Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow in Ancient Medicine

Generous holiday allowances, flexible working, pension scheme and relocation package (if applicable) 

This Wellcome funded full time position is available for four years from 1^st September 2026 (or as soon as possible thereafter).

The post

The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow in Ancient Medicine to join the team of the interdisciplinary project: 'Pustules, Palaeogenetics and Pandemics from Galen to Rhazes: How to do the Early History of Smallpox and Measles’, PI Professor Rebecca Flemming. This team consists of 5 academics (in both Classics and Ancient History and the Institute of Arab and Islamic studies), and will be joined by 2 other post-doctoral researchers and 2 PhD students, all working together to explore changing patterns of feverish pustular diseases, of disease description, conceptualisation, and response, from the second to the tenth centuries CE across Afro-Eurasia. We will be investigating a range of multilingual medical texts, archaeological and palaeogenetic evidence, thinking about methodologies and how to maintain a constructive dialogue between past and present.       

The successful applicant will contribute to the work of the project primarily through collection, translation and analysis of Galen’s references to the ‘long-lasting plague’ he experienced, alongside other pestilential references and pustular engagements—from anthrax to erysipelas—across his oeuvre. What are the similarities and differences between these entities and accounts, and what is their relation to later Greek, Syriac and Arabic material? How close do any descriptions come to medieval or more modern accounts of smallpox and measles? This work will form the backbone of a discursive sourcebook on the topic, produced in collaboration with other team members, and you will also undertake your own original research on ancient disease and medicine, medical texts and ideas, based on this material. You will be expected to co-organise and take part in project-related events and activities more generally.

About you

Postdoctoral Research Associate

You will:

• Possess a relevant PhD (or nearing completion) or an equivalent qualification/experience in Classics, Ancient History or a related field of study;
• Be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes.
• Have linguistic proficiency in ancient Greek and experience working with a range of ancient sources, including medical texts.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

You will:

• Possess a relevant PhD or an equivalent qualification/experience in Classics, Ancient History or a related field of study;
• Possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop/follow research programmes and methodologies.
• Have linguistic proficiency in ancient Greek and experience working with a range of ancient sources, including medical texts.
• Have a record of research outputs in high quality publications.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and welcome applications from service people.

Further information

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Professor Rebecca Flemming: r.flemming@exeter.ac.uk.

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