Job Details

Research Coordinator

Position Number: 7301146
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Position Type: Laboratory and Research

Research Coordinator

University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job Title
Research Coordinator

Job Profile Title
Research Coordinator

Job Description Summary
The Climate Communication Division of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) is a hub for interdisciplinary, translational research on climate communication, resilience, action, and policy which focuses on topics at local scales (e.g., environmental justice initiatives in West Philadelphia), global scales (e.g., the development and evaluation of media campaigns that communicate climate science knowledge), and the neural, psychological and/or sociological mechanisms that motivate belief, attitude, and behavior change, as well as resilience and social connection. APPC's work in this space aims to educate and co-create scholarship with others across the academy, the public, policymakers, and journalists as key contributors and beneficiaries. The Climate Communication Division's research involves experiments, surveys, computational methods, and neuroimaging.

Job Description

The Research Coordinator will support ongoing and new interdisciplinary research projects on youth voter engagement, climate action, and resilience, as well as projects related to conversation, neuroimaging, and other topics of interest to the division, in collaboration with community partners. The research coordinator will work with a project team including the PI, staff, postdocs, and graduate students, as well as external collaborators. The Research Coordinator will provide direct research support to the PI and project team to design, develop, and execute study protocols. This position is an excellent stepping stone for candidates seeking to pursue doctoral training who want to further develop their research skills and expand their CVs. Ideal candidates will already have substantial research experience and a desire to author scientific papers. Documenting study procedures and maintaining study documentation.

Responsibilities:

Leading Institutional Review Board protocol preparation and maintenance.
Developing data collection and data management protocols.
Recruiting participants and performing data collection in the field and online.
Managing project-specific finances including participant payments.
Managing and curating data, including data cleaning, processing, and quality checking.
Managing undergraduate Research Assistants and coordinating the project's study team.
Performing literature searches and reviews.
Analyzing behavioral and fMRI data and authoring research papers.
Building and maintaining relationships with community partners.
Collaborating and conducting research with community partners.
Providing administrative assistance.

We believe that our science is better with a diverse team. We embrace and encourage our lab members' differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our lab members who they are.

This is a one-year position that will begin summer 2026.

Qualifications:

B.A., with background in psychology, neuroscience, communication science, or a related field.
1-2 years of experience of prior research experience in a university setting (e.g., previous lab/research assistant experience) is required.
Demonstrated ability to lead or coordinate research projects.
Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a team.
Excellent organizational, and interpersonal and written communication skills.
Ability to proactively solve problems with support from the PI and project team .
Ability to work on multiple tasks and projects with attention to detail.
Ability to develop solutions to basic technical problems (e.g., with R, Python, Qualtrics.)
Ability to independently conduct statistical analysis (e.g. in R, SPSS, Matlab, SAS.)
Previous experience leading scientific papers as first author.
Interest in climate communication.

Preferred:

Experience using Qualtrics or other survey software.
Experience with data management.
Experience linguistic/natural language processing analysis.
Experience working with Institutional Review Boards.
Programming skills (e.g. in R, Python, Matlab.)
Experience working with fMRI data (e.g. SPM, fsl, AFNI or other imaging analysis package.)

Successful candidates may also have:

Experience with voter engagement or canvassing.
Experience working with community partners.
Experience with and/or interest in conducting action-oriented research to motivate civic engagement and climate action.
Experience with and/or interest in conducting psychological network analysis.
Previous experience in social/cognitive neuroscience or communication research fields
Experience with open science practices/reproducibility, including version control (e.g., git/github.)
Successful publication record.

In addition to completing your application on Penn Workday, please fill out the survey found at this link: https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_263RHwx88ldsicC in lieu of a cover letter. Applications on Workday without this Qualtrics survey will NOT be considered complete.

Job Location - City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School
Annenberg School for Communication

Pay Range
$45,278.00 - $45,500.00 Annual Rate
Salary offers are made based on the candidate's qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job's level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

Special Requirements
Background checks may be required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

University Benefits

Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts: Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family's health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
Tuition: Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn's Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with family-whatever your personal needs may be.
Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you're newly hired, you won't have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of good health and are subject to underwriting.
Wellness and Work-life Resources: Penn is committed to supporting our faculty and staff as they balance the competing demands of work and personal life. That's why we offer a wide variety of programs and resources to help you care for your health, your family, and your work-life balance.
Professional and Personal Development: Penn provides an array of resources to help you advance yourself personally and professionally.
University Resources: As a member of the Penn community, you have access to a wide range of University resources as well as cultural and recreational activities. Take advantage of the University's libraries and athletic facilities, or visit our arboretum and art galleries. There's always something going on at Penn, whether it's a new exhibit at the Penn Museum, the latest music or theater presentation at the Annenberg Center, or the Penn Relays at Franklin Field to name just a few examples. As a member of the Penn community, you're right in the middle of the excitement-and you and your family can enjoy many of these activities for free.
Discounts and Special Services: From arts and entertainment to transportation and mortgages, you'll find great deals for University faculty and staff. Not only do Penn arts and cultural centers and museums offer free and discounted admission and memberships to faculty and staff. You can also enjoy substantial savings on other goods and services such as new cars from Ford and General Motors, cellular phone service plans, movie tickets, and admission to theme parks.
Flexible Work Hours: Flexible work options offer creative approaches for completing work while promoting balance between work and personal commitments. These approaches involve use of non-traditional work hours, locations, and/or job structures.
Penn Home Ownership Services: Penn offers a forgivable loan for eligible employees interested in buying a home or currently residing in West Philadelphia, which can be used for closing costs or home improvements.
Adoption Assistance: Penn will reimburse eligible employees on qualified expenses in connection with the legal adoption of an eligible child, such as travel or court fees, for up to two adoptions in your household.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/benefits-pay

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

To apply, visit https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/upenn/careers-at-penn/job/Annenberg-Public-Policy-Center/Research-Coordinator_JR00121963