BIAA Postdoctoral Fellowship: Cultural Heritage

The BIAA is seeking to appoint a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow from September 2023

The deadline for receipt of applications is 31 October 2022, 23:59 UK time. Members of the BIAA Research Committee will consider applications received before this date. Online interviews will take place by mid-November 2022.

The Fellow is expected to spend 50% of their time on the BIAA’s ongoing cultural heritage research programme in consultation with the BIAA Director, Dr Lutgarde Vandeput and the BIAA Cultural Heritage Assistant Director, Dr Işılay Gürsu. The Fellow will use the remaining time to work on their own cultural heritage-related research.

Fellows will be based at the Institute in Ankara and will be required to spend at least two-thirds of their Fellowship at the Institute. The remaining time can be spent outside Ankara for research purposes, following consultation with the BIAA Director. The Fellow is expected to take over some of the responsibilities of the current Cultural Heritage Assistant Director who will be on research leave to take up a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship.

Main duties:

• Be committed to expanding the BIAA’s reputation as an important and innovative centre for cultural heritage and public archaeology studies.
• Strengthen the links between scholars from the UK and Türkiye, expand the research portfolio and disseminate the Institute’s cultural heritage programme to a wider audience.
• Increase collaboration with other foreign institutes in Türkiye on cultural heritage-related topics.
• Initiate the organisation of a Public Archaeology Conference that is planned to take place in 2024 (in coordination with the BIAA Cultural Heritage Assistant Director).
• Contribute to monitoring cultural heritage-related funding calls and if possible, design projects which may lead to the extension of the Fellowship.
• Support the BIAA Director in the organisation of cultural heritage related events for the celebrations of the 75th Anniversary of the BIAA in 2023 (the Fellow will be supported by existing research staff).
• Contribute to the expansion of the BIAA David French Library collections by identifying new acquisitions for the cultural heritage section.
• Network with leading scholars and practitioners, and lecture audiences in UK and Türkiye to attract a new generation of public archaeology specialists working on Türkiye.

Fellows will be awarded £20,000 stipend per annum, payable in monthly instalments as a non-taxable grant. They will receive 22 days of annual leave.  All costs including travel (to and from Türkiye as well as any academic travel, such as to attend conferences), health insurance, visas and accommodation need to be covered by this annual amount. Accommodation will be available at the Institute in Ankara, as required, at a rate of £10 per night or £250 per month. It is important to note that, due to new regulations regarding residence permits in Türkiye, Fellows will be obliged to obtain health insurance from a Turkish company for the duration of their stay. The BIAA will assist with organising this.

To apply, send a copy of your CV, along with a letter of application and outline of your research plan (1500 words max). Both documents should be sent as pdf files. Candidates are reminded that the proposed research should be realistically undertaken within 12 months on a 50% basis, as noted above.

Details of two referees should also be emailed to biaa@britac.ac.uk. Please note that your nominated referees must not be members of the BIAA Research Committee or BIAA staff members.

For information about the organisation, staff and current activities undertaken by the Institute, please visit our website at www.biaa.ac.uk. For further information about the post, please contact Dr Işılay Gürsu at assistant.directorCHM@biaa.ac.uk.