Research Assistant in Open Access Databases (Fixed-term)

The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research invites applications for a fixed-term Research Assistant, generously supported by Arcadia (https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk).

The post holder will be employed on the Mapping Archaeological Heritage in South Asia (MAHSA) project, and will join a team of researchers based in Cambridge.

This project is identifying and documenting endangered archaeological heritage sites across the Indus River Basin and surrounding regions of Pakistan and northwest India using a combination of remote sensing, machine learning, historical map analysis, records-based research and selective archaeological surveys. We collaborate internationally with stakeholders and partners in South Asia and Europe.

This role will support the successful implementation of the MAHSA project. The role will report directly to the Research Associate in Open Access Databases.

The role is a full-time position, with funding available for 24 months.

The role holder will be employed as part of the research community at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, which is part of the Department of Archaeology within the Faculty of Human, Social and Political Science.

The main duties of the role will be to support the Research Associate in Open Access Databases to import a specific large dataset of maritime heritage data, which will require various steps to both clean and cross-check the data structure in advance of its ingestion into the MAHSA Arches database. The role will also provide assistance to the Research Associate in Open Access Databases in the implementation and testing of upgrades to the Arches database, including assisting in the customisation of the Arches codebase. For a detailed description of responsibilities, please see the 'Further Particulars' document.

The successful candidate should hold an MA/MSc/MPhil in Computer Science (or a related and relevant subject), or Archaeological GIS or Computational Archaeology together with demonstrated ability to work with Python and JavaScript programming languages. Experience in using the command line interface and GitHub repositories, programming in Python, SQL, JavaScrpit, HTML and CSS languages, together with experience in database design with PostGIS and/or other open-source databases and demonstrated experience with using open-source GIS software such as QGIS is essential. It is desirable that candidates have some experience with either Django, the Arches database platform, Open Data Kit or archaeological documentation and the management of heritage inventories. Candidates are expected to demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Interviews are expected to be conducted on 14 February 2025. Applicants are asked to be available on this day.

The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. The MAHSA project team is diverse and inclusive. We welcome and encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

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

Informal enquiries may be addressed to the Project Coordinator, Dr Rebecca Roberts (rcr45@cam.ac.uk).

Please quote reference JC44663 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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