Research Fellow

Duties and Responsibilities

The Post-doctoral Research Fellow will develop and conduct research on the ‘Interpreting Perpetrator Voices’ project, supported by Pears Foundation. The Fellow will engage with the ‘Final Account: Third Reich Testimonies’ archival collection, ensuring its wider impact and long-term legacy. 

The post is funded for 14 months, in the first instance. 

Using the ‘Final Account’ collection as a starting point or incorporating it into a new or existing wider project, the fellowship will address one or more of the following challenges posed by testimonies from the ‘perpetrator side’:

• Truth, authenticity, and witnessing in accounts from the 'perpetrator side' and their reception
• Writing history: new insights into the history of National Socialism, the Holocaust, and their legacies, as well as mass violence elsewhere, both in the past and the present
• Challenges and opportunities for education and public history

The duties & responsibilities of the role are:

• To undertake your own research into ‘perpetrator voices’, with a defined research plan
• To write & prepare for publication journal articles and/or complete a monograph on their own research
• To prepare &  present the findings of research activities to colleagues & wider audiences as relevant.
• To assist in the planning, organisation & implementation of seminars, workshops, conferences, public events and other relevant impact activities related to the above projects.
• To liaise with the project partners of the ‘Final Account’ archival collection to promote it and ensure its legacy, and
• To take a lead in developing & running the activities of the UCL Centre for Collective Violence and Genocide Studies, based in the IAS.

Key Requirements

• Expertise in 20th-century history and/or its representation, with particular reference to one or more areas of Europe during and/or after the Nazi era.
• PhD in a relevant subject area (NB the thesis must have been successfully passed & award of PhD confirmed by no later than 18 July 2022
• Theoretical expertise & knowledge relevant to analysis of material concerning perpetrators, processes of historical discrimination, and/or oral testimonies
• Demonstrable interest in/experience of public history, education, or ethics in relation to ‘contested pasts’
• Experience of working in a research environment
• Proven ability to analyse & write about complex material
• Effective written & verbal communication skills
• Fluency (written & spoken) in English and a language relevant to the ‘Final Account’ archival collection (predominantly German, but also French, Dutch, and Spanish)
• Ability & willingness to travel within the UK & overseas for archival research as relevant.

Applicants should apply online. To access further details about the position and how to apply please click on the ‘Apply’ button above.

Please upload the following additional documentation as a single PDF file with clearly labelled sub-headings:

• A CV with list of publications, including the contact details of 3 referees.
• A covering letter demonstrating how you meet the criteria for the post.
• A research & public engagement proposal of no more than 1,350 words outlining:
• Your plan for research & proposed outputs (750 words) falling within the scope of the post’s main purpose, indicating how this fits within the wider project (see Further Information below in the job description)
• Your plan & appropriate media for communicating your research findings & wider issues relating to perpetrator voices to wider publics (350 words); and
• Your plan for ensuring the legacy of ‘Final Account’ (250 words).
• One sole-authored article or chapter-length sample of your academic work.

If you have any other questions about the post, please contact the IAS Administrator, Catherine Stokes: c.stokes@ucl.ac.uk.

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