ACADEMIC JOB DETAILS

Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute

Post-doctoral Research Fellow (36 months, 1.0 FTE)
Grade: F Vacancy Ref: B43842R

The Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute (NUHRI) wishes to appoint an

outstanding post-doctoral researcher for a three-year fellowship, to pursue a personal
research project, contribute to the work of NUHRI more generally, and to enhance the profile
of humanities research both within and outside Newcastle University. The post is supported
by Newcastle University’s Research Excellence Academy (REA), which embodies the
University’s commitment to foster an environment in which academic excellence and ground-
breaking research can thrive. The post is full-time for three years, beginning in October 2016 or
as soon as possible thereafter.

Specific Responsibilities of Position

The NUHRI Fellowships are intended primarily to enable early career academics to undertake
a research project of their own design that will lead to one or more original and significant
pieces of publishable work. Applications will be considered from candidates working in any
academic field, but preference will be given to those whose research falls in areas of
established or emerging strength at Newcastle University, and/or which joins two or more
academic fields, or transcends or challenges disciplinary boundaries.
Areas of strength in the humanities at Newcastle include (but are not limited to): archaeology,
art history, classics, English literature and language, heritage studies, history, law, linguistics,
media and cultural studies, modern languages, music, philosophy, and certain aspects of
architecture, education and geography. Cross-disciplinary areas in which NUHRI is keen to
develop existing strengths include (but are not limited to): digital humanities, medical
humanities, civic humanities, maritime humanities, work with archives, the humanities in
response to global development challenges, and the humanities in connection with science,
technology and engineering.
The successful candidate will be attached to the Newcastle University Humanities Research
Institute, working closely with the Director, existing NUHRI fellows and administrators, and
assisting in the Institute’s programme of activities. These include running events designed to
increase the visibility of humanities research and organising seminars, workshops and
partnership-building events to catalyse and coordinate research activity. The successful
candidate will also be attached, as appropriate, to one of the academic schools in the Faculty
of Humanities and Social Sciences, where office space and other facilities will be provided.
The Fellow may be asked to undertake a limited amount of teaching in that School.
Eligibility
The NURHI Fellowship is designed for early career researchers. Applicants must have been
awarded a doctoral degree since 1 January 2012, or be in expectation that the award will be
made by 31 October 2016. (These dates refer to the formal notification of award, not date of
graduation.) Applicants should not already have held a permanent academic appointment.

The Newcastle University Humanities Research Institute

NUHRI was founded in 2014 to coordinate and support new collaborative humanities research
projects and to enhance the profile of humanities research both within and beyond Newcastle
University. NUHRI sits alongside two other research institutes in the Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences: the Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (NISR) and the Newcastle
Institute for Creative Arts Practice (NICAP). The Faculty is also home to a number of research
centres with more specific remits, such as the McCord Centre for Historic and Cultural
Landscape, the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Centre for Research in
Linguistics and Language Science, and the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts (NCLA).
NUHRI has no physical base but the NUHRI Fellow will join a team including an administrator,
a research funding advisor, existing NUHRI fellows, as well as the Director.

Research Role Profile

As part of our commitment to career development for research staff, the University has
developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic
competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the
general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level. It is unlikely that
any single member of staff will be applying all these competences at any one time but he or
she would be expected to display most of them over a period of time. Please follow this link
to our Research Role Profiles

Person Specification
Knowledge (inc. Qualifications)
Essential
 Possession of PhD in relevant subject, awarded (or expected to be awarded) between
1 January 2012 and 31 October 2016.
 Firm and feasible plans for a substantial, rigorous and significant research project in a
relevant area.
 Evidence of existing research outputs commensurate with stage of career.
Desirable
 Experience of writing for peer reviewed publications.
 Experience of writing applications for academic research funding.
 Understanding of the importance of the wider significance of humanities research
both for academic and non-academic audiences.
 Ability to work across disciplinary boundaries.
Skills (professional, technical, managerial, practical)
Essential
 Excellent oral and written communication skills with a wide range of different
audiences.
 Excellent organisational abilities and time management skills, and ability to prioritise
workload and work to deadlines.
Desirable
 Demonstrable experience of organising successful meetings, workshops and public
events.
 Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.

Experience and Achievements

Essential
 Experience of using a range of media and formats for the dissemination of research to
different publics, both with and beyond universities (including for example though
workshops and symposia, social media, public events).
Desirable
 Experience of event organisation.
 Experience of working with non-academic partners for the dissemination of scholarly
research.
Other
Essential
 Availability to undertake national and international travel as required.
 Availability to work occasional evenings and weekends.

How to apply
Candidates should fill out the online application form and, in addition, attach (i) an academic
curriculum vitae, and (ii) a short statement of their proposed research project(s). This
statement should set out the originality and significance of the research, as well as how the
research will actually be conducted, and its feasibility. The statement should be no longer
than one side of A4 (in a font no smaller than size 11). Candidates may also attach a short
covering letter. The application form and/or the letter should make clear that the candidate
meets the eligibility criteria for the post.
For essential information on how to apply, visit our Job Vacancies web page at
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/vacancies/