Research Assistant in Politics, Philosophy, and Digital Civic Education

About us

The UCL Department of Political Science & School of Public Policy is a leading international centre for political research. It offers a uniquely stimulating environment for the study of all fields of politics, including international relations, legal and political theory, comparative politics, public policy, and public management. It acts as a bridge between UCL's world-class research and the policy-making community in Britain and internationally. It contains the UCL Constitution Unit, the UCL Global Governance Institute, and (with UCL Economics) the UCL Policy Lab. It is a member of the UCL Institute for Law, Politics & Philosophy.

The Department’s Digital Speech Lab hosts research on the proper governance of the digital public sphere, investigating how to uphold free speech while protecting democratic norms and institutions from threats. You can find out more about this work at digitalspeechlab.com.

We encourage applications from those who are underrepresented in the sector and at UCL including but, not exclusive, to non-graduates, disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse people, LGBTQ+ people, people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, especially women. Further details can be found on our website: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/political-science/political-science.

About the role

We wish to appoint a current PhD candidate as a Research Assistant in Politics, Philosophy, and Digital Civic Education. The RA will co-lead our effort to expand the activities of the Digital Speech Lab to engage UCL undergraduates, in two principal ways.

This part-time role is ideal for someone who is currently pursuing a PhD in a subject relevant to this work. The post-holder will be a full member of the Digital Speech Lab, welcome to all events and meetings.

The successful post-holder will commence from February 1, 2025. Your application should include a CV and cover letter and it will be assessed on how well you evidence the essential and desirable criteria in the person specification within the job description.  (By including a cover letter, you can leave blank the field 'Why you have applied for this role' in the application form.) For informal enquiries please contact Dr Jeffrey Howard (email: ).

Interview: 15/01/2025

About you

The ideal candidate will be currently working toward a PhD in Political Theory, Philosophy, Political Science, Education, Law, or another field relevant to this post. The candidate will have teaching experience. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong communication skills (both oral and written), team-working skills, pedagogical skills, self-direction and the capacity for independent work. Applicants should provide a Curriculum Vitae, a 1 page application/cover letter and the details of two referees who can be approached at the interview stage.

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunity this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which is visible in our website: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion.

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