Overview
Post Doctoral Research Associate, “Between Economy and Democracy: Reorganising Research Evaluation through Metadata in the Digital Era” – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS
About us:
The Research Associate will be hosted by and managed at King’s Business School (King’s College London). King’s Business School is part of an internationally renowned university with a track record of pioneering thinking, and has the limitless energies of London’s businesses, policymakers, entrepreneurs and change-makers to draw on.
The successful candidate will be working with Prof Andrea Mennicken on the international project “Between Economy and Democracy: Reorganising Research Evaluation through Metadata in the Digital Era”, funded by the Open Research Area 8 Initiative through SSHRC (Canada), ESRC (UK), ANR (France), and DFG (Germany). The advertised role is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Research Associate will work directly with Prof Mennicken on the UK part of the project and will also collaborate with the other project partners: Prof Didier Torny (Mines Paris PSL, France), Prof Kean Birch (York University, Canada), Dr Anne Krüger (Weizenbaum Institute, Germany), and Dr Stephan Stahlschmidt (DZHW, Germany).
The successful candidate will be appointed as soon as possible and employed until the conclusion of the project. The current projected end date is 31 January 2028, with a likely extension of three months.
About the role:
The Research Associate will contribute to a comparative study examining the roles and relevance of open versus commercial digital research information infrastructures in the practices of research evaluation and their governance.
The project the Research Associate will work for pursues the following core research question: How do open and commercial digital research information infrastructures reorganize research evaluation practices in the field of tension between economy and democracy? More specifically, it examines: (i) the motivations and aspirations underlying the development of commercial versus open digital research information infrastructures shaping metadata and data analytic functionalities; (ii) how commercial and open digital research information infrastructures, and the metadata and analytics they provide, feed into different national, organizational, and disciplinary research evaluation processes and with what effects; and (iii) how different open and commercial research information infrastructure providers are entangled with each other and their users.
The Research Associate will be responsible for the following kinds of task and activity in the project: literature reviews; primary and secondary data collection; interviewing informants; qualitative data analysis; presenting research at events; writing up research for publication; writing up research for policy and stakeholder audiences; developing and maintaining a project website and social media presence (e.g. LinkedIn); helping to organise events; and other activities as required.
Interviews are due to be held early November 2025
This is for 1 full time (35 Hours per week) role, and the successful candidate will be offered a fixed term contract until 31 January 2028, with a start date as soon as possible.
Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.
About you:
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- PhD in science and technology studies, sociology, information systems, organisation studies, policy studies, or another related field (we will consider candidates who are near completion of their PhD studies, e.g. have submitted their PhD dissertation, and are waiting to have their viva defence)*
- Research experience with (i) organising and conducting interviews and (ii) qualitative approaches to data analysis and theory building
- Strong theoretical interest in areas relating to: STS, research evaluation, critical digital/data studies, sociology of calculative practices, or assetisation
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
Desirable criteria
- Research expertise in the study of practices of research evaluation or the broader field of critical digital/data studies
- Knowledge of the UK landscape of research evaluation and regulation
Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.
Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.
We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King’s.
As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Interviews are due to be held early November 2025
