Postdoctoral Research Associate

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed-term: from 1^st March 2027 until 28^th February 2031

Vacancies available: 2

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The University isn’t just any employer. We are part of a local community and a contributor to global thinking, progress and research. In Edinburgh, you are in one of the world’s most attractive cities with active arts and social sectors, while working in a University that has made significant contributions to society, medicine, physics and teaching for over four centuries. Our people have helped create the modern world and are working on more ground-breaking technologies and practices.

The Opportunity:

The Wellcome Trust Discovery Award-funded ‘Biological Embodiments of Societal Complexities: Sociocultural Determinants of Human Skeletal Health’, awarded to PI Dr Jonny Geber, seeks two PDRAs for this interdisciplinary project that is integrating biological sciences, humanities, social sciences, and conceptual arts. The project aims to (1) determine how socioeconomic factors impact human skeletal biology, growth, morphology, and variation, (2) clarify how skeletal health reflects socioeconomic circumstances through sociohistorical contextualisation and osteobiographical approaches, and (3) convey personal and societal histories in anatomical collections through art.

The PDRAs will focus on the biological sciences aspect of the project, working predominantly on CT imaging data of 19th-century human remains from the Medical University of Graz Anatomical Collection. Together with the PI and collaborators, the PDRA(s) will develop methodological analytical protocols for CT imaging analysis, lead on adult and non-adult research objectives (aging, growth, pathology, health), manage data, and contribute to an interdisciplinary team—disseminating findings at international conferences and by leading peer-reviewed publications. The theoretical-computational/scientific balance can be tailored to successful candidates.

The roles will involve international travel for data collection, training, and conference attendance. Successful PDRAs will receive opportunities for specific training in CT scanning and imaging analysis, alongside continuing professional development of research skills and management through the University of Edinburgh for the project duration. The project involves close collaboration with partners at the Medical University of Graz and JH Joanneum Graz. These posts are full-time (35 hours per week), collaborative, team-based, and require on-campus working at the University of Edinburgh.

This post is full-time (35 hours per week).

Successful candidates will be appointed at Grade UE07, Steps 1 to 3 of the grade scale (£41,885 to £44,352).

Apply Before: 26/11/2026, 23:59

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