Strategic Alliance Postdoctoral Research Fellows (8 posts)
£37,012 - £44,166 pa
Fixed Term Contract for 3 years
Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Warwick are entering an innovative strategic
alliance that includes the collaborative appointment of eight Postdoctoral Research Fellows in four
interdisciplinary fields of activity:
Advances in Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications
Ethnicity and Mental Health in Post-War Britain
Functional Molecular Materials for Energy and Sensor Applications
Renaissance Cultural Networks and Information Technologies, 1300-1800
Four posts will be based at Queen Mary, University of London and four will be based at the University of
Warwick (one Fellow at each university in each of the four themes noted above). The posts will form a
key component of an innovative cross-institutional strategic alliance. The alliance has been designed to
provide a cohesive and flexible framework that will allow two distinctive universities to thrive in a new
research environment.
We are seeking outstanding researchers with promising academic careers who will each develop a
distinctive programme of individual research, within one of the four collaborative research groups that
operate across the two universities. You will be provided with a generous budget with which to develop
collaborative activities (such as workshops and seminars) to help build the four interdisciplinary themes
that form the strategic alliance’s initial areas of research focus.
Although you will be appointed and based at either Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) or at the
University of Warwick, you will also play a key role in building collaborative links between these two
institutions as part of their wider strategic alliance. Your proposed research project should reflect
your research expertise and trajectory as an individual scholar while closely complementing one of the
four interdisciplinary research themes indicated above and described in detail in the further particulars.
You will have been awarded your PhD, or equivalent, in any relevant discipline or alternatively you will
have passed your viva and submitted the final copy of your thesis to be eligible to apply. We would
expect you to be able to demonstrate outstanding published research output and future potential.
The posts will be available from October 2012.
Closing date: 11 May 2012
16 March 2012
JOB DESCRIPTION
POST TITLE:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Rewiring the Renaissance:
Cultural Networks and Information Technologies, 1300-1800 –
Cultural Lead
UNIVERSITY:
University of Warwick
POST RESPONSIBLE TO:
Head of Department
SALARY:
£37,012 - £44,166 pa
REFERENCE NUMBER:
QMWU003-032
CLOSING DATE:
11 May 2012
JOB PURPOSE:
To provide career development opportunities for those who have promising academic profiles with a
proven record of research; to collaborate with a range of scholars in an interdisciplinary research group
as part of a wider strategic research alliance.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

To advance the development of a new research project (proposed at application stage) in
Rewiring the Renaissance: Cultural Networks and Information Technologies, 1300-1800 –
Cultural Lead and produce articles for publication, conference papers, and grant proposals.

To actively participate in the academic life of the ‘home’ and collaborating university, and the
sponsoring department or school.

To engage with the activities of a broad range of research centres and departments/schools at
both institutions

To co-organise collaborative research events under a thematic rubric during each academic
year to enhance both the appointee’s individual scholarly profile and the wider, collaborative
research group between the two universities.

To be able to contribute original ideas for projects and elegant solutions to the intellectual
problems these raise.

Be able to demonstrate advanced linguistic skills in at least two modern European languages
and/or Latin, and experience in engaging these in relation to the study of Renaissance
manuscripts/texts.
The interdisciplinary research group and home academic department may wish to offer a limited amount
of teaching.
16 March 2012
PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST TITLE:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Rewiring the Renaissance – Cultural Networks
UNIVERSITY:
University of Warwick
The Person Specification focuses on the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications required to
undertake the role effectively.
REQUIREMENTS
The post holder must be able to demonstrate:
ESSENTIAL (E) or MEASURED BY:
DESIRABLE (D)
a) Application Form
REQUIREMENTS b) Test/Exercise
c) Interview
d) Presentation
PhD, or equivalent, in Humanities completed (as
marked by date of graduation)
E
a
Developing track record in producing high quality
academic publications
E
a, c
Research expertise in the advertised thematic
topic, appropriate to the research objective
E
a, c
Advanced language skills in at least two modern
European languages and/or Latin
E
a, c
Developing track record of conference
presentations both nationally and internationally
E
a, c
E
a, c
Ability or potential to generate external funding
(grants, contracts etc) to support research projects
D
a, c
Engagement in research that strongly
complements designated interdisciplinary
research theme
E
a, c, d
Ability to work independently and as part of a team
on relevant research programmes
E
c
Advanced communication (oral and written) skills,
presentation and training skills
E
c, d
E
c, d
Commitment to interdisciplinary research
Strong interpersonal skills
NB Your research submission should be suitable for the purpose of the UK Research Excellence
Framework and this will form part of the shortlisting process
16 March 2012
Thematic Topic and Research Objectives: Rewiring the Renaissance: Cultural Networks and
Information Technologies, 1300-1800
As two of the leading international and interdisciplinary centres of excellence for Renaissance studies,
Queen Mary and Warwick offer a unique and exciting opportunity for two postdoctoral research fellows
to develop their own research while helping to strengthen the existing expertise and collaborative links
between the two institutions. The research interests of the two respective Renaissance groups are
wide-ranging and interdisciplinary in focus. In pooling their combined intellectual resources, this project
will explore modes of communication and networking in the Renaissance period, from letter writing to
orality, and develop IT-led modern mechanisms which can capture and analyse the Renaissance
communities that are constructed. Projects that explore cultural transmission in any media or European
language are welcome; in addition, the Queen Mary Post Doctoral Research Fellow will be expected to
have the skills that will allow for an interrogation of the ways in which we communicate historical
information in a digital world.
Directed by Professor Lisa Jardine (of QM’s Centre for Editing Lives and Letters - CELL) and Dr Penny
Roberts (of Warwick’s Centre for the Study of the Renaissance - CSR), the primary aim of this project is
to combine archival and library-based scholarship of the Renaissance period (broadly defined as
c.1300-1800) with the exploration of new modes of communication in the present. Its goal is to facilitate
case studies in transfers of knowledge between European cultural, political and commercial circles and,
ultimately, to disseminate this output via the QM CELL website (http://www.livesandletters.ac.uk) and
Warwick Early Modern Forum (EMF: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/emforum) to a wider audience.
The postdoctoral research fellows will play a central part in this process. In addition, they will develop
their own independent research projects on questions of cultural networks and exchange (and the ways
in which these are communicated and presented digitally today) and to engage with academics from
within and outside the two institutions.
Queen Mary and Warwick provide excellent environments for independent postdoctoral research. They
have extensive expertise in the Renaissance period in literature and theatre – primarily English, French
and Italian - as well as History and History of Art, with many active researchers in all these disciplines
including a dynamic doctoral and postdoctoral cohort. Both institutions have enhanced infrastructures
for archival skills and research training, specifically in ancient and modern European languages,
palaeography, translation, the interpretation and presentation of texts and images, digitisation and the
compilation of databases (often with external funding, for example from the Leverhulme Trust and the
AHRC). They also have a number of recent and current externally-funded major research projects, often
in collaboration with other high-profile institutions, such as the Warburg Institute, Princeton University,
and the universities of Leiden and Utrecht. These include the study of Vernacular Aristotelianism
(AHRC), and of Renaissance Cultural Crossroads (Leverhulme), editions of the works of James Shirley
(AHRC) and John Nichols, online editions of the Robert Hooke ‘folio’, correspondence of William Herle
and Thomas Bodley, and an interactive online edition of works of Gabriel Harvey. Candidates who can
take advantage of these resources and connections would be particularly welcome.
Between them, the two Centres also have an impressive range of established international
collaborations, with active links with academic institutions including Bonn, Boston, Chicago (as part of
the Newberry Library Consortium of Renaissance Centers), Princeton, Florence, the Hague, the
Huntington Library, Leiden, Leuven, Paris, Tours, Utrecht, Vanderbilt, Venice, and Yale. They also have
affiliation to the Renaissance Society of America and the Fédération internationale des Sociétés et
Instituts pour l’Etude de la Renaissance. In addition, vital to their increasing public outreach and
engagement role, the Centres have formed strong associations with high-profile non-university-sector
institutions, such as the British Library, the Royal Society, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Shakespeare Institute (Stratford-upon-Avon), the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Gallery
and the National Trust. A key role for the postdoctoral research fellows will be to enhance and reinforce
these national and international links.
16 March 2012
You are not expected to have a joint project but ones that complement the broad range of expertise at
either or both institutions. You are expected to collaborate in co-ordinating joint workshops and
reinforcing collaboration between the two Centres at Queen Mary and at Warwick. The Warwick based
fellow will co-ordinate language based activities for the collaboration, sustaining the connections
between European partners and the two sites of the project’s activities, as well as providing the linguistic
components for the public engagement aspects of the project. The successful candidate must be able to
demonstrate advanced linguistic skills in at least two modern European languages and/or Latin, and
experience in engaging these in relation to the study of Renaissance manuscripts/texts.
Both of the Post-Doctoral Research Fellows will have PhDs in a humanities discipline appropriate to the
Renaissance emphasis of the posts, or equivalent. This is broadly defined as European culture
between 1300-1800. You would be expected to reinforce and potentially expand the existing
international links of the two Centres and, in addition, to pass on your expertise via informal advisory
meetings and formal training workshops to extend the skill sets of postgraduate students and interested
researchers in both institutions, so as to provide lasting legacies to the research cultures of both QM
and Warwick. Your application should outline clearly the independent research projects which you
intend to develop during the fellowship.
Informal enquiries may be directed to: Dr Penny Roberts – penny.roberts@warwick.ac.uk
16 March 2012
FURTHER PARTICULARS
Queen Mary University of London
For further information about Queen Mary University of London, please visit our website at
http://www.qmul.ac.uk/
University of Warwick
For further information about the University of Warwick, please visit our website at
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/humanresources/jobsintro/furtherparticulars
The Strategic Alliance
The Strategic Alliance Postdoctoral Research Fellowships aim to provide career development
opportunities for scholars who already show potential to develop a record of excellent research
activity and publications. During the tenure of each three-year post, you will be expected to produce
research publications or other forms of scholarly outputs, attend and present your work at
conferences, develop internal and external research networks and be involved in the research
culture of the designated interdisciplinary research group and home department/school as well as
enhancing the development of the cross-institutional research theme.
Each Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be provided with:




Office space
Access to library facilities
An award of £5,000 per year to host collaborative workshops, conferences or other events as
part of their designated research theme’s development
A fund of up to £1000 per year to pay for research expenses
You will be based at the relevant University during your period of tenure and are expected
to be resident in London (QMUL Fellows) or Coventry or Warwickshire (Warwick Fellows)
during term-time, unless undertaking fieldwork or other work away from campus. Requests
for leave of absence from QMUL or Warwick for research purposes for more than 4 weeks
during the appointment should be submitted with detailed information as part of the research
proposal.
16 March 2012
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
1. All applicants are required to complete an application form. When you click on “apply
now” you will be directed to another web page where you will be required to register, if
you have not used this service before. If you have previously registered you can
apply using your existing log-in details.
Rewiring the Renaissance – Cultural Networks – QMWU003 -032 – APPLY NOW
2. Your application must be submitted by the closing date (11 May 2012) and should
include the following:
(a) Using the “Upload CV” section; a CV of no more than 4 pages in length (11
point font) including specific details of publications (in the public domain and
accepted for publication) and details of any externally funded postdoctoral
research grants on which you have been Principal Investigator.
(b) Using the “Supporting Document” section and combined as one document: (It is
important that items (i) and (ii) are submitted as one document as the system will
only permit you to upload one document.)
(i)
a research proposal of no more than 4 pages in length (11 point font),
providing details of the topic, work that has already been undertaken
and an explanation of how the individual research project will contribute
to the research theme.
(ii)
a summary of up to 1 page in length (11 point font) outlining the
collaborative activities to be completed during the tenure of the PDRFs,
to include:
o proposed research publications
o proposed conference attendance
o details of research workshops or other activities and events that
you might co-organise to support the research themes
(iii)
You are also requested to include a supporting statement using the
“Supporting Statement” section. Please note that if you use this section
you have a maximum limit of 500 words that you can submit. If you wish
to exceed this word limit, your statement should in included as part of your
supporting document.
NB: Both of the uploaded documents should contain
 Your name
 Post number applied for
 Thematic strand
16 March 2012
Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy
As an organisation using the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosure service to assess
applicants’ suitability for positions of trust, the University of Warwick complies with the CRB
Code of Practice and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a
Disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed. More information is
available on the University’s Vacancy pages and applicants may request a copy of the CRB
Code of Practice.
16 March 2012