Research Associate (Administrative Fairness Lab & ESRC Vulnerability & P

Role Description

Introduction

This is an exciting opportunity to work as a Research Associate on a developing project between the Administrative Fairness Lab and ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre at the University of York. The successful candidate will be based at the University of York and be supervised by Professor Joe Tomlinson (York) and Dr Jed Meers (York). They will also work as part of a wider research team that includes Dr Richard Martin (LSE), Dr Elizabeth Cook (City), Dr Ruth Weir (City), and Professor Simon Halliday (Strathclyde). The Research Associate will also benefit from being part of both the Lab and Centre’s growing research communities.

The Research Associate will assist with a project on the increasingly complex and contested nexus between law, vulnerability, and policing: the “positive obligations” arising from law which require the state to safeguard vulnerable groups. The project is designed to create the foundation for a major mixed-methods, interdisciplinary empirical project that will generate data and produce evidence-led reform initiatives where appropriate. Four questions are at the centre of the research:

• How, if at all, does “legal vulnerability” derived from human rights law find everyday form in the orientations, communications, and prioritisations within the police and how are positive obligations understood and enacted in practice by officers?
• How, in the policies and actions of the police and other state agencies, does “legal vulnerability” derived from human rights law relate to other legal conceptions of vulnerability found in, for example, housing or social work law?
• How are various forms of state power, once legally channelled towards these groups by legal obligations, perceived procedurally and substantively by the ‘legally vulnerable?’
• In what ways do legal duties towards the vulnerable – both in substance and through processes of implementation – help to safeguard and alleviate vulnerability?

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University.

Main purpose of the role

• To conduct collaborative research, including qualitative empirical research, with the supervision of senior colleagues
• To produce high-quality publications with other members of the research team
• To assist with the preparation of collaborative funding applications to support further research   

Key responsibilities

(Role holders will be required to undertake some or all of the duties below)

• To conduct collaborative research projects, duties to include: analysis and interpretation of research data; use of appropriate research techniques and methods; writing up of research results and dissemination through publications,  seminar and conference presentations and public engagement and outreach activities; contributing to the identification of possible new areas of research
• To contribute to the preparation of research proposals and applications to external bodies
• To undertake appropriate organisational and administrative activities connected to the research project, including conference organisation and website maintenance and development
• To develop and initiate collaborative working internally and externally, duties to include: the building of internal contacts and participation in internal networks; collaboration with colleagues on joint projects as required; participation in and identification of external networks in order to share information and identify potential opportunities for collaboration and possible sources of funding; attendance at and contribution to relevant meetings
• To provide guidance to other staff and students, as required, as well as coordinating the work of small research teams

The above list of duties is not exhaustive and is subject to change.  The post holder may be required to undertake others duties within the scope and grading of the post.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University. 

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork