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Research Associate in the Department of Digital Humanities

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£38,304 - £45,026 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
21 Jun 2021

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Job Details

Research Associate in the Department of Digital Humanities

Job ID: 023845

Salary: £38,304 - £45,026 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Posted: 26-May-2021

Closing date: 21-Jun-2021

Business unit: Faculty of Arts & Humanities

Department: Digital Humanities

Contact details: Dr. Elisa Oreglia , elisa.oreglia@kcl.ac.uk 

Strand Campus   Research    


Job description  
The ERC-funded project DIGISILK: Digital Infrastructures along the New Silk Road is looking for a post-doctoral researcher with a background in empirical social science and knowledge of the Kazakh/Central Asian tech sector to join a team studying the Chinese initiative Digital Silk Road (DSR) in China, Kazakhstan, Cambodia and Myanmar. The project investigates the DSR from the ground-up and from the compara­tive perspective of businesses, governments and ordinary people. The team employs qualitative and digital methods to understand the politics and values that are embedded in the infrastruc­ture, the services, and the policies that constitute the DSR, and the consequences they have on the daily lives of people, economies and societies in these countries. 

The researcher will focus on Kazakhstan and on the receiving side of the DSR, in particular on the formal (tech companies) and informal (traders’ networks) trade links between Kazakhstan and China, and on the expansion of the Chinese internet (infrastructure, platforms and services) in Kazakhstan and possibly Central Asia. The ideal candidate will have experience in researching the digital sector in Kazakhstan, an existing network of contacts in the tech field in the country, and will be open to collaborative and mixed methods research. The position is based in the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London, with extended periods of fieldwork in Kazakhstan. 
 
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 24 months

This is a full-time  post - 100% full time equivalent
 
Key responsibilities

  • Identifying relevant literature, policies, and actors related to the DSR in Kazakhstan and Central Asia
  • Together with the PI, design a qualitative or mixed-methods project to study the DSR in Kazakhstan, in particular among local and international tech companies and on the ground, through concrete DSR projects
  • Carry out field research in Kazakhstan, with possible shorter visits to the other three countries
  • Draft and write papers, individually and as part of the research team
  • Collaborate with other team members to develop a coordinated approach to fieldwork
  • Help to organize workshops and conferences, both in London and in the field sites.
  • Contribute to public outreach in different languages/countries.

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 

  1. A PhD or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline in the social sciences/humanities (e.g. information studies, sociology, anthropology, science and technology, etc).
  2. Fluency in Kazakh/Russian
  3. Demonstrated experience researching the digital field in Kazakhstan at any level (tech companies, government, society, etc) , with an existing network of contacts
  4. Demonstrated experience in carrying out independent research
  5. A good knowledge of qualitative methods
  6. A curiosity towards both the empirical and the theoretical aspects of the DSR
  7. A team player

Desirable criteria 

  1. Experience in quantitative/digital and/or mixed research methods
  2. Knowledge of Chinese and/or other languages that have a bearing on the project
  3. An interest in experimenting with methods and research design

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. 

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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