Applications are sought for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Assistant to work with Dr Arthur der Weduwen, conducting research for an ERC-selected, UKRI-funded project entitled Communicating the Law in Europe, 1500-1750 (COMLAWEU). The project is based in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. The PDRA will be expected to work closely together with Dr der Weduwen and the rest of the project group, composed of one other full-time PDRA and two PhD students.

The COMLAWEU project is a five-year project that investigates how law was communicated to citizens and subjects by the authorities in early modern Europe (1500-1750). It pursues an original comparative study of the publication and circulation of municipal, regional and national law, encompassing oral communication, ceremonial proclamations and the employment of criers, as well as the affixing, distribution and sale of law texts, in manuscript and printed form.

The successful applicant will hold (or, at time of application, be very near to completion of) a PhD in the field of early modern political, legal, book or communication history, with expertise in the history of France, Italy, the Holy Roman Empire or Poland-Lithuania. They will have working fluency in French, Italian, German and/or Polish, and excellent communication skills in English. Reading competency in Latin will also be an advantage.

Under the framework of the project, the PDRA will focus on the communication of law in early modern France, the Italian peninsula, the Holy Roman Empire or Poland-Lithuania. This will include fieldwork, as well as cataloguing and source analysis in St Andrews. The PDRA will co-organise one workshop or conference, co-edit a special issue of a journal or a conference volume, and co-author other publications arising from the project’s activities. They will be expected to support the PhD students involved with the project, and to play a collegiate role in the academic life of the School of History and its USTC/Book History group.

The post is available for 3.5 years (42 months), to commence on 1 September 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter.

• -Employees of the University have access to a wide range of staff benefits including:

• -Annual leave of 34 days, plus 5 public holidays

• -Membership of the SLAS Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions

• -A hybrid working environment, including partial homeworking where appropriate and a range of family friendly policies 

• -Staff discount scheme for local and national goods and services

• -Free staff parking, employee Carshare and Cycle to Work Schemes and subsidised local bus travel

• -Subsidised sports membership, reduced tuition fees on degree programmes for staff/children of staff, access to library facilities, salary sacrifice scheme and a range of wellbeing initiatives 

Candidates who wish to find out further details about the project or the post are encouraged to contact Dr Arthur der Weduwen ([email protected]).  

Closing Date:  13 February 2024

Interview Date:  12 March 2024

We encourage applicants to apply online at www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/welcome.aspx, however if you are unable to do this, please call +44 (0)1334 462571 for an application pack. 

Please quote ref:  AR2933SB

Application deadline: 13 February 2024

More details on the role are available here