The "Munich Center for the Economics of Aging" (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy offers
one part-time or full-time position (min. 70%) as a
Research Scientist (m/f/div)
in the Cognition Survey (SHARE-HCAP) study of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) at the earliest possible date.
Please note: This is a time-limited appointment until April 2022 with the possibility of extension depending on funding.
SHARE is a large international social science panel study. The data combines extensive cross-national information on socio-economic status, health, and family relations of Europe’s elder population.
The study in short: The general aim of this study is to exploit the international variation of health and life circumstances in Europe to identify which interactions of bio-medical and socio-economic conditions over the life course affect cognition in later life. The Harmonized Cognition Assessment Protocol (HCAP) involves in-depth measurement of cognition of SHARE respondents in a selection of European countries and a short interview with someone close to a respondent (family or friend).
SHARE-HCAP is part of an ongoing international research collaboration funded by the National Institute on Aging to measure and understand which interactions of bio-medical and socio-economic conditions over the life course affect cognition in later life. Many ongoing longitudinal studies of aging around the world are part of this global initiative and have aimed to harmonize methods and content to facilitate cross-national comparisons.
Position summary: You will be primarily responsible for implementing the study design of which much has been developed already by the current team. That means that you will collaborate with the SHARE-HCAP leadership team and other colleagues at SHARE on expanding SHARE data to include additional health, cognition and other related data.
Your main responsibilities are (in no particular order):
- Effectively collaborate with team members and principal investigators to successfully administer and manage this complex and multi-disciplinary study;
- Further development of training and guidelines for country teams, survey agencies and other stakeholders to implement the study;
- Analysing data from SHARE and related studies on demographics, health conditions, socio-economic background and other relevant variables;
- Preparing short reports and memos to report findings and/or support decisions with scientific arguments;
- Strengthen of established ties to the scientific community and other stakeholders to ensure that the study collects data to the highest academic standards and responds to scientific and policy needs of the social science.
Qualifications & knowledge
- University degree in Social Sciences, Psychology, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Epidemiology, Public Health, or a related field.
- Good knowledge of cognitive assessments (neuropsychological tests) is desirable.
- Experience with (panel) survey data and/or epidemiological data
- Experience working in a survey research environment or clinical research setting is desirable
- Advanced knowledge of statistical software, preferably Stata and/or R.
- Good knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
- Strong proficiency in English required, good knowledge of German desirable, knowledge of other languages is welcome.
Skills
- Excellent communication skills, including written, verbal and report writing.
- Confidence to represent the study both internally and externally.
- Team player
- Hands-on mentality
- Self-organized and proactive working style
- Interest in own research on substantive or methodological topics
Further scientific qualification through a dissertation will be possible. Compensation will be in accordance with TVöD Bund. A generous benefits package complements this attractive job in an international, team-oriented research endeavour. MPG is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from every gender, disabled persons, and persons from all cultural backgrounds and ethnic origins.
Please
submit a complete application in English quoting
reference number 08-21 (CV, cover letter, copies of degrees and certificates in one single PDF document)
by May 23rd, 2021 to
douhou@mea.mpisoc.mpg.de and
hr@mpisoc.mpg.de.
For further information, please contact Salima Douhou (
douhou@mea.mpisoc.mpg.de).
Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy
Amalienstraße 33
80799 Munich
Germany