Research Assistant

The Role and Department

The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of the UK’s leading Mathematics Departments with an outstanding reputation in teaching, research and students’ employability. It has an active programme of internationally recognized research in Pure Mathematics, Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Probability. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community. The Department currently has over 100 permanent members of staff. In 2021, we moved to a newly constructed building, shared with the Computer Science Department.

Within the Department, the successful candidate will be a member of the Statistics group, which currently comprises of more than 20 permanent staff, 5 research assistants and about 40 doctoral students. The position will also be associated with the Durham Biostatistics unit which links to the Durham Research Methods Centre.

For more information, please visit our website at https://www.dur.ac.uk/mathematical.sciences/.

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant in Biostatistics. The research project involves a problem in biological dosimetry, that is the problem of converting a measure of biomarker into a radiation dose estimate. The specific task will be to embed an existing piece of code (for radiation dosimetry using a protein-based biomarker), written in the statistical programming language R, into a larger online app for biological dosimetry (Biodose Tools). Biodose Tools is also written in R, based on the Shiny interface, so the main issue will be to ensure compatibility of functionalities, coding style, user interface, etc. A moderate amount of new code may also need to be written in this course, so that good programming skills in R are essential. The project will be based at Durham University and is led by Professor Jochen Einbeck, the Director of the Durham Biostatistics unit (DBU). Biodose Tools is currently hosted by the German radiation protection authority, the Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS, Munich), so that frequent communication with colleagues from the BfS will be required to ensure that the software component can be seamlessly integrated and fulfils practical needs. Interaction with the UKHSA dosimetry unit, possibly including a visit, will also be required. It is emphasized that this project is not about simply “translating” some piece of code from one format into the other: The project will frequently require informed decision-making based on available facts and discussions with partners and the project lead.

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