Research Technician I - Psychological & Brain Sciences

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis

Washington, DC, USA · Danforth, ME, USA

USD 16.54-22.35 / hour

Posted on Apr 14, 2026

Scheduled Hours

37.5

Position Summary

The research technician will work with the PI to start up the Psychosis Prediction and Prevention Lab, which conducts a wide variety of behavioral, electrophysiology, and neuromodulation studies with healthy populations and adults and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. The employee will participate in the collection and analysis of data. In addition, this position will have various other lab management duties.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

  • Recruiting and running participants through various research studies that are to be conducted in the lab.

  • Collecting and analyzing behavioral and EEG data for various research studies that are to be conducted in the lab.

  • Writing computer code to implement computerized experiments for the research studies that are to be conducted in the lab.

  • Purchasing lab equipment (e.g., lab supplies, a printer, computers for new lab members).

  • Revising and editing manuscripts.

  • Supervising undergraduate research assistants.

  • Occasional contact with the IRB to update (e.g., add new researchers) and maintain (submit renewal requests) research protocols.

  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Decision Making and Impact:

Typical decisions will include when to schedule a participant, how to troubleshoot data analysis or computer programming questions. These decisions will only impact the employee and the research team: scheduling will impact when other lab members will have their data, and troubleshooting will impact how we analyze our data,

Financial/Operational Impact:

No significant financial responsibilities or decisions. The research technician will be responsible for providing compensation to research participants. They will also manage laboratory purchases (e.g., a printer, lab supplies, software licenses).

Contacts:

Internal: The research technician will have regular contact with other members of the Psychosis Prediction and Prevention Lab, such as graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduate research assistants. The research technician will meet regularly with the lab director, Dr. Osborne, to discuss projects, progress and to receive training. The research technician may also provide training to undergraduate research assistants. The research technician will also have occasional contact with the University’s IRB in order to update (e.g., add new researchers) and maintain (e.g., request renewal) research protocols.

External: The research technician will regularly contact potential research participants. In addition, they might interact with researchers from other universities who are collaborating on projects with the lab.

Supervision:

Given: The research technician will help oversee part-time undergraduate research assistants who perform recruitment and testing of research participants, as well as data analysis.

Received: Frequent (at least weekly, but most likely daily) contact with the PI to discuss research, recruitment, data storage and analysis, and general state of the lab.

Confidential Information:

Research participants often have clinical disorders. Patient information provided by investigators and research staff includes study diagnosis and history of problems that may affect administration of clinical and cognitive assessment procedures. Results of diagnostic, cognitive or neuropsychological assessments are also confidential.

Working Conditions:

Job Location/Working Conditions:

  • Normal office environment.

  • Ability to travel between WUSTL Medical and Danforth campuses.

  • Occasional work on weekends and evenings is required.

Physical Effort:

  • Typically sitting at a desk or table.

Equipment:

  • Office equipment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education:

High school diploma or equivalent high school certification or combination of education and/or experience.


Certifications/Professional Licenses:

No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.


Work Experience:

No specific work experience is required for this position.


Skills:

Not Applicable


Driver's License:

A driver's license is not required for this position.

More About This Job

Preferred Experience:

  • Previous experience with psychological, clinical, and/or neuroscience research.
  • This position requires interaction with undergraduate students and community study participants experiencing symptoms across the psychosis spectrum, as well as interaction with lab members, so excellent communication and social skills would be highly preferable.
  • Previous experience with computerized testing of cognitive phenomena and EEG.
  • Experience with coding languages in order to process the behavioral and EEG experiments, as well as experience with statistical and computing programs (e.g., R, MATLAB, Python, SPSS).

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education. - Social Sciences


Certifications/Professional Licenses:

No additional certification/professional licenses unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.


Work Experience:

Research (4 Years)

Skills:

Not Applicable

Grade

R04-H

Salary Range

$16.54 - $22.35 / HourlyThe salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

Questions

For frequently asked questions about the application process, please refer to our External Applicant FAQ.

Accommodation

If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email CandidateQuestions@wustl.edu or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.

All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Pre-Employment Screening

All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement

Personal

  • Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.

  • Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.

  • Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.

  • WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.

Wellness

  • Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!

Family

  • We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child. Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. Need adult care? We’ve got you covered.

  • WashU covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years with us.

For policies, detailed benefits, and eligibility, please visit: https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/

EEO Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.