Job Posting Title:
Graduate Research Assistant
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Hiring Department:
Population Research Center
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Position Open To:
All Applicants
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Weekly Scheduled Hours:
20
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FLSA Status:
Exempt from FLSA
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Earliest Start Date:
Immediately
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Position Duration:
Expected to Continue Until Aug 31, 2027
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Location:
UT MAIN CAMPUS
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The LifeHD Lab conducts interdisciplinary research on social experiences, stress, health, and inequality across the life course. This Graduate Research Assistant position will support the development of data-processing pipelines for a larger study examining how the loss of family members shapes stress, health, and inequality among young adults. The position is especially well-suited for a graduate student in engineering or a related technical field with interests in wearable sensors, physiological data, signal processing, data engineering, reproducible research workflows, and human-centered health data science. The GRA will gain experience working with intensive longitudinal biosensor and daily diary data in an interdisciplinary research setting.
What benefits do I receive with UT? As a student employee of the university, you may be eligible for certain kinds of benefits. For more details on benefits, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/student/student-employee-insurance-benefits
UT Learn and LinkedIn Learning are free professional development programs offered to student employees, as well as the SEED Programs under the Student Employment Office:
https://hr.utexas.edu/learning-development
https://www.linkedin.com/learning/?u=36306084
https://hr.utexas.edu/student/SEED
https://hr.utexas.edu/student/SEED/seed-workshops
For more information about the College of Liberal Arts, please visit: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/
The LifeHD Lab seeks a Graduate Research Assistant to help develop reproducible data-processing pipelines for high-frequency ambulatory data collected from wearable sensors worn continuously by research participants over a two-week study period. The primary device is the Empatica EmbracePlus. The GRA will support the organization, quality assessment, processing, documentation, and integration of survey data, two-week daily diary data, ambulatory sensor data, and data from a lab-based electrophysiological experiment. This work will contribute to a larger interdisciplinary research project examining how family member loss shapes stress, health, and inequality across young adulthood.
This is a Graduate Research Assistant appointment for Summer 2026 and Fall 2026, with the possibility of continuation in Spring 2027, subject to funding, project needs, and performance. The position is supervised by Jacob E. Cheadle, PhD, Professor of Sociology. The appointment is expected to involve 20 hours of work per week.
$35,440 annual rate
Work will be computer-based, with substantial scheduling flexibility. Some tasks may require work in the lab. The position will involve working with confidential human-subjects research data and following secure, ethical, and IRB-compliant data-handling protocols.
20 hours of work per week. The schedule will be arranged in coordination with the supervisor, with flexibility for coursework and project needs.
Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.
Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.
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Employment Eligibility:
Please confirm your eligibility for this position here: http://www.utexas.edu/hr/student/student_acad_employment.html
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Retirement Plan Eligibility:
Students in this position may choose to enroll in the UTSaver voluntary retirement programs.
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Background Checks:
A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.
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Equal Opportunity Employer:
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
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Pay Transparency:
The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.
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Employment Eligibility Verification:
If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.
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E-Verify:
The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:
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Compliance:
Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031
The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.
