Student Casual - Research Assistant (Democratic resilience paper support) - Birmingham Institute for

Job Description

Position Details:

School or Department: Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Grade/Band: Grade 6

Hourly rate: £16.56 per hour plus holiday entitlement

Casual contract from: 28/04/2025 - 25/07/2025

Advert closing date: Tuesday 8th April 2025, 23:59pm

Number of positions available: 1

Please note that this vacancy may be taken down early depending on the number of applications received. We advise you to submit your application promptly.

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do. The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham.

Background

This post is part of an interdisciplinary project focused on mapping hydro-social systems to strengthen flood resilience and transboundary cooperation in South Asia. Funded through BISCA's Adaptation and Resilience theme, the project addresses systemic drivers of flood risk-including governance weaknesses, policy gaps, and socio-environmental vulnerabilities-and aims to develop a socio-hydrological monitoring framework and policy recommendations for early warning and coordinated responses.

Role Summary

1. Work within specified research project to conduct desk-based systematic review, map hydro-social systems in transboundary river basins, and analyse flood risk factors, governance frameworks, and institutional blind spots.
2. Support project team to develop policy briefs, stakeholder meetings, and preparation for future funding applications.
3. Contribute to publications.

Main Duties

1. Conduct a desk-based systematic review of academic and industry literature related to flood risks, hydro-social systems, governance, and broader context of climate change impacts in transboundary river basins.
2. Identify and map key hydro-social system components including climatic and anthropogenic flood triggers, vulnerability hotspots, and governance frameworks.
3. Analyse the role of human interventions (e.g. dams, land-use change) in altering flood hazard dynamics.
4. Contribute to publications (i.e. a positioning paper, a policy brief).
5. Organise and facilitate two virtual stakeholder meetings, engaging national and regional partners (e.g. Red Crescent, academic and policy institutions in Bangladesh and India).
6. Assist in the establishment of a transboundary cooperation steering group.

Person Specification

1. A Degree or equivalent in Geography, Environmental Science, Environmental/Civil Engineering, or a relevant subject area.
2. Demonstrable experience in literature reviews-preferably in water management, flood risks, socio-hydrology, environmental governance or climate adaptation.
3. Strong qualitative and/or quantitative research and synthesis skills; ability to summarise complex interdisciplinary information.
4. Experience working with diverse stakeholders or institutions, ideally in South Asian or transboundary contexts is desirable but not mandatory.
5. Ability to access and organise resources successfully.
6. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
7. Ability to work independently, manage time, and meet strict project deadlines.

For any informal queries, please contact Joshua Panteli (j.panteli@bham.ac.uk)

View our staff values and behaviours here.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment

We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.

The University of Birmingham restricts all students to working up to 20 hours per week during term time. If your application is successful and your course does not follow the usual academic term timetable (e.g. PGT, PGR or PhD student), you and your supervisor must formally agree vacation periods if this role exceeds 20 hours per week. In addition to this, please be aware if you are an International student you will be required to apply to the Registry for the appropriate Authorised Absence.

You are only eligible to apply to this role if you are a current University of Birmingham student. If you are not a University of Birmingham student your application will not be considered.

To work you will need to carry out a right to work check. These checks will need to be completed prior to work commencing.