Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job ID: 026965

Salary: £38,304 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Posted: 06-Jul-2021

Closing date: 31-Jul-2021

Business unit: Faculty of Arts & Humanities

Department: Digital Humanities

Contact details: Vita Peacock, vita.peacock@kcl.ac.uk

Strand Campus   Research    

Job description
Location-based apps and tools are increasingly employed by parents to monitor their children at a distance. The researcher will investigate, using ethnographic methods, how, why, and with what consequences these care apps ( Aufpass-apps) are used in contemporary Germany. Constituting one member of a four-person team studying the intersection between surveillance and moral community, the researcher will explore how the primordial surveillant relation between parent and child is being transformed through these mediations. In a national context that has historically privileged child autonomy, and smart technology aimed at children has been the subject of wide debate, the project will attend to the moral and developmental questions raised by these technologies. 
 
The researcher will be responsible to the project’s PI and contribute proportionately to the collective outputs of the project. S(he) will publish journal articles, book chapters, and assist with the co-crafting of a policy report. S(he) will also be involved in research dissemination activities: through conference presentations, workshops, and web content. This post carries a number of administrative duties: including scientific and ethical reporting, coordinating network activities, and organizing events at the host department.
 
The project is hosted by the Department of Digital Humanities at Kings College London, an interdisciplinary environment shared by scholars across the social sciences and humanities. Founded in 1992, the department is the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, and is situated at the forefront of critical inquiry into the development of digital society.
 
Following the good practice guidelines provided by the European Association of Social Anthropologists, the PDRA will have full or proportionate authorship of all publications arising from their research, and allocated 20% FTE for personal and professional development. 
 
We expect interviews to take place during the week starting 23 August.
 
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 36 months, starting on 1st September 2021.
The post will be based in the UK, including extended fieldwork trips to Germany totalling 12 months.
This is a full-time post.
 

Key responsibilities

• Conduct research, including twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork, on the use of care apps in Germany.
• Publish the research as a minimum of two journal articles and one book chapter, and contribute to the policy report.
• Present the research at conferences and workshops
• Contribute to the reporting of the project to the European Research Council
• Organize events at the host department.
• Contribute to the virtual dissemination of the project via its website and social media handles

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

• A Ph.D in Social Anthropology or related discipline
• Extensive experience and training in ethnographic methods
• Knowledge and experience of digital methods
• Experience of, and clearance for conducting ethnographic research with minors
• Expertise in one or more of the following areas: anthropology of childhood, digital anthropology, anthropology of kinship, anthropology of Germany
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Evidence of public engagement
• Capacity to work independently and with others
• Capacity to take responsibility for administrative tasks
• Fluency in English and German

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience on collaborative research projects
• Publication of a research monograph
• Receipt of prizes, fellowships and awards

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.
 
To apply, please send a cover letter, a CV, and a writing sample of no more than 10000 words.

Interviews will take place online in August 2021.