Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for University Research Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

The University Research Specialist is a mid-level academic research professional who designs, coordinates, and executes research studies across one or more disciplines. This role leads day-to-day project operations, manages research personnel and budgets, assures regulatory and ethical compliance (IRB/HIPAA/GCP), conducts advanced data collection and statistical analysis, prepares manuscripts and grant reports, and serves as a primary liaison between faculty investigators, students, sponsors, and institutional offices. The Specialist drives high-quality, reproducible research outputs and supports the strategic research goals of the department or center.

Key SEO & LLM keywords: University Research Specialist, research project management, IRB submissions, grant writing, data analysis (R, Python, SPSS, Stata), participant recruitment, regulatory compliance, academic publishing, laboratory management, REDCap, SQL.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Research Assistant / Research Coordinator with 1–3 years of experience
Laboratory Technician with experience supporting academic studies
Graduate Researcher or PhD student transitioning to staff roles

Advancement To:

Senior Research Specialist / Project Manager
Research Manager or Program Manager for a research center
Research Scientist or Principal Investigator (with advanced degree and funded research)

Lateral Moves:

Data Analyst / Data Scientist (academic or industry)
Grants and Contracts Specialist
Clinical Research Coordinator or Clinical Trial Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the design, implementation, and management of multi-site and single-site academic research projects, ensuring milestones, deliverables, and timelines are met in accordance with faculty goals and sponsor expectations.
Prepare, submit, and manage Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications, renewals, amendments, and adverse event reporting; ensure all human subjects research complies with federal, institutional, and sponsor regulations (HIPAA, GCP).
Develop detailed study protocols, standard operating procedures (SOPs), data collection instruments, informed consent documents, and participant-facing materials in collaboration with principal investigators.
Design and execute complex quantitative and qualitative data analysis plans using statistical software (R, Python, SAS, SPSS, Stata), including pre-processing, cleaning, modeling, and interpretation of results for publication and presentation.
Oversee participant recruitment and enrollment strategies, including community outreach, subject screening, consenting, scheduling, retention activities, and management of participant databases (REDCap, Qualtrics).
Supervise and train undergraduate and graduate research staff, student employees, and interns on research methods, data collection best practices, human subjects protections, and lab/field procedures; perform performance reviews and mentor for professional development.
Coordinate project budgets, purchasing, and financial reconciliation for grants and contracts; track expenditures, prepare budget justifications, and work with sponsored programs to ensure fiscal compliance.
Manage and maintain laboratory or field equipment, supplies, and inventory; implement preventive maintenance schedules and ensure compliance with biosafety, chemical safety, or animal care standards when applicable.
Draft and contribute substantive sections to grant proposals, progress reports, and contract deliverables; provide technical edits and compile required appendices and compliance documentation for funding submissions.
Write, edit, and submit manuscripts, abstracts, and conference presentations; prepare figures, tables, and methodological appendices aligned with journal and funder requirements.
Create reproducible data pipelines, version-controlled code repositories, and documentation (Git, GitHub/GitLab, electronic lab notebooks) to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and data integrity.
Build and maintain relational databases and data management systems (SQL, REDCap, Excel best practices), establish data dictionaries, and implement secure data storage and backup procedures.
Conduct quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) checks on data collection instruments and outputs, troubleshoot data inconsistencies, and implement correction procedures to maintain high-quality datasets for analysis.
Coordinate interdisciplinary collaborations with external partners, community stakeholders, clinical sites, and other university departments; manage memoranda of understanding and data use agreements.
Serve as the primary point of contact for sponsors, IRBs, and institutional offices during audits and monitoring visits; prepare regulatory binders and documentation for compliance reviews.
Lead pilot studies and feasibility assessments to inform larger grant-funded initiatives, including protocol feasibility, sample size estimation, and pilot data analysis.
Facilitate participant compensation, travel logistics, and clinic/field visit coordination to maximize retention and data completeness across study visits.
Implement and maintain participant safety monitoring procedures, adverse event documentation, and protocol deviations tracking in collaboration with investigators and institutional safety offices.
Develop and deliver training workshops and written materials on research methods, data management, compliance, and statistical tools for lab members and departmental trainees.
Translate complex technical findings into clear, actionable summaries and slide decks for non-technical stakeholders, departmental leadership, and community advisory boards.
Manage biospecimen collection, processing, storage, chain-of-custody documentation, and shipment logistics in accordance with protocol and applicable regulations.
Apply mixed-methods approaches including qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups), transcription oversight, coding schema development, and integration of mixed-methods findings into reports and manuscripts.
Support open science and data sharing initiatives by preparing de-identified datasets, metadata, and documentation for repositories in compliance with funder and institutional policies.
Continuously monitor literature and methodological advances relevant to the research program, recommending new approaches, tools, or collaborations to improve study quality and impact.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist departmental leadership with strategic reporting, metric development, and impact assessment for research programs.
Provide logistical support for workshops, seminars, and community engagement events related to research activities.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced quantitative analysis and statistical modelling (linear/mixed models, survival analysis, multilevel modelling).
Proficiency in R and/or Python for data manipulation, statistical analysis, and visualization (tidyverse, pandas, matplotlib/seaborn).
Experience with statistical packages: SPSS, Stata, SAS (any combination depending on lab needs).
REDCap and other clinical data capture platforms; experience building forms, longitudinal projects, and data exports.
Database design and query skills (SQL, relational databases) and experience with data cleaning and ETL processes.
Familiarity with version control and reproducible workflows (Git, GitHub/GitLab, Docker familiarity is a plus).
Grant writing and federal funding experience (NIH, NSF, foundations); ability to craft aims, methods, and budget narratives.
Regulatory and compliance expertise: IRB submissions, HIPAA, human subjects protections, documentation for audits.
Qualitative methods proficiency (interview/focus group facilitation, coding frameworks, NVivo/Atlas.ti experience desirable).
Laboratory techniques or field methods relevant to discipline (e.g., ELISA, PCR, psychophysiological measures, survey administration).
Project management tools and methodologies (MS Project, Asana, Trello, Jira) and experience managing multi-stakeholder timelines.
Data visualization and communication tools (Tableau, PowerBI, ggplot2) to produce publication-quality figures and stakeholder reports.
Familiarity with clinical research operations or animal research compliance where applicable (IACUC, IBC).
Experience preparing and submitting manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals and navigating submission platforms.

Soft Skills

Strong written and verbal communication—ability to prepare clear protocols, grant text, and manuscripts and to present findings to diverse audiences.
Proven leadership and team supervision skills, including mentoring students and coordinating cross-functional teams.
Exceptional organizational skills with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines.
Critical thinking and problem-solving orientation; ability to design methodologically sound solutions to complex research questions.
Interpersonal and stakeholder management skills; ease collaborating with faculty, staff, students, community partners, and sponsors.
Adaptability and resilience in dynamic academic research environments.
Ethical judgment and integrity in research conduct, data handling, and participant interactions.
Teaching and training aptitude to develop curriculum or workshops for research methods and compliance.
Cultural competency and experience working with diverse participant populations.
Initiative and continuous learning mindset to adopt new methods, tools, and best practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Public Health, Psychology, Biology, Sociology, Statistics, Data Science, Engineering) with 2–4 years of related research experience.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree or PhD (M.S., M.P.H., Ph.D.) in a relevant discipline for higher-level responsibilities and independent study design.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Public Health, Epidemiology
Psychology, Cognitive Science
Biology, Biomedical Sciences
Sociology, Anthropology
Statistics, Biostatistics, Data Science
Engineering, Computer Science (for data-heavy projects)
Clinical Research and Health Services Research

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

2–6 years of progressive experience in academic research settings; experience may vary by institution and discipline.

Preferred:

5+ years managing funded research projects, demonstrated IRB experience, successful contributions to grants and peer-reviewed publications, and supervisory experience with students and research staff.