CAMHRA Anthropology in Action Research Fellow

Job title: CAMHRA Anthropology in Action Research Fellow   

Department: Anthropology and Sociology

Contract Type: Fixed-term, 18 months, January 2025 – July 2026

Grade: G7

Salary:  £42,217.29 - £49,381.29 per annum inclusive of London Weighting 

Location: Bloomsbury

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week

SOAS University of London is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.  SOAS University of London is positioned to play a leading role in reimagining higher education globally, with a new strategic plan in place as the basis for the renewal and revitalisation of the School which commits SOAS to both student responsiveness and research intensity. SOAS is moving towards a new model of international partnerships which is responsive to the transnational character of our global challenges.

About the Department:

The Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) is a globally oriented and locally connected Centre of excellence for cutting edge anthropological research, education and public engagement in the field of mental health. It works to promote research on critical issues of inequality in access, experience and outcomes of mental health care with benefits for marginalised groups in the London area and cascading effects at national and global levels, and with special emphasis on mental health lived-experience and clinical practice-based research, and coproduced research outputs.

CAMHRA is funded for 5 years with a £7.8m grant from UKRI Research England, as a sustainable enhancement of research capacity in anthropological theory and ethnographic methods for mental health research, through additional academic staff, postdoctoral fellows, scholarships for doctoral and Master’s research. Partnership is central to the working of CAMHRA which has collaboration for research and education/training in anthropology with NHS Trusts, Thrive LDN, voluntary sector and Higher Education and international partners. CAMHRA is well placed for policy and public engagement while deepening SOAS’s connections with London’s diverse diasporic populations and international collaborators.

About the Role

The Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action wishes to recruit a full-time postdoctoral research fellow, with a specialist interest in engagement, policy and practice-focused research, to join a collaborative mental health ethnographic research programme led by Dr Nikita Simpson and Professor David Mosse (co-director and director) at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. We seek an excellent candidate trained in anthropology with expertise in the field of mental health and training in participatory ethnographic research with marginalised communities.

The Anthropology in Action Research Fellow will work with CAMHRA to advance its research, engagement, partnership-building, public policy and educational offerings, particularly in the London area. They will co-design and deliver pilot ethnographic projects with CAMHRA partners (community-based organisations, local authorities and NHS mental health service providers) focused on a variety of teams with concerns related to mental health inequality in London. They will work with partners to develop large scale collaborative research bids based on these pilot projects. They will use creative, participatory, and collaborative citizen anthropology methods to embed the expertise of people with lived experience of mental health service use and inequality into all stages of the research process. They will produce academic and non-academic research outputs to disseminate and engage both high level policy partners, and community stakeholders.

They will also work with the directorial team and CAMHRA core team to develop collaborative and comparative research projects with national and global partners, following the above approach.

The post holder will primarily work with CAMHRA’s Policy and Partnerships Officer, Research and Development Officer and Community Engagement Officer. They will be supervised by CAMHRA core academic staff and will be based in the Department of Anthropology at SOAS.

You can find further information on the key criteria for the role in the Job Description and Person Specification, along with a full list of duties and responsibilities, which can be found on the SOAS website.

How to Apply: 

Please complete the online application form and upload your CV and a supporting statement.

Closing date: Friday, 18 October, 2024

Interviews to be held: 4 and 5 of November, 2024 (subject to change)

Further information

If you have any questions or require any assistance with regard to the application process, please contact us via the HR Contact Form | SOAS, and if you have questions about the role and the centre, please contact Alexa at aw96@soas.ac.uk.

'Successful candidates will need to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK or have limited leave to remain in the UK and associated right to work for the duration of their employment with SOAS, in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006'. for the duration of their contract

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We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK. However this role may be eligible to sponsor candidates with a Global Talent Visa Route.
 

We would particularly welcome applications from candidates from working class, first generation Higher Education, Black, Asian, other minority ethnic and underrepresented groups from within the UK and beyond. All appointment decisions will be made on merit, following a fair and competitive process.