Research Assistant/Associate (History)

Job description:

Salary: Reserach Assistant £32,546 - £33,482  per annum

Research Associate £35,116 - £45,413 per annum

The Role

We are seeking to appoint a Research Assistant/Associate (RA) with previous ethnographic research experience in Himalayan Inner Asia to work on an innovative project entitled, Accessing the Wellbeing Commons: Therapeutic resource-fixation of natural and historic environments and social exclusion in the UK and Inner Asia, led by PI Dr Elizabeth Turk and funded by the Wellcome Trust. Accessing the Wellbeing Commons is an ambitious, multi-sited research project analysing how social inequalities arise from differential access to therapeutic environments. Adopting a bold, transnational comparative framework, the project engages mixed historical and anthropological methods to generate conceptual shifts in understanding the complexities of social exclusion.

Working with the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, the RA will use ethnographic research methods combined with archival research to examine the changing ways in which people have been able to access and use therapeutic hot springs and medicinal plants in Sikkim set in historical context. This will involve conducting interviews, oral histories, participant observation and archival research to understand changing patterns of land ownership, governance and access, and how these changes are perceived and experienced by pilgrim bathers, local residents, and professional and lay medicinal plant collectors.

This is an excellent opportunity for an early career researcher to receive mentoring and gain experience in scholarly editing, working as part of a team, project management, impact and public engagement activities, and research networking opportunities. They will be encouraged to develop their own research goals, and manage their own training budget, in tandem with those of the project which will lead to joint and sole-authored publication.

This post is a (maximum) 4-years fixed term Research Assistant/Associate in History, and a full[1]time appointment. The successful candidate will start work as soon as possible after 1 October 2025. Flexible working is welcome, but the postholder must be willing to travel for fieldwork and other research/engagement activities as part of the project team.

Applicants with minority and/or host community backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply. Should the successful applicant require a UK Visa for this role, they will be eligible to apply under the Endorsed Funder Route of the Global Talent Visa. The University will support the applicant through this process.

The project is hosted in the School of History, Classics & Archaeology, which has a vibrant and active research culture with particular strengths in interdisciplinary working and supporting the holistic career development of early career colleagues. The RA will be provided with academic and pastoral support within the School, and training will be provided to develop their competences. The RA will benefit from access to the School’s mentoring scheme, extensive training opportunities including a bespoke personal development plan, and peer support from a cross disciplinary cohort of talented postdoctoral and early career researchers. Newcastle University is a signatory to the Concordat to support researchers’ career development which entitles Researchers up to 10 days annually of personal CPD activities.

For more information about the school please visit our website: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hca/about/

For informal enquiries about the position, please contact the project PI, Dr Elizabeth Turk; Beth.Turk@newcastle.ac.uk

Advert information