research fellow

research assistant

lecturer

postdoctoral research fellow

research associate

A typical day  the Office Manager working for the Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering department at UCL entailed many different aspects to the running and administration of a public building which was a challenging environment to work in but by no means a daunting task to get the job done. 

My duties as the Office Manager were contributing to the day-to-day running of the department.

Typing, filing, printing and answering telephone, handling general enquiries, receiving and assisting visitors, dealing with post, couriers, assisting with travel arrangements for the group members, managing arrangements for visitors, arranging meetings, refreshments and catering for the group events.
Overall responsibility for the coordination and scheduling of conferences, meetings and other events collaborating with research teams and organisations outside UCL
 Designing the work space for open offices, co-ordinating with estates and architects, allocation of storage space, purchasing of new furniture, re-distribution of current furniture and co-ordination with staff and students
Liaising with UCL’s Estates and Facilities Division regarding office arrangements and the day-to-day maintenance issues (including telecommunications, security access & cleaning)
Main reception duties

  




I learned that through applying good communication skills and the ability to get the job done were attributes which were highly effective to run the professional services administration team and taking action to prioritise in advance with updating the departmental dairy for booking meetings, seminars, conferences and lecture rooms.  

Throughout my six years of working for University College London as the front of house reception Office Manager  I was encouraged to develop new administration Ideas to streamline paperwork and train new members of staff to use existing database and new systems which were being upgraded annually.  Mandatory training courses were applied and completed using teaching resources supplied through online tools and external teaching consultants.  Having completed the following FCE Management ... Field Work Risk Assessment ... Fire Evacuation Marshall E-Learning ... Assertiveness in the work place.  Oracle Finance Moodle and Portico Student database information. 

I successfully managed the front office and one other member of staff came under my supervision.
I  Managed conferences, events, catering, hotel and travel bookings for external stakeholders.
My role was the point of reference for new building projects and I developed close working relationships with project managers and architects. 
I managed the building so that no unforseen hazards would occur and took necessary action to infrom esworking closely alongside the estates facilities division, project Managers and architects I was the liaison of the department concerning OH&S.  I managed the projects with  regarding estate refurbishments to the building and managed the time frames for all users to the building during  


e fore when having to think logically and disseminating information in a clear and concise manner with multi tasking  work and applying myself to the task of  Managing the front office of a department, that being a good communicator and interpersonal skills enhanced the  which enabled me to have a can do attitude gave and interpersonal skills were essential in establishing a good service to all users of the building and if

There is no typical day because everyday brings its own varied challenges which is the best part of the job. I do allot of travelling as my team is in Liverpool and I am based in London so I always organize my meetings in Liverpool well in advance (if possible) as I try and make my visits as productive as possible. I work closely with the trial sponsor (University of Liverpool), trial Clinical trial Units (Liverpool CTRC) and the CI and GCLP Lab responsible for the trial's primary outcome. The trial Data manager and statistics team are based in Liverpool so effective communication and updating is essential. The trials is taking place at 10 sites in England and being a phase IIa CTIMP trial means the appropriate set up/facilities is available at sites and that they are able to contact me at all times to respond to any query they may have. I provide full trial specific training to sites.

As trial manager, I am the main contact for sites ensuring that the trial is properly and legally being run at the sites and that any problems can be overcome. I am responsible for trial monitoring and pharmacocovigilance. I am responsible for organizing all trial related meetings, including TMG, IDSMC and TSC, where I also take minutes and ensure action points are completed before the next meeting.

The job required project management, collaboration, multitasking and also independent works as well as effective communications to ensure successful running of the trial. I am very passionate and dedicated to the job as that's the only way to enjoy it.

In some parts of UCL, doing an honest days work is important and respected, unfortunately in others, some parts of leadership love to coast, and they love useless people who are worse than them and who can never show them up. If you are competent and find yourself sandwiched between that, you workload is unmanageable and the stress is through the roof.

You will be swamped while your "colleague" messes up as a daily or weekly routine, but your manager does everything in their power to cover it up.

In some parts of UCL, this would be unacceptable, but because UCL is so big, some departments will have teams that get away with this.

If you can handle being a mule for the team and lazy people, then you're getting competitive pay for a job role that you might be lucky to get 26k for in the private sector. Lots of flexibility too which is great.

If you have ambitions or want to learn with your team, this would be the worst environment because you'll be fending for yourself.

Anyway, not all areas of UCL are like this, but unless you find the niche good teams, it can be a very stressful work environment that has a detrimental impact on your health. If you like coasting and/or can switch off the second you start your work day, UCL is the place for you.

So this a review to say, it's like Minesweeper working at UCL.

A typical day at work would include me working in an office;i would do tasks such as writing blogs to create awareness for our organization,go onto various social networking sites such as twitter and instagram and also create awareness there.I would also prepare(with the help of others), for future presentations that we might present to schools, the heads of schools that inform them about our organization and what we do.What I've learned currently so far is ways in which I can advertise my organization and also effective material that can be used to promote our organization.
My Management treated me equally and I got on very well with my management, they took us to many events  and  we gained a lot of experience from this. My Co-workers are very friendly and we work together well as a team.The hardest part of my job is thinking of new and effective ways of promoting our organization and the most enjoyable is when me and my co-workers come together and discuss the problems we have during work and try to fix them so we wont have to worry about them the next day.

My typical day at work involved, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, such as staff, students and external examiners. I assisted academic colleagues with a range of tasks such as timetabling, booking labs and running meetings pertinent to the tasks in hand.

At UCL I learned all the inhouse systems to a high standard as well as getting to grips with the the institute runs on a daily basis.

Management was generally supportive and gave help and advice when you need it.

The workplace culture is fairly relaxed and easy going, but a hard work ethic is expected from all staff. Micromanagement is not a thing I experienced at UCL.

The hardest part of the job was balancing the responsibilities between the programmes that I dealt with. 

The most enjoyable part of the job was collaborating with colleagues and getting my work done to a very high standard.

The day can largely be split into 3 areas:

Responding to email (which can consist of any no. of issues)
Meetings or workshops 
Dealing with academic mission.  This can take many forms and can include dealing with teaching related issues, financial considerations, research questions and proposals. 

The hardest part of the job is to be able to keep all the plates spinning at the same time.  There are a lot of conflicts and as a result being able to time manage is an essential skill.  If you can work in an HEI academic department, then you can work anywhere.  You are exposed to just about every type of work related situation that there is.  It builds resilience.

I had the opportunity to work with our research assistant for a period of six months. Throughout this time, I found them to be an indispensable asset to our research project. They were consistently meticulous in their work, showing great attention to detail, and an impressive ability to synthesize complex information. They were also adept at data collection and analysis, consistently providing high-quality, reliable results.
Furthermore, their exceptional organizational skills greatly contributed to maintaining a smooth workflow. They often took the initiative to manage tasks and problem-solved with efficiency and creativity. Their communication was always clear and timely, making collaboration seamless.
Their dedication and commitment to the project were palpable, often going above and beyond their duties to ensure our objectives were met. I was particularly impressed with their ability to quickly learn and adapt to new research methods and tools.

As part of the Electronic Healthy Record System Team. 
It was my responsibility to ensure that all training was updated, correct and appropriate for the delegates.
I felt supported in amongst my team and we grew well as the project developed from Learning and Development, to creating learning materials, delivering multiple days training courses and providing support materials to reinforce lessons and key objectives.
There was always a break in communications- Not everyone was kept informed of crucial changes in systems, workflows and certain aspects of protocols that were to be applied once the system was 'Live'.
There were sessions to book massages and attend meditation sessions available. As well as regular team socials were re could reconnect with the large team that were working towards a common goal.

Typically I will start the day checking emails. The job involves setting up and operating electrical instruments, computer programming, writing papers and a thesis, and giving presentations of my work at conferences. I often learn new physics concepts, and details of programming and how to express my knowledge in writing. Job requires organising specialist equipment to be made by technical staff or an outside company. Time management is flexible working hours. The social life is good and co-workers are helpful to each other. The hardest part of the job is chasing up contracted work or when instrumentation is not working. The enjoyable part is discovering a new technique for the PhD work, solving a programming problem and helping other students solve a problem.

UCL is a great employer. With over 12,000 staff and over 30,000 students, there are plenty of opportunities for career development, enrichment and enhancement in both academic and professional service spheres.

I have worked in HR at UCL for many years, until Jan 2018, and have thrived on a wide range of challenges and initiatives. Days have rarely been the same, and with such a broad range of academic disciplines it is a buzzy and exciting place to be.

Location-wise, Bloomsbury is great; very much the university quarter of London. There is lots of investment in the estate and with UCL East, more to come.

Downsides? as with any place, lots to do and never enough time. Upside? The incredible academic and scientific advancements; the people; the culture and ethos.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Research fellow 45 salaries reported	£47,447 per year
Research assistant 44 salaries reported	£36,386 per year
Lecturer 20 salaries reported	£52,681 per year
Postdoctoral research fellow 17 salaries reported	£44,528 per year
Research associate 8 salaries reported	£38,831 per year

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