junior research associate

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Junior Research Associate (JRA) Scheme

Become a top young researcher with the skills and expertise for a successful research career. During this scheme, you'll work with world-renowned academics, receive a bursary so you can work on your research full time, and gain real-world experience of your chosen field.

What is the JRA scheme? 

At Sussex, most of our undergraduate research takes place within our Junior Research Associate (JRA) scheme. 

The eight-week programme is offered to all of our high performing undergraduate students over the summer. If you're accepted on to the scheme, you get a bursary to work on your research full time, work closely with supervisors, and network with other researchers.

You'll also attend training workshops and have access to University resources.

At the end of the scheme, you'll put together a research poster which is displayed at our Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition. The top two posters are chosen to represent Sussex at the British Conference of Undergraduate Research (BCUR) annual Posters in Parliament exhibition. 

Since 2008, more than 450 students have participated in the programme - including students from Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and there are special provisions for Sussex Neuroscience students.

Find out more

Visit the Sussex Undergraduate Research Office website.

The JRA scheme is a unique opportunity to not just learn new things but find out how to approach problems and design solutions, and to work closely with people who have chosen to do that for a living.” Brady Biomedical Science BSc

How you can benefit from the scheme

If you're offered a place on the scheme, you'll benefit from:

• workshops on research skills including an introduction to managing research data, effective literature searching and an introduction to research study skills
• an introduction to postgraduate study, where you can explore further study after your undergraduate course 
• networking with the Sussex library research team and admission to the Sussex research HIVE, which is an area designated for researchers
• a workshop to help you create your research poster
• the chance to attend the annual  BCUR  and present your research
• social events such as a barbeque, quiz and networking session.

Some of our junior research associates choose to continue working alongside their supervisor after the scheme has finished and sometimes this leads to their work being published.

The JRA scheme has given me clarity on what type of career I would like, the steps it will take to get there, and also my ability to do it.” Natasha Zoology BSc

Eligibility for the scheme

You can apply for the scheme in your second year of academic study. You must have completed one year of study and not be in your final year.

• be seriously considering postgraduate study
• have agreed for your project to be supervised by an active Sussex academic for the duration of the scheme and mentored by a PhD student
• choose to join an existing project or come up with an original proposal (as long as an academic is willing to supervise it).

You can apply for the scheme from any academic discipline at Sussex including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS).

Life on the JRA scheme

You can hear from some of our students below, or find out about some of our JRA social events . 

Georgina Ralph  Psychology BSc  Find out more

Thomas Kober Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence BSc  Find out more

International students

If you're an international student studying at one of our partner universities and you're looking for a research placement in the UK you may be eligible for our eight-week International Junior Research Associate scheme (IJRA) .

If you're offered a place on the scheme, you'll benefit from: 

• networking opportunities with international summer school students and students from other junior research associate schemes at Sussex
• support and training to develop your academic and research skills 
• a University reception where you can deliver a presentation about your research to academics, international JRA supervisors and senior management
• a workshop to support the creation of your academic poster (which summarises the research you have undertaken during the summer) – this will be entered into an undergraduate research poster exhibition on campus in the autumn term 
• an introduction to postgraduate study, where you can explore further study after your undergraduate course. 

You might also be interested in:

• junior research associate scheme for international students
• life on the JRA scheme
• undergraduate research .

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Uchicago & usussex international jr. research associates program.

University of Chicago and University of Sussex International Junior Research Associates Program (IJRA) 

The UChicago-Sussex IJRA program provides selected College students the opportunity to participate in a summer of intensive, faculty-mentored research in the Humanities and Social Sciences at one of the UK’s leading institutions of higher education, the University of Sussex . As members of the IJRA program, College students in the humanities and social sciences will have the opportunity to undertake a fully-funded research experience as part of a dynamic community of scholars researching and living together at the University of Sussex in Brighton. This program is distinct from other opportunities for UChicago Humanities and Social Sciences undergraduates to pursue international research because it invites students into a collaborative research experience, apprenticing with and contributing to the work of a leading scholar in an international context. 

Program Description: Each year a small cohort of talented and ambitious undergraduate students from the University of Sussex's institutional partners are given the opportunity to undertake research alongside Sussex faculty and scholar for an eight week, full-time  intensive summer research experience. The scheme supports peer-to-peer relationships between leading Sussex faculty and high-achieving undergraduates considering a research career. The Sussex IJRA programme is a non-credit bearing programme intended to provide beneficial research experience in preparation for future PhD study for up to a total of eighteen students from its institutional partners around the world; build connections between talented international researchers and Sussex faculty. Sussex IJRA Website: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/global-engagement/partnerships/engagement/international-junior-research-associate-scheme

2024 IJRA Program Dates: June 18 - August 17, 2024 (dates may adjust slightly)

• IJRA researchers will be expected to arrive at the University of Sussex in time for the required program orientation (the weekend before the program begins).

2024 IJRA Project Descriptions are   available here .

Eligibility: 

• Must be a current, full-time 3rd-year student at time of application and in good-standing with the University of Chicago;
• Provide evidence of strong research and communication skills; 
• Have a minimum 3.5 GPA; 
• Eligible majors include: humanities, social sciences, and the arts. Double-majors in non-humanities and arts fields will be considered, relevant to the nature of the research project;
• Willing to devote your energies full-time to this experience and able to be at the University of Sussex for the duration of the program;
• Time-management skills and ability to work independently, but collaboratively with a Sussex faculty member.

Expectations: 

• Ability to commit to full-time research for the duration of the 8-week experience (approximately 40 hours/week of research and required IJRA programming)
• Commitment to meeting weekly expectations of Sussex Research Mentor, ensuring timely communication and production of work
• Candidate may not hold another research appointment or internship while a UChicago-Sussex IJRA

UChicago-Sussex IJRA Scholars will receive:

(1) A ~$6,500 research grant to cover travel, room/board, and a stipend for the eight-week summer research experience funded through the Straetz International Research grant program.

(2) Selection of research training workshops, including:

• Introduction to academic research skills
• Effective literature searching for researchers
• Introduction to managing research data
• Introduction to archives at The Keep
• How to produce an academic/research prospectus
• Introduction to postgraduate study
• Presenting your research: oral presentations

(3) Supervision from University of Sussex Faculty specific to their research project 
(project descriptions coming soon)

(4) Social events may be scheduled with the entire IRJU global cohort. 

(5) Participation in IJRA summer symposium. Following completion of their summer research, UChicago IJRAs will benefit from the ongoing support of CCRF, including guaranteed funding through the Dean’s Fund for Undergraduate Research-Conference to present their research the following academic year at British Conference for Undergraduate Research (BCUR) or an equivalent symposium.

Application Deadline : EXTENDED through April 3, 2024, for Project #3 only 

A program designed, funded, and managed through a collaboration between the  College Center for Research & Fellowships  (CCRF) and the University of Sussex .  Grant funding is provided through the Straetz International Research grant program. 

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What Is a Research Associate? Definition, Duties, Career Path

What Is a Research Associate?

A research associate typically works within a research department of an investment bank or asset management firm to provide helpful data to the decision-makers who buy and sell securities for the firm. A research associate can plan, organize, and conduct research about industries, sectors, individual companies, markets, various investment vehicles , and economics.

Key Takeaways

• A research associate works in a research department of an investment bank, asset management firm, or other financial services company to gather, organize, and synthesize data to support decision-makers in the firm's sales and trading function.
• An individual who works as a research associate can become an expert in specific areas or be utilized as a generalist to cover a broad range of products, markets, and industries.
• A research associate can climb vertically toward becoming a senior analyst or research director, or they may move laterally inside or outside an organization.

Understanding the Role of Investment Research

Most large investment banks have in-house research departments that support their sales and trading efforts. A sell-side firm may have several research groups according to the company's different investment products—for example, stocks, corporate bonds, derivatives, and so on.

A firm's research professionals provide critical decision-making information to its salesmen and traders that substantiate the financial products they sell to institutional investors. A firm's research often provides specific buy, sell, and hold recommendations along with their rationale.

A key product of a research department is its written research; whether that takes the form of scrawled notes to the trading desk or a formal published research report, along with appropriate financial models, that goes out to the buy-side . Usually, it's a combination of both and each format plays a specific role in providing time-sensitive analysis that supports decision-making.

What Does A Research Associate Do?

A research associate's responsibilities can vary depending on the size and needs of the organization. The end purpose of the job, however, is to provide helpful information to the decision-makers. A research associate could gather data from primary and secondary sources; organize and analyze this material, and draft outlines for their superiors.

If an equity research associate has had at least one year of experience at the firm, they might begin to conduct fundamental company analysis with the goal of generating actionable information from the data. A research associate can become an expert in specific areas or be utilized as a generalist to cover a broad range of products, markets, and industries.

A firm's research department provides critical time-sensitive analyses of companies, industries, markets, asset classes, and economics to decision-makers and traders on both the buy- and sell-sides.

Job Skills and Requirements

Because the end product of a research department is written research, it's critical that a research associate be able to write well. The role usually requires a bachelor's or master's degree in economics, business, or finance, as well as facility with numbers and the ability to distill large amounts of data and communicate it effectively to others.

Other skills would come into play as the individual advances in the role of research associate. For example, if they end up attending client meetings, they might need good listening, notetaking, and intersocial abilities. If they travel for pre- initial public offering (IPO) roadshows , they would need good presentation and sales skills, and so on.

Career Path of a Research Associate

Depending on an organization's hierarchical structure, a research associate can be at the same level as a research assistant or above it, and at the same level or below a research analyst . The research associate generally spends at least two years at that level before moving up the ladder, whether to a senior research associate role or research analyst position (most organizations place the analyst position above the associate position).

By accumulating more experience, a research associate can climb vertically toward becoming a senior analyst or research director, or they may move laterally inside or outside an organization. Inside the company, for example, a seasoned research professional who does not aspire to become head of research could move to a product group in a marketing role, or to a different part of the firm altogether.

It's also not unheard of for a research associate to decide that they prefer trading instead of research. In the case of a research associate on the sell-side, a career jump to the buy-side as an analyst also could offer potential advancement.

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What does a Junior Research Associate do?

A junior research associate is a professional who conducts research and studies under the guidance of experienced researchers. They perform various tasks such as data analysis, financial modeling, and analytical instrument testing. They also manage front-end user interfaces, use computer software for data collection, and prepare PowerPoint presentations. Their work involves conducting interviews, methodically documenting youth progress, and managing compliant documentation. They also use various software like Flask, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for front-end development. They are responsible for managing all aspects of HPLC method development and analysis, creating and executing test cases, and conducting back-end testing manually on Oracle databases. They also prepare research reports and use R statistical software for generalized linear models and generalized additive models.

• Responsibilities
• Skills And Traits
• Comparisions
• Types of Junior Research Associate

Junior research associate responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real junior research associate resumes:

• Manage investigator initiate and cooperative group correlative studies to identify biomarkers to ascertain tumor burden and clinical outcomes in lymphoma.
• Work on front end pages that are developed in a professional manner using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and JQUERY.
• Produce weekly industry updates and help to prepare initiation of coverage on new companies and create PowerPoint presentations for analyst marketing.
• Investigate the quality and application of enzymes for use in the food industry.
• Collect and report numbers to the DNI and affect agencies on a quarterly basis.

Junior research associate skills and personality traits

We calculated that 18 % of Junior Research Associates are proficient in Financial Models , Macro , and Bloomberg . They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills , Analytical skills , and Detail oriented .

We break down the percentage of Junior Research Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Maintained and updated financial models based on SEC filings and quarterly earnings releases.

Established and maintained an Internet accessible library of macros contributed by members of the statistical software user community on the Internet.

Developed macroeconomic comparison models for US, UK, & Japan using Bloomberg data.

Explored generalized linear models and generalized additive models using R statistical software and ArcGIS software.

Contributed key expertise to user interface and communication software during development for the NASA sponsored Dante robotic volcano explorers.

Work included research project and survey development, quality assurance, process and outcome evaluations, direct-client interviewing and statistical analysis.

Most junior research associates use their skills in "financial models," "macro," and "bloomberg" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential junior research associate responsibilities here:

Problem-solving skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a junior research associate to have is problem-solving skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "survey researchers need problem-solving skills when identifying survey design issues, adjusting survey questions, and interpreting survey results." Junior research associates often use problem-solving skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "modified and maintained laboratory equipment adding substrate heating and improving reactive sputtering capabilities; built a spectrally resolved photoconductivity measurement. "

Analytical skills. Many junior research associate duties rely on analytical skills. "survey researchers must be able to apply statistical techniques to large amounts of data and interpret the results correctly," so a junior research associate will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways junior research associate responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "conducted intense scientific big data analysis. "

Detail oriented. junior research associates are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to junior research associate responsibilities, because "survey researchers must pay attention to details, because survey results depend on collecting, analyzing, and reporting the data accurately." A junior research associate resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "modeled detailed financial statements and performed valuation analyses based on primary and secondary sources. "

Communication skills. A big part of what junior research associates do relies on "communication skills." You can see how essential it is to junior research associate responsibilities because "survey researchers need strong communication skills when conducting surveys and interpreting and presenting results to clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical junior research associate tasks: "maintain effective communication with patients to exchange pertinent information. "

See the full list of junior research associate skills

The three companies that hire the most junior research associates are:

2 junior research associates jobs

• Raytheon Technologies 1 junior research associates jobs
• GRAIL 1 junior research associates jobs

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Junior research associate vs. survey operations director.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a junior research associate are more likely to require skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." On the other hand, a job as a survey operations director requires skills like "survey operations," "qc," "survey data," and "data acquisition." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Junior research associate vs. Pollster

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, junior research associate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "securities." Meanwhile, a pollster has duties that require skills in areas such as "conduct surveys," "survey completion," "telephone surveys," and "phone interviews." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Junior research associate vs. Survey questionnaire designer

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, junior research associates are more likely to have skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." But a survey questionnaire designer is more likely to have skills like "civil 3d," "legal descriptions," "gps," and "lot surveys."

Junior research associate vs. Survey analyst

Even though a few skill sets overlap between junior research associates and survey analysts, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a junior research associate might have more use for skills like "financial models," "macro," "industry analysis," and "bloomberg." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of survey analysts require skills like "analyze data," "survey design," "survey instruments," and "stata. "

Types of junior research associate

• Field Researcher

Updated March 14, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

What Similar Roles Do

• What a Field Researcher Does
• What a Research And Development Internship Does
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• What a Research Internship Does
• What a Research Methodologist Does
• What a Survey Analyst Does
• What a Survey Researcher Does

Junior Research Associate Related Careers

• Research And Development Internship
• Research Associate
• Research Internship
• Research Methodologist
• Survey Analyst
• Survey Operations Director
• Survey Questionnaire Designer
• Survey Research Center Director
• Survey Researcher

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