CLOSED – Research Assistant/Postdoctoral Researcher

Moore Institute, College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies

University of Galway

Ref. No. University of Galway 280-22

Dissemination Post: Project on Computational Literary Studies 

Full-time, fixed-term post (2 years, 1 month)

The overall aim of CLS INFRA, a European Commission-funded project, is to create unified and easy access to a wide range of European and national infrastructures for the Computational Literary Studies community. This includes: connecting the building of resources and infrastructure, providing training environments and networks, and promoting the theoretical considerations of these resources and infrastructures. The project benefits researchers by bridging gaps between greater- and lesser-resourced communities in computational literary studies and beyond. We have received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101004984. 

CLS INFRA seeks to appoint a Research Assistant/Postdoctoral Researcher to plan, manage, and carry out Dissemination and Communication activities for the project. The main responsibilities of the postholder are: 

  • To participate as a member of the CLS INFRA research team and work to communicate project research;
  • To provide input into CLS INFRA’s dissemination and communication strategy and activities;
  • To record, analyse, and write up results of CLS INFRA’s research communication strategy and activities.

The postholder will create and foster project engagement with users from within the literary research community and beyond. In the first instance, they will raise the profile of the project’s activities and outcomes, and ensure that they are known and available to core users. In the second instance, they will help to build a broader set of audiences for the project, communicating results to cultural heritage institutions, policy communities, industry, and to citizen scientists, in order to fully exploit the project outcomes over time. 

Principal Duties and Responsibilities 

The principal duties of the post are to plan, manage, and carry out dissemination and communication activities for CLS INFRA. Specific duties and responsibilities include: 

  • Working under the direction of the Principal Investigator (Dr Justin Tonra) and actively participating as a member of a research team working to communicate project research;
  • Providing input into the research project’s dissemination and communication strategy and activities;
  • Providing assistance in conducting research activities, including planning, organizing, conducting, and communicating research tasks within the overall scope of the research project;
  • Performing a variety of independent tasks and team activities involved in the collection, analysis, and documentation of project activities and results;
  • Presenting information on research progress and outcomes, e.g. to project working groups and other team members;
  • Creating video and social media content to promote project activities and maintaining the CLS INFRA website;
  • Keeping appropriate records on research, dissemination, and communication activities and their impacts;
  • Writing up results of research, dissemination, and communication activities, including project reports;
  • Attending and contributing to relevant meetings, conferences, and other events;
  • Developing internal and external contacts with researchers in the field of CLS.
  • At Postdoctoral level, the successful candidate is expected to:
    • manage and co-ordinate research activities for CLS INFRA
    • contribute to the research activities of a project working group
    • contribute to at least two peer-reviewed publication.

Eligibility Requirements 

The ideal candidate should have a background in communications, journalism, literary studies, or a combination of these fields. Candidates should have excellent communication and organisational skills, and have strong documentation, oral, and interpersonal skills. The position requires communication with different consortium partners, so excellent communication skills are essential. Candidates will ideally be interested in literary studies and be motivated to communicate with both academic and public audiences. They should be willing to dive into new topics and tasks.

Essential requirements:  

  • Honours degree (2.1 or equivalent) in communications, journalism, literary studies or related field. 
  • Experience in social media and website management. 
  • Excellent written and verbal skills in English.
  • Experience in target-oriented content creation. 
  • Experience in video-editing
  • Experience in graphic design.
  • Excellent organisational skills.
  • Flexibility to undertake a range of tasks and ability to work effectively under pressure. 
  • Willingness to travel to international project meetings.
  • Experience with content management systems (e.g. WordPress). 
  • Experience with desktop publishing software (e.g. Canva, Photoshop,). 
  • Experience with social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, YouTube). 
  • Experience with Microsoft Office. 

For Postdoctoral level

  • PhD communications, journalism, literary studies or related field
  • Evidence of appropriate publications and conference presentations

Desirable requirements: 

  • Advanced degree (Masters or higher) in communications, journalism, literary studies or related field
  • Experience in research communication and dissemination. 
  • Interest / experience in academic research in literary studies or Computational Literary Studies.
  • Tracking and analytics technologies (e.g. Google Analytics, Social Media Monitoring Tools). 
  • Video production tools and technologies. 
  • Project management software.
  • Reference management software (e.g. Zotero,). 

Salary:

Research Assistant: €27,380-€36,786 per annum pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts (public sector pay policy rules pertaining to new entrants will apply)

Postdoctoral Researcher: €39,523-€45,609 per annum pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts (public sector pay policy rules pertaining to new entrants will apply)

Start date: Position is available from January 9, 2023

Continuing Professional Development/Training:

Researchers at University of Galway are encouraged to avail of a range of training and development opportunities designed to support their personal career development plans.  

Further information on research and working at University of Galway is available on Research and Innovation at University of Galway. For information on moving to Ireland please see www.euraxess.ie

Informal enquiries about this post may be made to Dr Justin Tonra – justin.tonra@universityorgalway.ie

For further information on the project, see: https://clsinfra.io/

To Apply:  Applications to include a covering letter, CV, and the contact details of two referees should be sent, via e-mail (in Word or PDF only) to mooreinstitute@universityofgalway.ie

Please put reference number University of Galway 280-22   in subject line of e-mail application.

Closing date for receipt of applications is 5.00 pm on 9 November 2022.

Interviews will take place mid-November.

University of Galway is an equal opportunities employer.

All positions are recruited in line with Open, Transparent, Merit (OTM) and Competency based recruitment.