Researchers and Scholars
Open Positions at UVA DOPS:
Research Specialist (Varying Levels) : UVA Job # R0051931
DOPS researches near death experiences (NDEs), children who report past-life memories, psi/unusual experiences, mediumship, after-death communication, altered states of consciousness, and out-of-body experiences.
The Research Specialist position will provide critical support for this work.
Position responsibilities include:
- Manage and maintain SPSS database; clean database for processing
- Assist in literature review and summaries, writing proposals, and writing research manuscripts
- Assist in recruiting, screening, and management of study participants
- Obtain informed consent and run research protocols
- Read and answer research-related inquiries from the public
- Provide coordination for DOPS library activities and research meetings
- Train and collaborate with work-study research assistant(s)
- Learn research IT platforms employed at UVA to assist principal investigators with their research protocol submissions to the UVA IRB as needed
- Participate in necessary training to become familiar with areas of study pursued at DOPS and related IRB protocols
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Degree in psychology, sociology, biology, neuroscience, or related field
- Experience using basic software programs such as: Microsoft Office, Adobe, and data software such as SPSS, SAS and Qualtrics
- Experience with scientific research, knowledge of research methods and design
- Skilled in analytics, statistics, and mathematics
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
There is one position to fill.
- Research Specialist
Education: Entering the position with a Bachelor’s degree in related field. - Research Specialist Intermediate
Education: Entering the position with a Bachelor’s degree and experience, and/or a Master’s degree.- Experience: At least 3 years of relevant research support experience. Master’s degree will be considered in lieu of experience.
Qualified applicants are invited to apply through the UVA HR Workday system. Research Specialist (Varying Levels) : UVA Job # R0051931
Researchers and Scholars:
We are interested in hearing from professional researchers in fields such as psychologists, psychiatrists, neurobiologists, neuroscientists, experimental psychologists, religious studies, philosophers, physicists, biostatisticians, and electrical engineers among many others.
Sabbaticals and Outside Funding Support:
Over the years, researchers and faculty from other academic institutions and disciplines have used their paid sabbaticals or have found outside funding to support their research projects as visiting researchers here at DOPS. The research projects pursued fell within the scope of the DOPS research endeavors and the visiting researchers enjoyed the support and mentorship of the DOPS faculty while they were engaged in the research projects. Visiting researchers from various related disciplines have worked with the DOPS research faculty on a numerous projects of mutual interest over the years.
We welcome inquiries from any and all such persons who might have an upcoming paid sabbatical or have found a funding source to support them and are interested in the scope of our research.
(Please note, we do not provide course credit, continuing education credit or funding to any visiting researchers for these specially arranged circumstances.)
Potential Projects:
Here is an example of a proposed project for which we need qualified visiting researchers and funding:
We invite you to review more descriptions of the ways in which the DOPS researchers currently envision expanding their research within special areas of focus. For more information, please view Expanding Our Research.
Visiting Scholars:
If you are interested in exploring the possibility of joining our research efforts, bringing your own funding, and/or exploring your mid-career sabbatical opportunities, please email us at DOPS@virginia.edu and submit:
- A brief description of your academic background and interests
- Your current resume or curriculum vitae in English
- A brief research proposal describing a project related to the scope of the research being done at UVA DOPS
- Your plans for providing your own funding related to the research project you are proposing
Your submissions will be reviewed by the DOPS research faculty for their consideration.
Masayuki Ohkado, UVA Dops Faculty, and Our Local Research Community
Resulting Papers from Visiting Scholars’ Projects:
This academic paper is the result of a collaboration between Masayuki Ohkado, and Bruce Greyson. Masayuki Ohkado was on paid sabbatical as a visiting researcher from Chubu University at the time of this project. Dr. Ohkado made special arrangements with the faculty to spend his year long paid sabbatical here to learn about the research being carried out at UVA DOPS, as well as to collaborate on various projects of his own with the DOPS faculty. Numerous academic papers came out of his time here.
Comparative Analysis of Japanese and Western NDEs, by Masayuki Ohkado, Ph.D. Bruce Greyson, M.D. (Journal of Near-Death Studies, 32(4), Summer 2014) Decades of studies on near-death experiences (NDEs) have revealed both cross-cultural and culture-specific features (Kellehear, 2009) and that it is important to determine which aspects are attributed to the physiological, biological, or psychological mechanisms shared by all humans and which aspects are of cultural origin. In this article, we examine Japanese NDEs and compare their features with generalizations based on observations of Western NDEs. (pdf)
Expanding Our Research:
We invite you to review the descriptions of the ways in which the DOPS researchers currently envision expanding their research within special areas of focus.
Please see “Expanding Our Research” for more information.