Postdoctoral Researcher/Engaged Research Fellow

Are you a Postdoctoral Researcher with excellent creative engagement skills, and a strong research background in reproductive health? Birkbeck, University of London, is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher/Engaged Research Fellow to join the School of Social Sciences on a four-year contract this Autumn.

We are seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Researcher/Engaged Research Fellow to join a multi-disciplinary team to work on a new research project funded by the Wellcome Trust, Contragestive Time: Pregnant Uncertainties in Fertility Control. This is a full-time (35 hours a week), fixed-term contract for over four years, with a salary of £51,713 to £60,858 per year.

Led by Professor Lisa Baraitser, and involving collaborators from University of Sussex, University of Bristol, Manchester Metropolitan University, King’s College London, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and SH: 24, Contragestive Time brings together a team of 12 clinicians, social scientists, lawyers, philosophers, humanities scholars and advocates to rethink concepts of early pregnancy and reproductive timing, challenge outdated legal and regulatory frameworks, test the feasibility of new clinical services, and engage with the public and policymakers to shape a more inclusive future for fertility control.

As Postdoctoral Researcher/Engaged Research Fellow, you will conduct research on how the time after ovulation but before early abortion is possible is currently imagined, and how these ideas might shape the transformative potential of new forms of fertility control called ‘contragestion’. This will entail conducting a large ethnographic study in the UK to investigate the meanings of contragestive time within diverse reproductive cultures.

In addition, you will develop and lead on the project’s public engagement programme, working with the team and stakeholders to build an inclusive research culture across the project, and to engage diverse publics in an open discussion about this contentious and sensitive area.

To succeed as Postdoctoral Researcher/Engaged Research Fellow, you will have a strong research background with experience of fieldwork, creative engagement skills and experience, and an excellent understanding of reproductive temporalities and cultures. You’ll have a PhD in medical anthropology, sociology, critical health studies, gender studies, psychosocial studies, medical humanities, or another relevant field.

You join a supportive and creative research environment dedicated to the development of viable and sustainable academic pathways for early careers researchers.

Based in Psychosocial Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birkbeck, University of London, you will need to be able to travel regularly to the University of Sussex and to research sites across the UK to undertake fieldwork.

If you are interested in this fixed-term, full-time contract, working at Birkbeck - apply with us today.

Salary and benefits
£51,713 to £60,858 per annum, Grade 8 on the College's London Pay Scale which includes a consolidated London Weighting Allowance.

Benefits of working at Birkbeck: a competitive salary and pension scheme, 31 days paid leave, flexible working arrangements, generous benefits in the HE sector, and being located in the heart of Bloomsbury, Euston, London.

Contract:
Fixed-term, over 4-year contract January 2026 to April 2030 (exactly 52 months), full-time, (35 hours a week) hybrid or remote offered with regular travel to University of Sussex, and research sites across the UK.

Please submit CV and statement. Closing date: Friday, 31 October 2025, interview date: Monday, 17 November 2025.

Enquiries:
If you would like to know, please contact Lisa Baraitser, l.baraitser@bbk.ac.uk.

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