The Essex Autonomy Project (EAP) seeks to appoint a post-doctoral research assistant to participate in a research project on Human Rights in Care Homes. The EAP is a multidisciplinary research project associated with the School of Philosophy and Art History and the Human Rights Centre at the Colchester Campus of the University of Essex. Its overarching aim is to investigate the ideal of self-determination (autonomy) in contexts of care (health care, social care, psychiatric care, etc.). The project on human rights in care homes is funded by the AHRC under the UKRI COVID-19 Rapid Response funding scheme. One of the aims is to provide research and workforce training support to public bodies.
Duties of the Role
The post-holder will provide research assistance to the Principal Investigator, contributing to the delivery of research, public policy, and public engagement activities, associated with the Essex Autonomy Project’s UKRI-funded ‘rapid response’ project on Ensuring Respect for Human Rights in Locked-Down Care Homes.
The postholder will provide research support in gathering data about the human rights situation in care homes, in analysing that data from a human rights perspective, and in developing workforce training curricula for frontline professionals with responsibility for ensuring respect for the rights of persons living in care homes.
You will contribute human rights analysis of the data gathered in the aforementioned data-gathering exercises, with reference to:
(a) Domestic law in the UK such as the Equality Act and the Mental Capacity Act; (b) Regional human rights instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights; (c) UN-level human rights standards such as those articulated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Principles for Older Persons.
Duties will also include engaging in individual and/or collaborative research activity; producing research outputs for publication at acceptable levels of volume and academic excellence and disseminating the results of research and scholarship through appropriate Knowledge Exchange activities; and supporting and facilitating synergies with Research Centres and Institutes within and beyond the University of Essex.
A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the job pack.
Qualifications and Skills requiredThe successful candidate will hold a relevant doctoral level degree in Human Rights, Social Work, Ethics, Law or other discipline relevant to the project, or equivalent professional experience or practice. You will also have demonstrable research expertise relevant to the research project in at least one of the following two areas: (a) human rights analysis; (b) the use of qualitative research methods.
Applicants are expected to have evidence of a developing research agenda, engagement in high-quality research activity and a developing research profile; a developing record of publications in internationally recognised, reputable journals appropriate to career stage and discipline norms; and strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
A full list of both essential and desirable requirements for the role can be found under the Person Specification section within the job pack.
Please note this post is fixed-term until 31 October 2021 and appointment will be made as Senior Research Officer. Start date: 1 December, 2020 (or as soon as possible thereafter)
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.
To support this commitment we have our Global Forum, a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/student-facilities/religion-and-faith
Please see the attached job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application. Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please telephone the Resourcing Team (01206 876559).
*More information: Working at the University
