Research Assistant/Associate - Postdoctoral Researcher in Modern Dravidian Studies (Fixed Term)

The Faculty of History wishes to recruit a Research Assistant/Research Associate within the broad field of 'Modern Dravidian History and Politics 1945-to the present, working under the supervision of Professor Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics. The position is endowed by a recent bequest to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a full-time post for three years, commencing 1 October 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The pathways and aims of this research are to build historical and analytical perspectives on welfare in relation to shifts in democracy and statecraft including emerging digital public infrastructure. A combination of methods - archival, data sets and interview based will be essential. The interaction of ideas and institutions with public perception, political languages and democratic outcome will be key.

The ideal candidate will be educated to PhD level, with established expertise in South Asian/Tamil history or politics (or clear evidence that completion of such a doctorate is imminent) and  will have fluency with the use of research materials in English and Tamil; proven ability to conduct and deliver a high quality research project; be an experienced Microsoft office user, prepared to learn other software tools if required and have the ability and willingness to engage in digital humanities research and public -facing work, in a collaborative and inter-disciplinary capacity.

The postholder will undertake innovative research with data sets, archives and interviews on welfare, democracy and postcolonial statecraft and other repositories utilising Tamil language. 

With the supervision of Professor Shruti Kapila, they will:

Write research articles where appropriate from their own work and move towards publishing a monograph at the completion of their postdoctoral fellowship.

Work with Prof Kapila on to identify key sources for digital humanities research and to design and manage the public platform for the project as required.

Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues including doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows; and further afield, academics, public intellectuals and others.

Fully participate in workshops and conferences connected to the project by presenting papers and assisting with arrangements; attend other conferences, held by other associations and groups, when possible.

Work with and inter-disciplinary research and writing with a view to presenting ideas and policy perspectives to stakeholders, public and scholarly audiences.

Engage with tasks connected to the dissemination activities of the project.

More information about the Faculty is available here: https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 30 September 2029 in the first instance.

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

Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to: Professor Shruti Kapila (sk555@cam.ac.uk)

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact: hr@hist.cam.ac.uk

Please quote reference JJ50616 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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