Postdoctoral Researcher

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a full-time, fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral Researcher for the project ‘STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse, 1475–1700’, which develops and applies a data-driven approach in order to provide the first macro-level view of the circulation of early modern English poetry in manuscript. The position is funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant awarded to Professor Erin McCarthy and is available for thirty-six months from 1 July 2024.

The successful candidate will focus on Work Package 4, ‘Rolling Archetypes, Computational Text Analysis, and Scholarly Editing’. This work package will test methods from textual editing and stylometry to assess their usefulness for identifying poets and/or scribes. The first several months of the contract will focus primarily on data preparation and reconciliation. The researcher will then identify one or more previously unidentified textual ‘clusters’ and prepare a full-text corpus. The researcher will apply computational text analysis methods to investigate how compilers worked with rolling archetypes and how these insights might inform contemporary textual editing practice. The researcher will also contribute to the organization of a major international hackathon and conference and the communication of project results through peer-reviewed outputs and public outreach activities.

Duties:

• Preparation of data for online virtual research environment
• Analysing data and results
• Computational text analysis
• Archival research on major collections of manuscript miscellanies held in libraries internationally
• Preparation of papers for presentation and publication
• Contribution to the project website and social media channels
• Associated administrative duties
• Any other duties assigned commensurate to this level of post.

Qualifications/Skills required:

Essential Requirements:

• PhD in English literature, digital humanities, or another relevant field
• Significant experience in computational text analysis and/or stylometry
• Experience working with databases
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Peer-reviewed publication record
• Ability to work well both collaboratively and independently
• Highly motivated, with excellent organisational skills

Desirable Requirements:

• Expertise in early modern manuscript culture and/or early modern English poetry
• Experience with textual editing
• Experience with network analysis
• Knowledge of one or more of the following languages: French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish
• Excellent IT skills

For further details, including relevant salary scales, see https://www.universityofgalway.ie/about-us/jobs/research/ .

To Apply:

Applications to include a covering letter, CV, a sample of academic written work (e.g. published article, thesis chapter), and the contact details of three referees should be sent, via e-mail (in word or PDF only) [email protected]

Please put reference number University of Galway 086-24 in subject line of e-mail application.

Closing date for receipt of applications is 5.00 pm (Irish Time) 1 May 2024

Interviews are planned to be held on 31 May 2024

We reserve the right to re-advertise or extend the closing date for this post.

University of Galway is an equal opportunities employer.

All positions are recruited in line with Open, Transparent, Merit (OTM) and Competency based recruitment