Research assistant – casual position
Start date: Will commence when a suitable candidate is found
Application deadline: Will remain until filled
Supervisor: Dr. Caroline Buzanko
Faculty: Faculty of Health Disciplines
Location: The position is fully remote (Dr. Buzanko is based in Calgary, Alberta).
Overview:
The primary purpose of this project is to develop a unified and collaborative universal prevention program to address the increasing prevalence of anxiety and other emotional disorders in children. The key priority of this program is to enhance children’s emotion regulation skills and resilience across the school and home environments.
The primary job duties for this position include, but are not limited to:
- Conducting and supporting literature reviews, evidence scans, and research synthesis relevant to the research program
- Knowledge translation responsibility covering literature review, evidence synthesis, background briefs, summaries, and draft articles
- Completing necessary training for assigned research activities
- There may be opportunities to participate in research participant recruitment, focus groups, assessments, qualitative interviewing, and collaborating on qualitative data analysis and narrative interviews
- Contributing to program development, refinement, and optimization.
- Maintaining organized records of research activities, collected data, and program development progress
- Contributing to the preparation of summaries, reports, presentations, draft abstracts, grant applications, research ethics board applications, and manuscripts
- Contribute to the successful execution of the research program, ensuring its alignment with objectives, ethical standards, and the overall mission to bridge anxiety to resilience through adaptive emotion regulation.
The successful candidate will work with, and directly report to, Dr. Caroline Buzanko at Athabasca University. Dr. Buzanko will provide training and mentorship for all activities. This is a casual position with flexible hours. The rate of pay will be commensurate with experience and collective agreement provisions. All duties can be completed remotely.
Qualifications:
- Graduate degree with Advanced Qualitative Research course
- Previous RA experience
- Ability to work both collaboratively and independently
- Strong writing skills
- Interest in children’s emotional well-being and resilience
- Experience doing scoping and systematic literature reviews
- Experience conducting thematic analysis
Student learning and professional development:
This assistantship will provide the student with applied experience across multiple stages of the research and knowledge-translation process. The student will strengthen skills in literature searching and critical appraisal, evidence synthesis, research-informed writing, knowledge translation for professional and public audiences, program development, qualitative research methods, research ethics, data organization, and preparation of scholarly products. The student may also gain experience with grant development and manuscript preparation. Ongoing mentorship will support the development of independent research judgment, scientific communication, collaborative research skills, and the ability to translate evidence into practical resources.
How to apply:
Qualified individuals are encouraged to submit their application by email to Dr. Caroline Buzanko at carolinebuzanko@athabascau.ca. Applications should include (as a single PDF file) a brief cover letter that summarizes your skills, interests and experience; a current resume or curriculum vitae; an unofficial copy of your transcript; and the contact information for 1‐2 references.
Evaluation of applications will begin immediately and will continue until a suitable candidate is found. All applicants are thanked for their interest in this position; however, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
Athabasca University and the researchers are committed and seek to support equity in employment and research opportunities. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous people, people of colour, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ people, women, and other historically marginalized groups. Applicants are welcome, but not required, to self‐identify in their letter of application.
For more information on this Research Assistant Opportunity, please contact Dr. Caroline Buzanko, PhD at the coordinates below, on or before August 31, 2026. Applications will be accepted until a suitable candidate is found.
Caroline Buzanko, PhD, R. Psych.
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Health Disciplines
Athabasca University
carolinebuzanko@athabascau.ca
pronouns: she/her