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Research Assistant (6256U) 70909

About Berkeley

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Departmental Overview

The Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, has an opening for a Research Assistant with experience in Demography. The successful applicant's main responsibility would be to contribute to the development and updating of the demographic databases maintained in the Department as part two major projects: the Human Mortality Database (HMD) and the United States Population Database (USMDB). The position will begin as soon as possible (initially a 1-year appointment with possibility of renewal for up to 4 years). The projects are directed at Berkeley by Dr. Magali Barbieri.

The HMD (www.mortality.org) was created in 2001 to provide detailed mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity as a collaboration between the Department of Demography at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany. The database contains original calculations of life tables and other population statistics for 41 developed countries or areas. The HMD also includes cause-of-death information as part of its Cause-of-death component and this component of the project is mostly run through a partnership with the French Institute for Demographic Studies in Paris. This job search is to provide support to the UC Berkeley HMD team.

The HMD has given rise to a network of regional databases, two of which (the United States Mortality DataBase - USMDB - and the Canadian Human Mortality Database - CHMD) are being run by the HMD Berkeley team (in collaboration with researchers at the Universite de Montreal for the CHMD). These databases are exploited by researchers at Berkeley and beyond to monitor international ranking and trends in mortality in high-income countries and to investigate patterns of geographic disparities in life expectancy within national populations. The USMDB is expected to be integrated into a forthcoming United States Population Database (USPop). The USPop is to focus on the United States with data series by Census Divisions, Census Regions, states (for years since 1941) and counties (for years since 1982) for mortality, fertility and, possibly in the future, internal migration. The employee would also be expected to help with these additional projects in Berkeley.
Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is July 30, 2024
Responsibilities

• Supporting and assist the PI to maintaining the data for 12-14 countries already included in the HMD under supervision by the PI


• Locating and collecting raw mortality, fertility, and population data from the Vital Statistics systems and Census Bureaus and using the collected data to produce tabulations of death and birth counts by country or geographic area, year, sex, age (and causes of death for the mortality series) for the HMD and USMDB


• Performing basic statistical tasks related to data management such a manipulating the data into the standard formats used for the HMD and USMDB


• Cleaning and verifying the primary data


• Assisting the principal investigators and other researchers in the HMD projects with calculations, data analysis, production of graphs and tables, etc., for related research projects


• Contributing to updating the database websites and documentation


• Maintaining the projects citation lists by identifying, collecting (online), and sorting through publications that have used the projects data


• Managing the data user agreements and licenses for both HMD-related projects

Required Qualifications

• Familiarity with the R programming language


• Good communication and interpersonal skills and ability to communicate with collaborators


• Strong evidence of self-motivation, personal initiative, and attention to detail


• Commitment to continuous learning


• Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team


• Bachelor's degree in in demography or a related area and/or equivalent experience/training.

Preferred Qualifications

• Some experience with academic research and with processing large social science datasets.


• Master's degree in demography, statistics or related field (with the willingness to follow some basic training in demographic methods).

Salary & Benefits

This is a full-time, one-year contract appointment. Extension is possible with continued funding.

This position is eligible for the full range of UC Benefits. For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

The budgeted hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $34.00 - $38.00.
How to Apply

• To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter.

Other Information

• This is not a visa opportunity.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant, please see the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission poster.

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, please see the University of California Discrimination, Harassment, and Affirmative Action in the Workplace policy.


To apply, visit https://careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psc/ucb/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST_FL&JobOpeningId=70909&PostingSeq=1&SiteId=21&languageCd=ENG&FOCUS=Applicant