Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on a new, exciting research project, ‘Free Clinics and a Psychoanalysis for the People: Progressive Histories, Collective Practices, Implications for our Times’ (FREEPSY), funded by a UKRI Frontier Research Grant (ERC Consolidator Grant guarantee), held by Prof Raluca Soreanu, PI.
The project brings together a team of eight researchers across four strands. It aims to produce a new global figuration of psychoanalysis as a progressive discourse and practice, by tracing the little-known histories of free psychoanalytic clinics. This is an interdisciplinary project spanning from psychosocial studies to social theory, historical research, and arts methods. It investigates how collectives of clinicians invested in the social mission of psychoanalysis innovate in the clinical and institutional domain, and in mental health cultures, by reconfiguring the meaning of time, space, money, suffering and their interrelations. FREEPSY includes archival research of free clinics in London, Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, New York and Philadelphia, for a period spanning from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.
Appointment to this post will be made as Senior Research Officer and will be referred to by this title throughout the attached job description.
Duties of the Role
The post will be primarily held in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex. The post holder will undertake historical research of free and low-cost clinics. Data collection will take place mainly in Vienna, Berlin and Budapest. You will collaborate with the PI on Strand 3 of FREEPSY, ‘Legacies of the Free Clinics’. In this strand, the project focuses on the embeddedness of free clinics in their cities, in terms of professional networks. It also considers what psychoanalytic ideas and methods have travelled from the space of the clinics to other geographic locations and with what consequences. In addition, you will be required to contribute to delivering the research objectives of FREEPSY, as well as to disseminating project outcomes.
A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found in the job pack.
Qualifications and Skills required
Applicants will possess a PhD in History or a related field of study or be close to completion of your studies. You will have an excellent publication record, appropriate for the early career level. You will also be able to work collaboratively and in an interdisciplinary research environment. Applications will be considered from candidates with an interest in working with archives, where an interest in psychosocial studies and psychoanalysis can be demonstrated. Language skills in German and Hungarian constitute an advantage.
This post is fixed-term, full-time for 48 months until 15 January 2027 due to a temporary funding source.
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.
To support this commitment we have our Global Forum, a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/student-facilities/religion-and-faith
Please see the attached job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification, which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application. Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please email the Resourcing Team (resourcing@essex.ac.uk).
*More information: Working at the University