Research Fellow

About the role

You will support the Principal Investigator, Dr Rebecca Wright, in the delivery of research activity on the Wellcome Trust-funded project, ‘Carbon Bodies: Warmth and Fuelling Health in Britain, 1918 to 2022’. This project examines the intersections between energy and health in twentieth-century Britain, focussing specifically on warmth, the most carbon intensive area of everyday health. It considers how far the body, and changing understandings of health, shaped energy infrastructures, and how energy in turn transformed expectations around everyday health and the body.

The Research Fellow will be responsible for leading an in-depth case study on the social history of heat in the North East which will document the regional specificity of the carbon body and chart its impact on national policy. They will be encouraged to conduct original research in this area determined by their own research interests and will be supported by the PI to publish this research in high-quality journals. They will work closely with the PI to co-author a methodological article related to the project, as well as co-edit a collection of essays with the PI examining the theoretical links between energy and health, drawing upon a network conference. They will lead the public engagement element of the project, which includes the development of an exhibition at the City Library in Newcastle and a series of public events at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle. They will also assist with the organisation of a policy workshop and the development of a policy toolkit. Career development will be at the heart of the position and the Research Fellow will be supported to publish independent work, build their academic profile, broaden their networks, attend skills training, and participate in other development opportunities.

For more information on specific duties and responsibilities and general duties and responsibilities please click the link below.

The role is fixed term for 36 months and will run from the 1^st of October 2024 to the 1st of October 2027.

About the team

The appointee will work within in the Department of Humanities, an 80-strong community of scholars focused strongly on excellence in research and teaching. Within the last Research Excellence Framework (REF2021), History outputs were ranked within the UK’s top 10, and the majority of our research environment was deemed ‘world-leading’.

About you

Applicants should hold a PhD in History, or an allied subject, and be able to demonstrate how their research background would feed into the project. Expertise might include, but is not limited to, research related to the medical humanities, environmental history, energy history, science and technology studies, urban studies, or cultural studies.

Further information about the requirements of the role is available in the person specification.

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dr. Rebecca Wright (rebecca4.wright@northumbria.ac.uk).

About us

Northumbria University is a research-intensive university that unlocks potential for all.  We change lives regionally, nationally, and internationally through education and research, tackling the global challenges of our age to transform society and the economy. Find out why we were named Times Higher Education’s University of the Year in 2022.

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