JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN MANUSCRIPT AND TEXT CULTURES
Location
The Queen’s College, University of Oxford
Salary
£37,174, plus discretionary Queen’s weighting of £1,500 per annum
Hours
Full time (37.5 hours/week)
Contract type
Fixed-term for 3 years
Reporting to
The Governing Body of The Queen’s College
The role
The Queen’s College, University of Oxford, is offering a Junior Research Fellowship in Manuscript and Text Cultures for candidates who hold, or are close to completing, a doctorate in history, literature, language or a related field specialising in the ancient and early medieval Near and Middle East, the ancient and early medieval Mediterranean, the ancient and early medieval East, South, and South-East Asia, or early medieval Europe. Candidates’ research should reflect the methods and concerns of the Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures, i.e., candidates should have a research agenda examining material aspects of writing and text-production, as well as transmission and the interface between the oral and the written, before the widespread adoption of printed texts and across the literate societies within their area of expertise. Candidates researching areas that are underrepresented in UK universities are particularly welcome to apply, as are those combining traditional humanities research with innovative use of information technology or AI, and those who seek to enhance their research by collaboration with colleagues from other disciplines.
As well as engaging in their own research, the Junior Research Fellow will be expected to take an active role in the interdisciplinary research Centre on Manuscript and Text Cultures (CMTC) at the College, a platform for international specialists and research students to engage in close dialogue across areas of expertise and inform each other about different approaches and theories of knowledge-production and text-transmission in pre-modern manuscript cultures. It is further expected that between the second and third year of their fellowship the Fellow will play a major role in convening an international interdisciplinary conference relevant to the activities of CMTC, and contribute to the subsequent scholarly publication.
The Fellowship offers early career researchers the opportunity to develop their research within one of the world’s leading universities and so strengthen their future position in the academic job market. Many previous Junior Research Fellows have moved on to permanent faculty positions at leading world universities.
We are committed to fostering equality, diversity, and inclusiveness. We particularly encourage applications from women, disabled people and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, as these groups are currently under-represented in the College’s academic staff.
The Junior Research Fellowship is tenable for a fixed term of three years and it is expected that the successful candidate will take up the post no later than 1st October 2025. Eligible candidates should have no more than two years of post-doctoral research experience by 1st October 2025.
The Junior Research Fellow will be a member of the Senior Common Room at The Queen’s College, and entitled to free meals. The appointee will be nominated for membership of the Faculty or Department of their relevant area of expertise.
There are no teaching responsibilities associated with the post. However, the Junior Research Fellow may engage in paid teaching up to a maximum of six hours weekly and, if teaching undergraduates, would normally be expected to give priority to the College’s own undergraduate teaching needs.
Responsibilities
The postholder is required to perform the following duties to the satisfaction of the Governing Body:
Selection criteria
The successful candidate will meet the following criteria. They will:
Salary: the annual salary for this post is £37,174 plus a discretionary pensionable £1,500 per annum Queen's Weighting payment which will be paid in monthly instalments. The Junior Research Fellow will be automatically enrolled in the USS pension scheme unless they opt out.
Research Allowance: a personal academic allowance of £1,959 per annum is provided by the College for academic activities such as conference attendance, research assistance, and the purchase of books and IT equipment.
Place of Work: The College will provide a non-residential study room on the main site in central Oxford. It may also be possible to provide, as an alternative, single residential accommodation at a charge. The successful candidate is expected to reside in or near Oxford.
The Queen’s College
The Queen’s College, founded in 1341, is one of the oldest Colleges in the University of Oxford and represents most aspects of the University community and its scientific and scholarly work. There are approximately 45 fellows, about 160 graduate students and about 330 undergraduates.
Manuscript and Text Cultures are represented in the College by a number of Official Fellows as well as a Classics Lecturer and the College Librarian all of whom also serve as Board Members of CMTC. Information about the research interests is available on the College web site: www.queens.ox.ac.uk/whos-here.
The College has one of the finest college libraries in Oxford, with around 50,000 volumes in the current lending collection—used extensively by students—and around 100,000 volumes in the antiquarian collection. The library’s recent expansion provides new reading rooms, enhanced accommodation for its special collections, and more space for students and the working collection. The College organises a symposium that meets twice a term for graduate students and faculty to showcase their research and discuss their interests.
For more information about the College please visit www.queens.ox.ac.uk.
The Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures
The Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures promotes the study of pre-modern manuscript and epigraphic traditions in a broad comparative perspective, relying on the strong multi-disciplinary community in Oxford while openly engaging with scholars in other institutions worldwide.
The activities of the Centre are at once specialised and interdisciplinary, united by the common goal of enabling long-term research on how knowledge and meaning are shaped and sustained by material conditions, past and present. As a platform for international researchers to engage in close dialogue across their areas of expertise and inform each other about approaches and theories developed in their various subject areas, our goal is to generate discussions that cross subject boundaries and contribute to the theoretical understanding of material text cultures and their impact on knowledge production in global literate societies. With our multidisciplinary approach, crossing traditional academic divisions, we hope to cast light on the deep structures of human behaviours in material knowledge production, past and present.
The Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures was established as a research concentration at The Queen’s College, Oxford in 2018. CMTC began in 2012 as an initiative of a group of Fellows at Queen’s, led by Dirk Meyer, with common interests in manuscript and text cultures in literate societies. Since then it has drawn in academics and postdoctoral researchers from other colleges and universities. It provides the nucleus of a research cluster for the humanities with a focus on knowledge production and text circulation which we hope will attract future graduate students. The Centre publishes a peer-reviewed, open access journal, Manuscript and Text Cultures, twice per year.
For more information, please visit: www.cmtc.queens.ox.ac.uk
The Humanities Division
The Humanities Division is one of four academic divisions in the University of Oxford, bringing together the following faculties: Classics; English; History; Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics; Medieval and Modern Languages; Music; Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; Philosophy; Theology and Religion; the Ruskin School of Art. The Division has over 500 members of academic staff, approximately 4,100 undergraduates (more than a third of the total undergraduate population of the University), 1,000 postgraduate research students and 720 students on postgraduate taught courses.
The Division offers world-class teaching and research, backed by the superb resources of the University’s libraries and museums, including the famous Bodleian Libraries, with their 11 million volumes and priceless early book and manuscript collections, and the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. Such historic resources are linked to cutting-edge agendas in research and teaching, with an increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary study. Our faculties are among the largest in the world, enabling Oxford to offer an education in Arts and Humanities unparalleled in its range of subjects, from music and fine art to ancient and modern languages.
The Humanities Division has embarked on a major building project on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, following the recent announcement of the £150 million gift to create the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. The Schwarzman Centre will serve as a dynamic hub dedicated to the Humanities. The building will bring together seven Humanities faculties, the Humanities Divisional Office, a new library and significant cultural and public engagement spaces in a space designed to encourage experiential learning and bold experimentation through cross-disciplinary and collaborative study.
For more information, please visit: www.humanities.ox.ac.uk.
The University of Oxford
Oxford’s departments and colleges aim to lead the world in research and education for the benefit of society both in the UK and globally. Oxford’s researchers engage with academic, commercial, and cultural partners across the world to stimulate high-quality research and enable innovation through a broad range of social, policy, and economic impacts.
Oxford’s self-governing community of international scholars includes Professors, Associate Professors, other college tutors, senior and junior research fellows, and over 2,500 other University research staff. Research at Oxford combines disciplinary depth with an increasing focus on inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary activities addressing a rich and diverse range of issues.
Oxford’s strengths lie both in empowering individuals and teams to address fundamental questions of global significance, and in providing all staff with a welcoming and inclusive workplace that supports everyone to develop and do their best work. Recognising that diversity is a great strength, and vital for innovation and creativity, Oxford aspires to build a truly inclusive community which values and respects every individual’s unique contribution.
While Oxford has long traditions of scholarship, it is also forward-looking, creative and cutting-edge. Oxford is one of Europe's most entrepreneurial universities. It consistently has the highest external research income of any university in the UK (the most recent figures are available at www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/finance-and-funding), and is ranked first in the UK for university spin-outs, with more than 130 spin-off companies created to date. Oxford is also recognised as a leading supporter of social enterprise.
Oxford admits undergraduate students with the intellectual potential to benefit fully from the small group learning to which Oxford is deeply committed. Meeting in small groups with their tutor, undergraduates are exposed to rigorous scholarly challenge and learn to develop their critical thinking, their ability to articulate their views with clarity, and their personal and intellectual confidence. They receive a high level of personal attention from leading academics.
Oxford has a strong postgraduate student body which now numbers over 10,000. Postgraduates are attracted to Oxford by the international standing of the faculty, by the rigorous intellectual training on offer, by the excellent research and laboratory facilities available, and by the resources of the museums and libraries, including one of the world’s greatest libraries, the Bodleian.
For more information, please visit www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation.
How to apply
Click on the ‘Apply online’ button on the vacancy webpage.
Applicants are asked to upload two supporting documents (which will be read by colleagues working in a variety of languages):
A cover letter is optional; if you wish to upload one as part of the two permitted documents, you may include it as page one of your supporting statement. Applicants will be asked to name their referees and letters of recommendation will be requested from shortlisted applicants.
Your application will be judged solely on the basis of how you demonstrate that you meet the selection criteria stated in the job description.
All applications must be received no later than midday on Monday 17th February 2025.
Informal enquiries concerning the post may be made to Prof. Dirk Meyer, Director of the Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures (dirk.meyer@queens.ox.ac.uk). If you experience any technical difficulties with the online application form, please contact vacancies@queens.ox.ac.uk.
Selection committee and process
Applications will be considered by a selection committee containing representatives from The Queen’s College and the Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures. The College is committed to fairness, consistency, and transparency in selection decisions. Members of the selection committees will be aware of the principles of equality of opportunity, fair selection, and the risks of conscious and unconscious bias.
If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account, recognising that the quantity of your research may be reduced as a result.
The selection committee is responsible for conducting all aspects of the recruitment and selection process; it does not, however, have the authority to make the final decision as to who should be appointed. The final decision will be made by the Governing Body of The Queen’s College. No offer of appointment will be valid, therefore, until and unless the recommendation has been approved by the Governing Body, and a formal contractual offer has been made.
Interviews
Interviews will be held in the week beginning Monday 17th March 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to arrange for two letters of recommendation to be emailed by their referees directly to the Fellowship and Tutorial Administrator (academic.recruitment@queens.ox.ac.uk), and to submit a sample of written work not to exceed 6,000 words, including notes. During the interview they will be expected to deliver a research presentation to the selection committee.
Important information for candidates
Pre-employment screening
Please note that the appointment of the successful candidate will be subject to standard pre-employment screening, as applicable to the post. This will include right-to-work, proof of identity and references. We advise all applicants to read the candidate notes on the University’s pre-employment screening procedures, found at: www.ox.ac.uk/about/jobs/preemploymentscreening/.
Visa Applications
If the successful candidate requires a visa, the College will cover the visa application fee, but not the immigration NHS surcharge. This is subject to the eligibility criteria being met for the required visa route. In particular, you must have sufficient English language skills (evidenced by having passed a secure English Language Test at CEFR B1 or above, or coming from a majority English-speaking country, or having taken a degree taught in English). You are also to asked to note that the visa application process will require you to submit your doctoral thesis no later than three months prior to the start date of this post and to provide either a copy of your doctoral award certificate, or an academic reference confirming that your doctorate has been awarded, or an academic reference confirming that you have submitted your thesis, if you have not yet completed.
Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Queen’s
The Queen’s College embraces diversity and equal opportunity. Applications are particularly welcome from women, disabled people, and people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, as these groups are currently under-represented in academic posts in Oxford. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. For more information, visit www.queens.ox.ac.uk/equality-information.
The College invites all applicants to familiarise themselves with its equal opportunities policy, also available on its Equality Information page: www.queens.ox.ac.uk/equality-information.
The College also shares the university’s commitment ‘to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all its staff and students are respected.’ The university’s full policy is available at: edu.admin.ox.ac.uk/equality-policy.
We are committed to the principles of equal opportunities and respect for individuals in creating and maintaining an inclusive environment that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We value and celebrate diversity and feel that is critical to achieving our strategic aims and long-term success. We work to recruit employees and admit students from a wide range of backgrounds and promote an inclusive culture in which:
All College meetings include consideration of its duties under the Equality Act 2010 as they pertain to the meeting’s actions and decisions. In formal and informal settings alike, the College endeavours to make decisions that afford equal opportunities to, and foster good relationships between, different groups of people. This commitment, supported by data and routinely monitored, extends to all aspects of our activities: in our outreach activities, in admissions, and in financial support, for undergraduates and postgraduates alike; in the procedures related to hiring and retaining academic and non-academic staff members of the highest calibre; in student support; and in all aspects of fostering an inclusive community in which everyone feels respected, valued, and heard.