Academic ConnectDurham Law School
Grade 7: - £38,249 - £45,413 per annum pro rata
Fixed Term - Part Time
Contract Duration: 3 years
Contracted Hours per Week: 28
Closing Date: 20-Aug-2025, 6:59:00 AM
Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement: Not Applicable.
Working at Durham University
A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.
As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career.The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.
We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it’s also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.
Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential.
We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.
Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Join Us? - Information Page
The Role and Department
The School
Durham Law School is a leading law school. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationally and Top 60 globally, it has been growing strongly over the past few years and now comprises a community of over 100 academics and professional support staff. Durham Law School fosters innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to legal research and wishes to attract scholars with strong backgrounds in these areas. The Law School provides a supportive environment for its community of academics, which comprises a generous sabbatical policy and an infrastructure of high-profile research centres that bring together colleagues for collaborative projects. The School is housed in the iconic Palatine Centre overlooking Durham Cathedral in the heart of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the main East Coast train line connecting to London and Edinburgh and also within convenient reach of Newcastle Airport. The School has an
extensive network of leading international partner institutions and close ties with the City of London and the Inns of Court. It counts among its alumni two Supreme Court Justices (Retired).
This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our School’s pages at https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/law/
Our top-ranked global law courses are very competitive with an excellent and diverse student population from across the world delivering a cutting-edge, research-led curriculum with a commitment to small-group teaching through seminars and tutorials much prized by employers.
Our School’s strategic objectives put EDI at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to Equality Diversity and Inclusion and actively develop our policies and procedures to ensure that everyone within our community is treated fairly and is provided with the same opportunities. This applies to our everyday work in teaching, research and administration, including academic progression and promotion processes. Our Law School holds an Athena Swan Bronze award.
The Role
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate. This is to support research on a Leverhulme Research Project awarded to Dr Kim Bouwer, with the title: A study of everyday climate litigation: examining law in the climate context. This three-year project aims to understand how everyday legal disputes are fought and resolved in the context of climate change. This is an almost untouched area of legal study, despite the enormous and varied body of scholarly (and policy) work that studies ‘climate litigation’. The project aims to establish a fuller account of the ‘field’ of litigation in the context of climate change – including in instances where litigants are focused on their own interests. Because this role is grant funded, it is fixed term for a three year period which is the duration of the grant.
A postdoctoral research assistant with a completed or submitted PhD in climate change law / policy will be recruited at 80% with remote working available. (It is intended that this will leave time for separate teaching commitments, family responsibilities, or writing up of a PhD or monograph.)
Key responsibilities:
- The work will include doctrinal and empirical work, which includes but is not limited to systematising a database of materials, assessing their relevance, and also conducting systematic searches across legal databases and other sources to identify further materials.
- To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder. To support their development they will co-author with the PI (Dr Bouwer) at least one article connected to the project but on a topic of their choice.
- To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications.
- To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include academic and non-academic audiences.
- To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals.
- To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.
- To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
- To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
- To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.
- To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
- To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
- To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
- To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
The post-holder is employed to work on research/a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.
Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 1 October 2025, but this can be negotiated for the right candidate.