Research Scientist, ECDEC

The Research Scientist will provide research and project management support to achieve the mandate of ECDEC. More specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for developing project reports and concept notes; supporting the Human Subjects Review / Institutional Review Board (IRB) submission process; identifying and liaising with partners and academic collaborators, especially from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia region; identifying measures and tools to assess child development, mental health, and contextual factors and processes with a focus on work done in the MENA/South Asia regions; oversee on-the-ground data collection by IRC or IPA in-country research staff, including providing support for tablet programming and technical issues, training of enumerators, and data quality assurance; and disseminating findings through convenings, presentations, reports, academic publications, and multimedia.

The Research Scientist will report directly to the Principal Investigator / co-Principal Investigator and the Managing Director of ECDEC, and will work in close collaboration with IRC and IPA research teams on the ground. The incumbent will perform some of all of the following activities:

• Support the Project Director in execution of all research activities;
• Liaise with the IRC / IPA country/research teams in support of seamless data collection, data entry, data cleaning, and analyses; to ensure compliance with ethical requirements and the IRC Child Safeguarding Policy; and to plan regular check-ins on data collection protocols to ensure client safety;
• Work closely with internal and external partners to ensure study protocols are followed and to ensure proper collection, filing and archiving of all project data in all project field sites;
• Prepare Human Subjects Review / IRB applications;
• Conduct literature reviews on topics relevant to the project;
• Manage transcription, translation and formatting of assessment instruments, surveys, interviews, and focus groups;
• Conduct review and analysis of the quantitative and / or qualitative data;
• Track project progress and expenses andprepare/update budget reports;
• Support internal and external coordination and communications between staff based in New York and Abu Dhabi, and project partners (IRC, IPA, Sesame Workshop, BRAC, IRC, IPA, , advisory board for EQUAL);
• Prepare project reports, briefs and correspondence for internal and external dissemination; and
• Prepare manuscripts for academic journal publication, independently and in collaboration.

About ECD in Emergency & Conflict

The global refugee crisis is the defining humanitarian issue of our time, with millions displaced due to conflict and war across the Middle East and the world. In addition, we know from decades of research that all children need nurturing care, a comforting routine, and opportunities to learn through play in the critical first years of life. Yet only about 2 percent of humanitarian assistance goes to education and only a tiny sliver of that 2 percent to early childhood development services. In partnership with Sesame Workshop, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and BRAC, NYU Global TIES for Children has set out to develop, provide and evaluate high-quality early childhood development services and mass media for young children in the Syrian response region and Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, the most recent recipient of a large influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. This unique partnership was awarded a USD $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation, the first to be given under the 100& Change initiative, for the Syrian response, and the US $100 million for the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. NYU Global TIES for Children will be leading the independent research and external evaluation of this project, including a longitudinal study, implementation research as well as impact evaluations. We strive to bring the most rigorous qualitative and quantitative evidence to bear on how to best serve families and children in these communities. We will pay special attention to issues of stress and adversity; issues of gender and disability; as well as the diversity of cultures in these two contexts of both refugees and host communities. The project team at TIES is led by Hirokazu Yoshikawa (Principal Investigator), Alice J. Wuermli (Co-Principal Investigator and Research Director). J. Lawrence Aber is serving as a co-Investigator for the Middle East part of the project. Research activities are coordinated with research partners at the IRC and Sesame Workshop. The project includes local partners and expert collaborators from around the world.

About Global TIES for Children

At New York University's Global TIES for Children we design, evaluate and advise on programs and policies to improve the lives of children and youth in the most vulnerable regions across the globe. Led by University Professors Larry Aber and Hiro Yoshikawa, we work with some of the world's leading non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and with governments in low-income (LI) and crisis-affected (CA) countries on developing and evaluating innovative approaches to promoting the health, education, and social development of children and their communities. Together with our key strategic partner organizations, our work leverages cutting-edge scientific methods and interdisciplinary collaboration to:

• Generate actionable evidence to promote child and youth development by conducting and evaluating powerful strategies to transform relevant "social settings" (i.e., classrooms, schools, families, communities, etc.) that are key drivers of children's learning and well-being;
• Communicate actionable evidence by engaging diverse stakeholders across sectors and regions and disseminating a rigorous evidence base to inform program and policy decisions for children and youth in LI and CA countries; and
• Build human, administrative, and institutional capacity for robust global science and practice through the provision of professional development and training activities.