Postdoctoral Research Associate (LGBTQIA Loneliness)
This full time post is available immediately on a 12 month fixed term basis.
The Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health is funded by the Wellcome Trust, with additional funding from the University of Exeter. The Centre, which was officially launched in February 2018, will brings together more than 40 staff and students who will work collectively to undertake research that helps to create and sustain cultures and environments that enable health and well-being across the life course.
You will contribute to two closely linked research programmes focusing on the cultures of loneliness and community, ‘The Beats of Our Hearts – staging new histories of LGBTQIA loneliness’ (60%) and ‘The Lonely Campus’ (40%). In the first project, you will work closely with our community partners to plan and facilitate engagement workshops, a series of public events, and a theatrical performance. In the second, you will draw on qualitative methods to analyse existing research data, and draft or contribute to drafting reports and papers for publication in academic journals. You will be part of a friendly and supportive team, and part of the wider ECR network at the Wellcome Centre.
The role
The Beat of Our Hearts – staging new histories of LGTBQIA loneliness is a transdisciplinary project working with researchers, creative professionals, and theatres. This work is based across the Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences, drawing on history, culture, heritage, creativity and performance.
You will:
- be responsible for undertaking work on this project in collaboration with community partners and other researchers. This will involve planning and facilitating a series of engaged discussion and writing workshops with LGBTQIA groups to consider different ways of thinking about and understanding loneliness and its impact
- work closely with playwright Natalie McGrath to support the development of this engagement work and other existing research into a play script, and to organise the staging of a performance as part of a longer festival of events
- support the preparation of outputs during the final stages of The Lonely Campus project. Drawing on transdisciplinary research on loneliness, belonging, and exclusion in higher education, this work will require qualitative analysis on existing research data and the publication of reports and academic papers
- play a key role in developing further research avenues across both projects, as well as raising the visibility of the work on social media, and liaising with a range of public audiences, including LGBTQIA charities and organisations, and health professionals to help promote the projects’ findings and outputs
- have appropriate research experience in a relevant discipline (e.g. 20th century history and heritage, theatre and literary studies, social research, qualitative research methods) and area of interest (LGBTQIA experiences, loneliness, marginalisation, critical mental health, higher education, or public engagement).
You will have:
- PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study
- Appropriate research experience in a related field of study
- Experience in undertaking research/engagement projects using appropriate research methods from the social sciences, arts or humanities
- Ability to work effectively in a collaborative environment and to engage diverse publics with the Centre’s research
- Relevant experience and knowledge of working with LGBTQIA people and groups discussing mental distress or personal/emotional difficulties
Benefits
Include:
- 41 days leave
- options for flexible working
- sector leading policies around maternity, adoption and shared parental leave
Further information
Please contact Charlotte Jones, charlotte.jones@exeter.ac.uk.