practice climate pedagogy literature and from student focus groups we hope to teach climate change so it balances analysing the drivers of the climate crisis with formulating hopeful climate futures with actionable policy and career options to make a difference in the world on this issue.

The candidate therefore will have experience of completing social science climate modules in their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees and an interest in the climate crisis more generally. The job will consist of 15 hours per week for a total of 5 months between January and May 2025 with some flexibility, paid at ?20.95 per hour. The Research Assistant will receive training and guidance for the role by their line managers Dr Ambarish Karamchedu and Dr Nithya Natarajan, with weekly meetings, assistance in support and mentorship for research, analysis and writing. 

To apply, please email a CV and short statement of your why you would be a good fit for this role (no more than 300 words) to Ambarish.karamchedu@kcl.ac.uk and Nithya.natarajan@kcl.ac.uk.

The application deadline is 9th January, with interviews taking place on the 10th January and the position starting at the end of January.

Key responsibilities

• Plan, conduct and analyse six two hour focus groups with a group of 10 UG3 and PGT students enrolled on our course: ?Climate, Environment and Uneven Development?. These will be held during Weeks 1-10 of Term 2 teaching term in year 24/25
• Conduct a literature review on the cutting-edge best practice in climate pedagogy and climate anxiety in regards to policy and case study led curriculum design for an international development context
• Audit existing climate courses, collect course handbooks within the SSPP faculty and elsewhere at KCL in order to gain insights on the successful implementation of climate pedagogy, e.g. lecture and seminar design
• Interact with module leads of related climate courses within KCL in order to triangulate with the student focus groups to gain insights from academics on climate pedagogy and share our results within a potential community of practice
• Submit and present initial findings of the research at a UK academic conference in 2025/6 e.g. Royal Geographical Society conference
• Help to plan and draft a pedagogical journal article with line managers for submission to leading Geography/ Development/ pedagogical journals 

Qualifications

• MA/MSc or higher in social science subject;

Person specification

• Experience of taking a climate change related UG or PGT module;
• Enthusiasm for climate pedagogy/ radical climate politics;
• Good organisation, teamwork, and interpersonal skills;
• Qualitative research and analysis skills would be an advantage;
• Experience of teaching on a climate change related UG or PGT module would be an advantage.