- Department of Sociology, 42-43 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1JD
- £18.80 per hour (Grade 6.1)
- 12 weeks (hourly work flexible by mutual agreement)
- Start date: 1 November 2025
Dr Mathis Ebbinghaus is seeking casual research assistance on his Leverhulme Early Career project on the causes and consequences of the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
The RA will support a project on the causes of participation at the Capitol that day. Applicants should have broad interests in political protest, American politics, and data analysis, with excellent quantitative skills and strong experience in merging and analysing data with R and/or Python. Spatial data analysis skills are desirable.
The post holders will be working remotely – the job will require access to a computer equipped with R and access to the Internet.
Key tasks:
- Building an individual-level georeferenced database and merging georeferenced micro data with county-level variables
- Documenting computer codes.
- Assistance with analysis and data visualisations
- Contributing ideas to advance the research agenda.
Description of required skills:
- Working towards a masters or doctorate in sociology, economics, politics, computer science or a related discipline.
- Very good knowledge of R (Python a plus).
- Excellent data processing and documentation skills.
- Diligence and attention to detail.
- Ability to manage own research and administrative activities.
- Commitment to publishing academic papers.
How to apply: Please email Mathis Ebbinghaus (mathis.ebbinghaus@sociology.ox.ac.uk) by 14 October 2025 with your CV and a brief description (max 300 words) of your experience (quantitative and substantive) that will be relevant for the job. Please contact Mathis Ebbinghaus with any questions related to the project or the scope of RA’s work.
N.B. Please note that your entitlement to work in the UK will need to be confirmed before the work starts. The Department cannot employ students as research assistants for more than 12 weeks in a row. Masters students may not normally undertake more than 6 hours per week of paid work for the Department. DPhil students are advised that any paid work should still allow them to spend at least 40 hours per week for a minimum 44 weeks of the year on their studies. The Department strongly recommends that you discuss any paid work you take with your supervisor, so it fits around your academic commitments.
Please be aware that if you are a Tier 4 student visa holder you will have restrictions on the number of hours you are permitted to work each week during term time. Paid and unpaid work within the University, for colleges, and for external organisations’ counts towards your permitted weekly hours. You will be asked to complete a declaration to ensure that you are not working in breach of these conditions. Please contact me if you have any queries on this.
