Number of positions available: 1
Locations:
Wexford
Duration: 4 weeks
Start date: 12th Jan 2026
Rate of pay: €31,150 pro rata (approx €600 per week) + mileage
What is the Happy Talk research project?
Happy Talk is a speech and language programme that aims to support child language development in socially disadvantaged communities. Through Happy Talk, speech and language therapists (SLTs) engage parents and early years educators in developing their capacity to improve the language learning abilities of children aged 0-6 years. The goal of the Happy Talk Research project is to assess if this model of care is beneficial compared to standard care, in different contexts. We will also examine if the programme is cost effective. For this project, we are targeting preschool children and junior infants across the Republic of Ireland. You can learn more at our website.
What does a typical day look like?
In the morning you will visit preschools and junior infant classrooms to carry out the Pre-School Language Scales Assessment (5 edition) ( PLS-5). The expectation is that you would assess 2-3 children per day (each assessment takes 45 mins – 1 hour). In the afternoon/evening you will have time to score the record forms, schedule your next assessments with school staff, and liaise with parents. You will have the support of a regional SLT who is experienced with the PLS measure, along with organizational and administrative support from the UCC research team.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for Speech and Language Therapists who are interested in participating in a large-scale research project. We welcome applications from experienced therapists as well as final year SLT students and new graduates. You will receive training on the PLS assessment, so it is not required to have used it previously. You will need to have good organisational skills as you will need to manage your own schedule and liaise with multiple participants including children, their parents, and educators. You will need to have access to a car as many of the settings we are working with are not accessible via public transport. If you are a final year student nearing completion, active CORU registration is not required. You will be garda vetted as part of this process.
Job Type: Fixed term
Contract length: 4 weeks
Pay: €600.00 per week
Application question(s):
* Do you have access to a car for the duration of the contract?
Work Location: On the road