Assistant Project Scientist

Assistant Project Scientist

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources

Job
UC ANR / UC Agriculture and Natural Resources / UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Open date:
October 30, 2025

Next review date:
Friday, Jan 2, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date:
Monday, Feb 2, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position Overview

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) offers a unique recruitment opportunity for Assistant Project Scientist to work on studies related to youth cardiometabolic health; school physical activity and nutrition programs (recess, PE, school meals); and nutrition and physical activity policy implementation science. Potential research projects include examining longitudinal trends in student cardiorespiratory fitness; determining changes in elementary school recess minutes and related practices pre-/post-passage of state-wide recess law in California;

and determining the impact of school lunch program changes in New York City Public schools on student school meal participation.

Location Headquarters: UC ANR, NPI, UC Office of the President at 1111 Franklin Street, Eleventh floor, Oakland, CA 94607.

Major duties and responsibilities of the Assistant Project Scientist will include collecting, cleaning, and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data; designing and managing studies; supporting grant writing efforts; and presenting and publishing research through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

The Assistant Project Scientist will also have the opportunity to develop grant writing and mentorship experience. This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate with expertise in quantitative methods and public health nutrition and physical activity who would like to develop expertise in areas such as natural experiments, drawing causal inference from observational data, randomized controlled trials, school health policy, qualitative methods, and implementation science.

The Assistant Project Scientist will also develop and conduct applied research and evaluation that is consistent with UC ANR's Strategic Vision and NPI's Strategic Plan and disseminate findings and recommendations to inform programs and policy.

Reporting Relationship: The Assistant Project Scientist will report administratively and directly to the NPI Director.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required qualifications:

Education:



A minimum of a doctorate degree in community nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, public health, health policy or a related field is required at the time of appointment. Preferred background includes experience with state and federal nutrition assistance programs.

Additional Qualifications:

Applicants need to meet appointment criteria for the respective University of California academic title series and evidence for success in meeting required academic advancement criteria as per UC Academic Personnel Manual

• Experience in design and execution of community/public health nutrition research projects.
• Experience in grantsmanship, including submitting NIH and other federal and foundation grants, and history of conducting research and evaluations.
• Primary authorship in peer-reviewed journals and academic conference presentations of research findings.
• Qualitative and quantitative research skills which include research design, sampling plans, and sample size calculations, data collection methodology and data analysis methods, and interpretation of findings.
• Strong statistical training with experience in longitudinal analyses. Experience and high proficiency using statistical analysis software:
  Stata, SAS, or R.
• Ability to produce well designed presentation materials using PowerPoint or other related software applications.
• Ability to work on multiple simultaneous projects, prioritize, and complete work efficiently in the face of competing demands. Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communications skills are…