Full-Time Research Assistant

The research assistant (RA) will work as a developer, custodian, and manager of a GIS geodatabase that will document building activities in Beirut over the past thirty years. S/he will be expected to “clean” a base map, digitize new developments, check processed data, enter data from exiting databases and field surveys that will be collected by a team working within Municipal Beirut (and perhaps a number of surrounding areas).

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications, starting with 1,200 USD /month for MS/ME holders or GRA package for enrolled graduate students at AUB.

Responsibilities

• Clean, edit, and maintain the exiting base map
• Digitize new building developments within the study area
• Develop a geodatabase for the project
• Process field collected data and georeference the collected results
• Support in the process of analyzing and crossing information
• Support in disseminating the GIS information to the public

Requirements

• Candidates should be proficient in GIS, the development of geodatabases, and digitizing.
• Knowledge of Python is highly recommended, not required.
• Knowledge of ESRI’s Survey123 and/or ArcGIS Collector is an added value.
• An MS/ME degree is also a plus.
• Previous experience is a plus.
• Candidates need to be able to read/write in English and in Arabic.

Interested candidates should send their CV with a cover letter to Ms. Isabela Serhan at [email protected] by the end of July. Applications will start being reviewed by the second week of July and evaluation will be conducted on roll-in basis.

About the project

This project builds on an earlier initiative between the Masters in Urban Planning and Policy at AUB and the Neighborhood Initiative (AUB) to document building developments and their impacts on Beirut in the post-civil war period. Starting with the list of all building permits disbursed in Municipal Beirut between 2000-2013, a database titled the Beirut Building Database was developed where projects and buildings were georeferenced on a map to spatialize permitting processes.

The project seeks to consolidate and strengthen the Beirut Building Database by extending the time frame of the survey, refining the base map, widening the categories through which information about buildings is collected and processed, and bringing together scattered data collected from public agencies. The project seeks further to encourage the analysis of the collected data to guide the production of critical knowledge about the social, political, economic, and environmental forces that shape urban development in today’s Beirut.

About SJC

The aim of the IFI’s Social Justice and the City Program is to formulate an agenda for research that establishes a partnership between scholars, policy-­makers, and activists in Lebanon (and beyond) working towards more inclusive cities. The program seeks to act as a platform where scholars, policy-makers, and activists can share reflections, experiences, and strategies by (i) documenting, analyzing and reflecting on ongoing urban processes affecting the organization and life of the city, (ii) sharing and validating research with activists, affected communities, and other social groups who are potentially interested in sharing both the acquired competence and the pool of research tactics, and (iii) supporting and informing initiatives that hope to influence change through debates, media, publications, and advocacy.

Learn more about SJC by clicking here:

https://www.aub.edu.lb/ifi/programs/social_justice/Pages/sj_city.aspx