Research Associate Caribbean Collections Ecologies (Fixed Term)

The Fitzwilliam Museum: Opening up the past to transform our futures.

As the principal museum of the University of Cambridge and the largest cultural venue in the region, The Fitzwilliam Museum acts as a crucial bridge between the University, the City and the rest of the world, and has an international reputation for extraordinary research, world class exhibitions, award-winning public programmes and significant collections spanning many cultures and centuries.

We invite applications for the role of Research Associate: Caribbean Collections Ecologies.

The role offers an exciting opportunity to combine independent research with teaching, collaboration and public engagement. The successful candidate will produce internationally excellent research, contribute to postgraduate teaching, develop innovative digital and public-facing outputs, and build meaningful partnerships with academic colleagues, museums, collections and communities in Cambridge and beyond.

The role holder will lead on researching human-nature connections as a method of care and repair across Caribbean-related collections at the Cambridge University Herbarium and the Duckworth Collections. They will have the opportunity to develop an independent line of humanities inquiry that confronts collections as epistemic and ontological silos; that addresses issues of displacement and belonging in collections; that probes historic links between the University and colonial practices of extraction, representation and classification; and analyses human rule over nature as a legacy of colonialism. They will work closely with the Fitzwilliam Museum's British Academy Global Professor to bring a Caribbean lens to the research.

The role holder will advance the scholarly study of collections and understandings of relationality as care through authored articles, contributions to teaching, and wider public engagements. They will also build partnerships and community in the University of Cambridge and beyond by participating in the Collections-Connections-Communities Early Career Researcher Network and the Legacies of Enslavement Network.

We offer a supportive and inclusive workplace, a generous pension scheme, enhanced family leave, substantial holiday allowance, and a range of employee benefits, including retail discounts.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a basic disclosure (criminal records check) check and a security check.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click the 'Apply' button above. 

Closing date for applications:  13th September 2026

Interviews for the role will be held: Week commencing 5th October 2026

Please quote reference DA50651 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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