University Research Leader – Health, Migration, Climate Change at Goldsmiths, University of London

Goldsmiths’ Strategic Priority Research Areas – University Research Leaders

We are seeking the appointment of Professors with outstanding records of internationally recognised research and publications, together with an established track record of significant income generation through research grants or business/industry funding. We are also seeking candidates with academic and non-academic networks and collaborations who can evidence how their research has had demonstrable societal impact.

These Professors will play a significant role in helping Goldsmiths to grow as a leading research institution. They will advance strategic research priorities for the University. They will lead programmes of research that will speak to, and help define, strategic research areas over future years and will address a clear societal need and challenge. We are also looking to appoint individuals who will support a flourishing research culture by encouraging and inspiring early career colleagues in their research endeavours.

These are permanent, full-time posts. For the first three years, the role will be focused on developing a programme of research and winning funding. Given the significance of these posts, the University will provide each successful candidate with three years of funding for a dedicated postdoctoral researcher and/or PhD studentship, together with non-salary research related budget of up to £20k per annum.

About the Strategic Priority Research Area – Health, Migration, Climate Change: Human Stories in Complex Systems

In this era of poly-crisis, there is a growing awareness of the importance of understanding how different global phenomena, and individual experiences of these, interlink. Yet, academic institutions, funding and expertise tend to be divided not just along disciplinary but also “topic” lines, which can make dialogue between different areas of expertise and in-depth, sustained research analysing interlinkages difficult. The University and its Anthropology Department propose to address this gap through an ambitious new research programme exploring the interlinkages between three key issues of our times: health and wellbeing; migration and mobility; ecology and climate change.

We are seeking an experienced colleague with an established track record of externally funded research, excellent outputs and expertise in at least two of the substantive areas – with a commitment to extending work across all three – to lead on developing this new programme of research, working with Goldsmiths colleagues in Anthropology and other departments, as well as with external partners. That work will include:

(1) leading on an ethnographic research project exploring these interlinkages through specific case studies and questions, for example, on health and climate impacting migration decisions in the Global South;

(2) collaborative development with colleagues and partners within and beyond Goldsmiths of a number of applications for larger research grants that focus on specific aspects of those relationships; and

(3) impact activities, including production of an overall process and framework for mapping and understanding various bilateral and trilateral interlinkages, combining the insights from a ‘lived experience’ research methodology with ‘system thinking’ and translating these into comprehensible, engaging language and visuals, variously appropriate for policy-makers, NGOs, museums, media and citizens across the world.