Salary: £34,866 per annum (pro rata)
Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.
Closing Date: 03 February 2025
The Role
This is an exciting opportunity with responsibility for preliminary research for a large research funding bid (over £750K). The research for this post builds on the findings from a British Academy- and Nuffield Foundation-funded project, Beyond the School Gates. This project aimed to investigate how children’s perceptions, experiences, and attitudes contribute to community integration (see final project report here). For this role, you would contribute to new interdisciplinary research, which focuses on collecting children’s first-hand accounts of community integration in local schools in the Northeast of England, including specialist schools for children who cannot access mainstream education.
You will work closely with Dr Emily Murphy, an expert in childhood studies with extensive international experience working with children’s archival materials. As well, you can expect to work with key partners from the previous Beyond School Gates project, alongside emerging partners for the new research bid related to this post. These partners include, but are not limited to: the Linking Network, the British Library, Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Literature, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
You will primarily be using archival research methodologies to understand children’s experience of community integration in the Northeast of England for this post, focusing on developing interdisciplinary methodologies for ethically gathering these accounts from children alongside long-term and sustainable methods for archiving and making this work visible. For this reason, the successful RA will have the option to support final dissemination work on the Beyond School Gates project, particularly work on a digital archive of children’s school materials, to gain training in this area and develop a stronger understanding of the previous research that serves as the foundation for this new project.
We are committed to creating and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment.
The role is offered on a part time basis and is available for 3 months from the start date.
For informal enquiries please contact Dr Emily Murphy, email – emily.murphy@newcastle.ac.uk
For more information about the School of English Literature, Language, and Linguistics, please click here .
SELLL holds an Athena SWAN bronze award, in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from underrepresented groups such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities.
Key Accountabilities
* To conduct field work at partner schools in our target areas within the NE (esp. Newcastle/Gateshead)
* To contribute to engagement/impact activities relating to the project’s partnerships with Seven Stories and other organisations in the heritage sector, with the aim of collecting additional original materials from children to add to our archival dataset
* Aid in the facilitation and/or observation of school activities related to engagement activities for the project. These will be located in the NE, with a primary focus on the Newcastle/Gateshead area, and will include specialist schools in hospital settings
* To develop the candidate’s research profile, through either the formation of new skills (e.g. working with policymakers) or through original research scholarship based on archival findings
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
* Research interests which demonstrably align with the focus of the outlined research of the project on children’s archives, as well as an ability to think about and make connections to the larger research aims of the project which look at sustainable ways to give more visibility to children’s voices on issues relating to ‘home’ and ‘belonging’. One major goal of this work is to shape policy on community integration that affects children’s lives
* Firm and feasible plans for carrying out work within schools (to be aided by Dr Emily Murphy who will provide mentorship in this area)
* Understanding of the importance of the wider significance of research on children’s archives and/or histories of migration and community integration in the UK
* Excellent organisational abilities and time management skills, and the ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines. In particular, the applicant should show they have the skills for collecting and documenting archival material
* Excellent oral and written communication skills with a wide range of different audiences
* Willingness to undertake travel within NE England, as well as any online or in-person project meetings
Desirable
* Experience working in schools and with schoolchildren and teachers within this setting. DBS certification is beneficial though not required to begin the post
* Experience working with vulnerable communities (e.g. refugees or recently arrived immigrants, children in hospital care for extended periods, etc.)
* Ability to carry out short oral interviews to help provide context for archival material. Candidates with prior experience carrying out interviews with children are preferred
* Experience of contributing to a project team, commensurate with stage of career. Priority will be given to those with experience on interdisciplinary teams
* Experience of working with non-academic partners for the dissemination of scholarly research and the development of impact commensurate with career stage
* A track record of high-quality research publication commensurate with career stage
Attributes and Behaviour
* Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
* Willingness to engage with both academic and non-academic audiences
Qualifications
* PhD awarded (in a relevant subject area)
Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.
We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.
At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.
In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 27871