Stipendiary Junior Research Fellow in Assyriology

Wolfson College, a postgraduate college of the University of Oxford, proposes to appoint one stipendiary Junior Research Fellow in Assyriology.  

Teaching in Assyriology started at Oxford with the appointment of Archibald Sayce in 1891, and the University of Oxford is today one of Britain’s leading centers for Assyriology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. Wolfson College has a strong tradition in this area since the appointment in 1988 of Jeremy Black as Lecturer of Assyriology and Fellow of Wolfson College. The same position is today held by Professor Jacob L. Dahl, and most of the graduate students of Assyriology are members of Wolfson College.

With the excellent library facilities of the Sackler Library and the outstanding collection of cuneiform tablets in the Ashmolean Museum, Assyriology flourishes in Oxford. Oxford is also home to two important online projects, the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, and the University of Oxford, see https://cdli.ucla.edu), and the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL, see http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk), and Wolfson is a frequent host for workshops on digital heritage capture and preservation.

To further strengthen research in Assyriology and to offer a scholarly home within a dynamic community of Assyriology scholars, Wolfson College is seeking to appoint an outstanding scholar to a stipendiary Junior Research Fellowship in Assyriology. The Fellowship will be based in Oxford.

Main tasks of the Fellowship:

• • conduct research and publish in the field of Assyriology;
  • support Assyriology in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies by conducting tutorial teaching and lecturing, and by editing for the OECT and journals in the field published by Oxford Assyriology, and assisting in the management of the General Fund of Assyriology;
  • participate in the academic life of the College and the Ancient World Academic Cluster based at Wolfson College;
  • act as a College Advisor to a number of Wolfson Students, meeting them on arrival and at least once a term thereafter, to offer pastoral advice and support.

Qualifications and experience required:

• • hold, or be near completion of, a doctorate in Assyriology;
  • demonstrate a high level of academic achievement, appropriate to the stage of the candidate’s career, with evidence of and potential for producing excellent research in the broad field of Assyriology;
  • demonstrate a commitment to engage with current and forward-looking methodologies and theoretical approaches in the humanities;
  • demonstrate a commitment to open access and free online data sharing;
  • have excellent communication and presentation skills;
  • take an informed interest in the full range of academic duties of the post and in progressing to an academic post, whether at Oxford or elsewhere;
  • provide evidence of commitment to their own professional development.

The Fellowship will be for three years starting on 1 October 2023 and is not renewable. Applications are particularly welcome from women, black and minority ethnic candidates who are under-represented in academic posts in Oxford.

The annual remuneration package comprises a stipend of £35,462 pa and Common Table rights for the Fellow’s own meals in Hall (currently £49.84 per week)

To apply please visit the College’s vacancies page: http://www.wolfson.ox.ac.uk/vacancies/  Closing date is Monday 6 February 2023, 4.00pm.

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