Essex Law School and Human Rights Centre
Ranked in the global top 50 of the World Universities Rankings (WUR) 2024, Essex Law School promotes equality, diversity and inclusivity in all aspects of its work and is committed to social justice and excellence in research and excellence in education. Essex Law School is one of the largest law schools in the UK and offers a wide range of courses to students that combine experiential learning opportunities.
Duties of the Role
The Senior Research Officer (SRO) will work on the project ‘Reimagining Food Systems for Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation, and Social Justice’.
The project is applying a human rights lens to the development and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies related to food systems, and draws on indigenous, local and interdisciplinary knowledge to enhance food security for vulnerable populations with a particular focus on small fish, wild rice and traditional medicinal foods. The project is a collaboration between researchers from Canada, Germany, India, Norway, South Africa, the United States, Australia, Vanuatu, Morocco and the United Kingdom. More information about the project can be found here.
Working with the international human rights law project investigators, who are based at the Universities of Essex and Manitoba, your research will focus on human rights. You will research, on a postdoctoral level, the relevant international human rights law standards; develop qualitative research into opportunities and barriers for human rights realisation in collaboration with project partners including in the local contexts of our community partners most likely in West Africa, India and Canada; build knowledge on good practice in developing human rights-based food systems and climate change mitigation interventions; and undertake other research tasks as requested by the Project Investigator. Some international travel may be required.
There are opportunities to co-publish research with the project investigators, subject to subject to mutual interest and agreement. You will report directly to the Principal Investigator at Essex Law School, work closely with all project investigators, and liaising with other collaborating experts and institutions from around the world.
A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the job pack.
Qualifications and Skills required
In order to be successful, the candidate will have a Ph.D., D.Phil, or equivalent doctoral degree in international human rights law or a related field of international law, or be close to completion of Ph.D., or have equivalent professional experience or practice.
In addition, you will possess a developing research agenda and developing record of publications appropriate to your career stage and discipline norms.
Experience researching, or professional experience, in areas such as international environmental law, intellectual property rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, development and human rights and human rights and food systems is desirable, as is experience undertaking interviews for research purposes.
A full list of applicant requirements can be found under the Person Specification section within the job pack.
This is a fixed-term, full-time research post for 14 months in line with the grant funding.
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
