Digital Communications in Data Science GSR Position at DataLab (starting winter 2022)

DataLab is recruiting a new Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) for website and other digital communications. This position supports DataLab’s mission to connect and support data-driven research and training communities. This position replaces our outgoing GSR, Jared Joseph. The job posting can be viewed on Handshake, job #5620048.

Job Description

The UC Davis DataLab is seeking a Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) with an interest in Data Science to manage the lab’s digital communications, facilitating interdepartmental and community engagement.  This opportunity is ideal for graduate students who are interested in understanding the broader social, cultural, and political ramifications of data driven science, and who are also interested in developing their technical fluency and skills as part of this exploration. While current graduate students from any department and program at UC Davis are eligible to apply, candidates must have strong writing skills as well as interest and ability to engage with data science. 

Background

DataLab: Data Science and Informatics provides research support, training opportunities, and fosters community in data science across the UC Davis campus. This position helps connect our many learners and stakeholders from across domains with relevant data science opportunities at and beyond UC Davis.

Duties

The DataLab Digital Communications GSR will be responsible for:

• Generating content. This requires participating in various collaborative and interdisciplinary research, training and community projects at DataLab, interviewing researchers and students, and communicating about those projects to a wider audience via project updates and blog posts on the web, social platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Slack, etc.), newsletters, and listservs. This requires the GSR to participate in and contribute to highly technical internal project discussions and then translate these discussions into accurate, less technical communications suitable for a wider audience;
• Managing the back-end of DataLab’s website;
• Identifying and monitoring various Data Science and Digital Humanities newsfeeds, journals, and career outlets; publishing found items relevant to our community on DataLab’s website;
• Using provided scripts and workflows to generate newsletters, run reports, etc
• Coordinating with project leads, administrative and student assistants, and related service units;
• Creating and managing additional content as directed for DataLab campaigns.

Opportunities for the GSR to learn (or advance) technical skills by working directly on web and research projects are also possible.  Data Science is a broad field that encompasses a range of technical abilities and skill sets (analysis, web development, data management, etc.), and we will tailor this involvement to the specific learning goals of the selected GSR. 

Qualifications

The selected candidate must have strong writing skills and the ability to think critically about the application of computing technologies to a range of disciplines and stakeholders. Applicants must be able to translate highly technical project details into understandable narratives for the general public. Familiarity and comfort using WordPress and online project development and management platforms required.  Previous computer programming experience is not a requirement for the position if the candidate can demonstrate willingness to onboard rapidly to using programmatic tools and infrastructure; however, candidates with programming experience will be given primary consideration. Some tasks will require a basic understanding of R, remote servers, and databases.

This GSR appointment will start at the beginning of winter quarter 2022 and run through the end of spring 2022, with the potential extension into summer 2022 and renewal for the 2022-2023 academic year. Expected work effort is 19 hours per week during the academic year, with additional hours possible during the summer. 

How to Apply

Interested candidates should send a cover letter and CV to datalab@ucdavis.edu with the subject title “GSR Digital Comms Application.” Applicants are encouraged to link to any personal/professional websites and GitHub repositories, etc., in their application. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. This position will start at the beginning of Winter Quarter 2022.