Internship Title: Research Internship: Trusted Adult Scheme
Proposed Start Date: 31st March 2026
Duration: 10 weeks
Hours: 20 hours p/w, working pattern to be discussed
Location: Cambridge or Peterborough Campus
Pay Rate: £13.45 p/h
You must be a current ARU student to apply for this role.
ARU’s Access and Participation Plan (APP) embodies our commitment to transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education. It focuses on ARU making a positive impact on the lives of our students and the communities we serve and sets out how we will promote equality of opportunity for all. The APP strategic framework underpins delivery activity within the Trusted Adult Scheme (TAS). TAS will be used as the project case study and primary delivery setting for participant recruitment and data collection, and ethical approval has already been secured for the TAS programme. All research activity will therefore be delivered in line with the existing approval conditions, including safeguarding procedures, consent/assent processes, confidentiality arrangements.
Role Overview: The Research Assistant will support the design and delivery of a research project exploring children’s, parents’/guardians’, and practitioners’ views and concerns regarding a potential ban on social media apps for children under 16. The postholder will coordinate day-to-day project activity, support data collection, and ensure the study is delivered ethically, safely, and to agreed timelines and quality standards.
Key responsibilities:
- Develop, maintain and update project plans (tasks, milestones, dependencies, risks) and monitor progress against them; provide clear updates to the project lead and stakeholders.
- Support study design and set-up, including developing data collection tools (e.g., surveys, interview/focus group topic guides) for children, parents/guardians and practitioners.
- Coordinate recruitment and participation, including liaison with schools/partners, arranging sessions, managing consent/assent processes, and maintaining accurate recruitment logs.
- Support delivery of data collection activities (e.g., surveys, interviews, focus groups), using age-appropriate, trauma-informed and inclusive approaches.
- Ensure ethical and safeguarding compliance throughout, including risk assessments, safeguarding pathways, confidentiality boundaries, and secure handling of sensitive information.
- Manage data securely in line with UK GDPR/Data Protection requirements: anonymisation/pseudonymisation, file naming/version control, secure storage, and data transfer protocols.
- Maintain thorough project documentation (participant information sheets, consent forms, schedules, fieldwork notes, decision logs, incident logs where required).
- Contribute to data processing and analysis (e.g., transcription management, coding support, descriptive statistics, thematic analysis) and maintain an auditable analytic trail.
- Draft project outputs, including interim updates, summary findings, and contributions to reports, presentations and dissemination materials tailored to different audiences.
- Support meaningful involvement of children and families (where relevant), including accessible communications, feedback loops, and participant debriefing materials.
- Coordinate meetings, prepare agendas/minutes, and manage actions; support stakeholder engagement and communications.
Required skills/qualifications
- Studying for a degree in a relevant area (e.g., Criminology, Psychology, Sociology, Education, Social Work, Public Health, Research Methods)
- Demonstrable experience supporting research delivery, including organising fieldwork and collecting data (surveys and/or interviews/focus groups).
- Experience working with children and young people and/or families, with a clear understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and professional boundaries.
- Knowledge of research ethics and data protection (UK GDPR), including secure handling of sensitive information and anonymisation/pseudonymisation.
- Strong communication and organisational skills, including producing clear written records (logs, notes, summaries) and managing timelines and stakeholder coordination.
1. Learning outcomes
At the end of the internship the student will be able to demonstrate:
- Apply ethical and safeguarding practice in research with under-16s by implementing consent/assent processes, managing disclosures appropriately, and maintaining confidentiality and professional boundaries.
- Design and deliver mixed-methods data collection by developing and administering surveys and/or facilitating interviews/focus groups with children, parents/guardians and practitioners using inclusive, age-appropriate approaches.
- Manage, analyse and report research data to a high standard by applying UK GDPR-compliant data handling (secure storage, anonymisation), supporting qualitative/thematic and/or descriptive quantitative analysis, and producing clear, stakeholder-ready summaries and outputs.
2. Project deliverables
- Ethics and fieldwork pack: finalised participant information sheets, consent/assent forms, safeguarding and risk assessment documentation, and approved data collection instruments (surveys/topic guides).
- Cleaned and securely managed dataset: anonymised survey dataset plus interview/focus group materials (audio/transcripts/notes) with a complete data management log and audit trail (UK GDPR compliant).
- Findings report and dissemination outputs: a final report summarising methods, results and recommendations, plus a short briefing (1–2 pages) and slide deck for stakeholders.
How to apply: Please click on the apply button and ensure you have an up-to-date CV and Cover letter to submit.
Please ensure you use the Employability Service for help with your CV, Cover Letter and interview preparation
Application closing date: Sunday 8th March 2026
Only successful candidates will be contacted due to the number of applications received.