Post Doctoral Research Associate ALPHABETICA

Weekly Working Hours: 14.8

Fixed Term Contract: End Date:  33 months from start date

Welsh Language: Not Applicable

Job Description: 

About the Role

Please Note: We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

Work location

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately three times a year.

Applicants are invited to apply for the post of Post Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA) funded by the European Commission, Horizon Europe, titled ‘ALPHABETICA: Activating Learning Paths: Holistic Arts-Based Education and Training for Inclusion and Cultural Awareness’.

ALPHABETICA will carry out 12 pilot actions (arts-based intervention activities) across 8 European countries aimed at enhancing the transformative effect of active participation in community-driven artistic co-creation activities. Collectively, the research pilot actions cover a range of school settings and out-of-school community settings with children aged from 3 to 18, as well as young people and adults of various ages. The project is informed by a synthesis of theories of youth participatory action research, theory of change, pedagogies of care, love and enchantment, pedagogies of past, present and the imagined future, and the more-than-human approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Oxford Brookes and the Open University partners to deliver the aims, objectives and outputs of the research project
• Contribute to the implementation, analysis, reporting and dissemination of the UK pilot action projects, taking a leading role on the “Our Caring World Through Art (OCWA)”
• Conduct literature searches and reviews
• Responsibility for planning and carrying out fieldwork, setting up and keeping digital data storage systems, data analysis and interpretation and report writing
• Make significant contributions to data analysis and evaluation using a range of analytical tools
• Make a significant contribution to the development of the “Our Caring World Through Art (OCWA)” dissemination outputs and activities
• Responsibility to liaise with the participating organisations (e.g. schools, libraries) and provide guidance as required to support the young people and education staff who may be assisting with the project
• Assist in the preparation/ drafting of documents such as ethics applications, research and data management protocols
• Organise and participate in the UK project conferences, regular research meetings, management meetings (face-to-face, video) devise the agendas, minutes and disseminate appropriately
• Attend conferences/workshops and present papers and other project outputs (e.g. arts-based materials) as required

Skills and Experience

Essential Requirements

• PhD, or very close to completion of a PhD and equivalent substantial professional experience, in Art Education/ Creative arts/ Visual Anthropology and work relevant to fields such as Children and Young People’s Education; Cultural and social heritage and education, Children and Families. 
• Substantial experience of research with children and young people, educators and families in schools and in informal community settings, such as libraries.
• Substantial experience with arts-based educational activities using co-creation and participatory research approaches and methods.
• Experience working with young people and families from a diversity of social and cultural backgrounds, marginalised and/or disadvantaged communities
• Experience using and analysing a variety of arts based activities/methods (e.g. visual, narrative, illustrations, multimodal digital)
• Experience using and analysing ethnography and social science approaches and methods (e.g. observations, interviews, fieldnotes)
• Excellent understanding of the ethical and social justice implications of research with vulnerable children, young people and families
• Experience of contributing to the planning of project activities and outputs
• Excellent experience of planning, co-creating and communicating research ideas with non-specialist audiences (e.g. arts based workshops, public exhibitions)

For more information, please follow this link to the Job Description.: JD Link

To apply for this role, please submit a CV and personal statement of up to 1000 words, detailing how you meet the essential criteria in the job description.

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all in our OU community can reach their potential. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.  We strive to recruit, retain and develop the careers of a diverse pool of students and staff, and particularly encourage applications from all underrepresented groups. We also aspire to make The Open University a supportive workplace for all through our policies, services and staff networks.

Closing Date: 6 February 2025