Teaching Assistants
These opportunities are open to current DPhil students at the University of Oxford in the first instance.
For each position, the gross salary will be £20.95 per hour (equivalent to Grade 6 point 7 on the University scale) before Tax and National Insurance deductions, if applicable.
To apply please send your CV and cover letter to msc@oii.ox.ac.uk by noon on Monday 4th August 2025.
You should also include a brief email of support from your supervisor or Director of Graduate Studies confirming that they are happy for you to undertake this TA work whilst completing your DPhil studies.
The cover letter should include:
* Please note a valid right to work in the UK will be required for this role. Under the 2006 Immigration, Nationality and Asylum Act the University has a duty to prevent illegal working by carrying out document checks to confirm that a person has the right to work in the UK. All employees, casual workers and Tier 5 sponsored visa holders must have their right to work checked either online or in person (depending on the immigration status) before they can start.
A TA is sought to support the convenor Dr Fabian Stephany in the delivery of Research Design for Social Data Science, an 8-week core course for MSc Social Data Science students in Weeks 0-8 of Michaelmas Term.
The expected hours are up to 10 hours per week for 9 weeks up to a maximum of 80 hours in total, although some of these hours may need to be taken in Week 9 depending on convenor requirements.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
The prospective TA should have experience in social data science research design, and will ideally have some experience of/engagement with a range of quantitative and qualitative methods.
The TA is expected to:
(1) Be present at all lectures (two hours on Tuesdays) and to assist facilitating seminar discussion and related hands-on activities in class;
(2) Facilitate weekly drop-in sessions (one hour on Tuesdays) for students to help with assignments and general queries;
(3) Help students with general queries outside of class by email;
(4) Assist in the provision of feedback on formative coursework
A TA is sought to support convenors Ralph Schroeder and Brent Mittelstadt in the delivery of Data and Society, an 8-week core course for MSc Social Data Science students. This could be 2 TAs at 8 hours per week each (Weeks 1-8 of Michaelmas), or 1 TA at 16 hours per week (core hours of Weeks 1-8, up to a maximum of 128 hours, although some of these hours may need to be taken in Week 0 depending on convenor requirements.
Please specify in your application whether you are interested in (i) the single 16-hour appointment; (ii) one of the joint 8-hour appointments, or (iii) either.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
A typical week includes attending the lecture/seminar (two hours on Tuesdays) plus hosting one or both of two in-person office hours (on Thursdays). There will also be occasional organizational meetings with course convenors and leading or facilitating small group discussions during certain weeks. Some knowledge of foundational issues in social data science is required.
A TA is sought to support convenor Prof Bernie Hogan in the delivery of Fundamentals of Social Data Science in Python, a 4-week intensive core course for MSc Social Data Science students.
This is a single TA position for 5 weeks at 20 hours per week. The course is taught Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays in Weeks 1-4 of Michaelmas Term, and some preparatory work will be required in Week 0.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
The successful candidate will be expected to assist students with their coding and server access during the tutorials as well as assisting in the marking of formative assessments. Week 0 will be used to practice the specific coding skills for the course as well as to develop ‘practice answers’ for the resulting lab sessions and plan division of labour as well as timelines.
The TAs must have excellent skills in data science with Python. This includes a familiarity with Jupyter notebooks, Pandas, univariate or bivariate information visualisation, and programmatic use of APIs. The course uses Visual Studio and GitHub. The position does not require extensive familiarity with machine learning or multivariate statistics. Experience with programming on a server will be an asset. Previous teaching experience is also an asset.
The TA will be responsible for leading:
The TA will be jointly responsible for:
The TA will be expected to attend:
The TA will be expected to complete as part of their work:
A TA is sought to support convenor Chris Russell in the delivery of Machine Learning, an intensive core course for MSc Social Data Science students running Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays of Weeks 5-8 of Michaelmas Term.
This could be 1 TA at 20 hours per week over 5 weeks up to a maximum of 100 hours or 2 TAs at 10 hours per week over 5 weeks up to a maximum of 50 hours each. Please specify in your application whether you are interested in (i) the single 20-hour appointment; (ii) one of the joint 10-hour appointments, or (iii) either.
The post holder is expected to give tutorials for the intensive machine learning module of the MSc in Social Data Science. The course is held during a four-week period in November and December (Weeks 5 – 8 of term), and some preparatory work will be required in Week 4.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
An ideal candidate has detailed knowledge of machine learning, to a level as covered in the course, both theoretical as well as practical. Many exercises covered in the tutorials involve hands on work with Python / jupyter notebooks, using modern libraries such as pandas, sklearn and Tensorflow. The candidate should be a fluent user of those libraries. Preferences is given to DPhil students and post-docs working on machine learning related topics and who ideally have previous tutoring experience.
A TA is sought to support the convenor in the delivery of Internet and Society, a core course for MSc Social Science of the Internet students. This could be 2 TAs at 12 hours per week each (Weeks 1-8 of Michaelmas), or 1 TA at 20 hours per week. Please specify in your application whether you are interested in (i) the single 20-hour appointment; (ii) one of the joint 10-hour appointments, or (iii) either.
The course is taught on Mondays, Weeks 1 -8 of term. Core hours for the role are in Weeks 0-8, although some of these hours may need to be taken in Week 9 depending on convenor requirements.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
A typical week will require at minimum attendance and assistance at the course lecture (2 hours on Mondays Weeks 1-8), plus holding a 3-hour weekly student drop-in support session (Tuesdays Weeks 1-8). In addition, the TAs are expected to respond to student questions via email and on the Canvas course page.
The TAs shall also provide assistance in organising, invigilating, and providing feedback on the course formative (timed exam) and revision sessions. The TAs shall also have short organisational meetings with the convenor.
A TA is sought to support convenor Sandra Wachter in the delivery of Internet Technologies and Regulation, a core course for MSc Social Science of the Internet students. This could be 2 TAs at 8 hours per week each (Weeks 1-8 of Michaelmas), or 1 TA at 16 hours per week. Please specify in your application whether you are interested in (i) the single 16-hour appointment; (ii) one of the joint 8-hour appointments, or (iii) either.
The majority of hours will take place during the core weeks of Weeks 1-8 of term, although 1-2 hours may be required for preparatory work in Week 0.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
The TA(s) will carry out preparation for tutorials, actively lead two hours per week of open seminar exercises and group debates, mark formative assessments, and other duties. Knowledge of the landscape of internet regulation, the technologies underlying the internet and emergent technologies (e.g. AI, generative AI, facial recognition software etc) would be highly beneficial.
While some of the work can be done remotely (e.g. prep and marking), the TAs are required to support during the lecture (Thursdays) and carry out the tutorials in person (Thursdays and Fridays).
Based on a job share between two TAs at a maximum of 8 hours per week each, a typical week might involve:
Plus assistance with formative essay marking in Week 6, with a two-week expected turnaround.
A TA is sought to support convenor Fabian Braesemann in the delivery of the course Statistics Core for MSc Social Science of the Internet students.
This could be 2 TAs at 8 hours per week or 1 TA at 16 hours per week over 10 weeks (Weeks Minus 1 to Week 8 of Michaelmas), up to a maximum of 160 hours over the duration of the appointment(s), although some of these hours may need to be taken in Week 9 depending on convenor requirements.
Please specify in your application whether you are interested in (i) the single 16-hour appointment; (ii) one of the joint 8-hour appointments, or (iii) either.
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
The major requirements for the TA(s) are to answer student questions during weekly TA sessions (Thursdays). Since this is an introductory course, the job does not require advanced statistical skills. Rather, the course focuses on concepts (up to linear regression analysis), meaning the ability to clearly explain basic concepts is most important.
In addition, the TA should support the convenor in assembling and preparing further study materials for the students and hold an introductory tutorial in Week 0.
Two Teaching Assistants (TAs) are sought to support the convenors Prof Ekaterina Hertog and Prof Andy Przybylski in the delivery of Digital Social Research: Methods Core, a core course for MSc Social Science of the Internet students. These 2 TAs would have approximately 15 hours per week each up to a maximum of 270 hours in total (core hours of Weeks 0-8 of Michaelmas, with some duties in Week 9).
In addition to the hours above, there will also be a paid a paid 1.5 hour induction in Week 0 of term.
Based on a role at a maximum of 15 hours per week each, a typical week will involve: