Research Associate in The History of Humanitarian Medicine

Job reference: HUM-028242
Salary: £37,174 to £45,413 per annum, depending on relevant experience
Faculty/Organisational unit: Humanities
Location: Oxford Road
Employment type: Fixed Term
Division/Team: Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute
Hours per week: Full Time
Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/04/2025
Contract duration: For 3 years
School/Directorate: School of Arts, Languages and Cultures

An exciting opportunity has arisen at the University of Manchester from the Wellcome Discovery Award ‘Developing Humanitarian Medicine (DHM): From Alma Ata to Bio-Tech, a History of Norms, Knowledge Production and Care, 1978-2020’ (226515/Z/22/Z) directed by Professor Bertrand Taithe at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI).

This project, on the history of humanitarian medicine as a set of emergency interventions, seeks to generate significant shifts in understanding its scientific and organisational specificity and role in developing clinical norms, debating a ‘rights-based’ approach to health access and leading campaigns for access to drugs while deploying bespoke biotechnological tools.

This history will inform humanitarian practice and contribute to ongoing debates on how humanitarian medical providers engage with pharmaceutical and biotech industries to disseminate, repurpose, and research drugs and diagnostic tools.

The project has four work packages building up from patient-centred clinical norms and concerns on care to experimental initiatives in humanitarian settings and state-led norm-setting diplomacy through emergency medical teams (EMTs) initiatives. Each workpackage is led by a Post-Doctoral Research Associate (PDRA). Workpackage 1 has so far focused on historicising the evolution of standardised clinical norms and tools in humanitarian medicine, for example in the WHO's collaborative development of the Emergency Health Kit in the 1980s. Workpackage 2 is considering drug access in humanitarian settings since the 1990s, including procurement decision-making by NGOs and the development of public-private partnerships for market disruption. Workpackage 3 is focused on the contested history of humanitarian ‘beneficiaries’ which will consider how the notion of a humanitarian patient group grew, and how they engaged with medical aid and shaped responses. While the position is associated with Workpackage 4 (see below) it is expected that the post-holder will frame a research question they can make their own and that they will interact with the other Post-Doctoral Research Associates (PDRAs) of the project, and with the Humanitarian Archive at The University of Manchester Library.

The post-holder will be expected to publish under their own name, with other PDRAs/collaborators and with the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project. The post-holder must be willing to engage with the research life of HCRI and develop relationships with the Centre for the History, Science and Technology, the History Department, Global Development Institute, and other departments of UoM as required.

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Blended working arrangements may be considered

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Professor Bertrand Taithe

Email: Bertrand.Taithe@manchester.ac.uk

General enquiries:

Email: People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk

Technical support:

Jobtrain: 0161 850 2004 jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

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