Job Purpose 

To make a leading contribution to a 5 year project (Art and Inequality in the Shadow of the Black Death Century), working with Principal Investigator, Professor Samuel Cohn.   

The project has embarked on its third year and is investigating the rise and fall of nonelite commissions for art in public places from the late thirteenth century to 1525. The project will harness an art history dependent mostly on documentary evidence with quantification and inequality studies.

Through comparative history, we have been exploring a paradoxical relationship: a deterioration in the status of nonelites, just as their wealth was growing from the late fourteenth to the end of the fifteenth century and the gap between rich and poor was narrowing. In year three we are continuing to expand our samples in Italy and will add case studies beyond the Italian peninsula. This role of this Research Associate will involve collecting data from archives mostly beyond Tuscany and from photographed testaments from Venice.

The successful candidate will begin research in Umbria. By the second half of year three the investigation will also focus on secular decrees and church synods, searching for clues on the mechanisms for this decline in nonelite artistic and religious activity that expressed their material culture. Finally, we will begin cleaning our data to enter it into a large and custom-built SQL database. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities 

1. Take a leading role in the planning and conduct of assigned research individually or jointly in accordance with the project deliverables and project/group/School/College research strategy.

2. Document research output including analysis and interpretation of all data, maintaining records and databases, drafting technical/progress reports and papers as appropriate.

3. Establish and maintain your research profile and reputation and that of The University of Glasgow/ School/ Research Group, including establishing and sustaining a track record of independent and joint publications of international quality in high profile/quality refereed journals, enhancing the research impact in terms of economic/societal benefit, and gathering indicators of esteem.

4. Survey the research literature and environment, understand the research challenges associated with the project & subject area, & help develop and implement a suitable research strategy.

5. Planning and presentation of work at international and national conferences, at internal and external seminars, colloquia and workshops to develop and enhance our research profile.

6. Where appropriate, take a leading role in the identification of potential funding sources and to assist in the development of proposals to secure funding from internal and external bodies to support future research.

7. Where appropriate, take a leading role in developing and maintaining collaborations with colleagues across the research group/School/College/University and wider community (e.g. Academic and Industrial Partners).

8. Where appropriate, take a leading role in team/group meetings/seminars/workshops and School research group activities to enhance the wider knowledge, outputs and culture of the School/College

9. Where appropriate, take the lead in the organisation, supervision, mentoring and training of undergraduate and/or postgraduate students and less experienced members of the project team to ensure their effective development.

10. Perform administrative tasks related to the activities of the research group, including building and maintaining our webpage.

11. Where appropriate, make a leading contribution to Teaching activities (e.g. demonstrating etc.) and associated admin as assigned by the Head of School and in consultation with Principal Investigator.

12. Keep up to date with current knowledge and recent advances in the field/discipline.

13. Engage in personal, professional and career development, to enhance both specialist and transferable skills in accordance with desired career trajectory.

14. Undertake any other reasonable duties as required by the PI. 15. Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University’s Strategic Plan, World Changers Together

Knowledge/Qualifications 

Essential:

A1 Normally Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12 (PhD) with at least 2 years’ post-doctoral experience in a similar or related role(s), or alternatively possess the equivalent in professional qualifications and experience.

Skills 

Essential:

C1 A comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of current issues and future directions within the wider subject area or subject specialism

C2 Knowledge of project-specific technical models, equipment or techniques

C3 Sufficient depth of relevant research experience, normally including sufficient postdoctoral experience in a related field, appropriate to an early career researcher.

C4 Proficiency in reading Latin and Medieval Italian and advanced paleographic skills for reading, transcribing, and correcting notarial records.

Desirable:

D1 Proficiency in reading one other European language (Catalan, Spanish, French, Dutch, or German).

Experience 

Essential:

E1 Proven ability to deliver quality outputs in a timely and efficient manner

E2 A track record of presentation and publication of research results in quality journals/conferences

E3 Experience of making a leading contribution in academic activities

E4 Ability to demonstrate a degree of independence as illustrated by identification of project objectives from assessment of the literature, design & analysis of experiments & drafting of papers.

E5 Experience in undertaking independent research

E6 Commitment to open research, as appropriate to the discipline, through open data, open code, open educational resources and practices that support replication.

E7 Proven commitment to supporting the career development of colleagues and to other forms of collegiality appropriate to the career stage.

E8 Experience of working in Italian archives in the late medieval or early modern period and working with notarial materials in Latin.

E9 ability to travel and work in several Italian cities during the year.

E10 Experience with quantitative methods in historical research or experience of working within the field of Art History

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Samuel Cohn, Samuel.cohn@glasgow.ac.uk

Terms and Conditions

Salary will be Grade 7, £40,247 - £45,163 per annum.

This post is full time and fixed term for up to 1 year

Closing date : 23:45 on 6 February 2025