"Postdoctoral Research Associate"

About the role

Applications are sought for a full-time three-year Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Prof. Francisco Bethencourt, conducting research for the ERC Advanced Grant Project “New Christian Materiality, 1450-1750” [MATERIA].

MATERIA is a five-year project that investigates the material culture of the New Christians of Jewish origin. The purpose is to understand how these intercontinental traders sourced objects and commodities, created markets and shaped patterns of consumption.

What you will get in return:

• Work at the centre of a world capital with a top intellectual environment
• Work with a community of historians who are very well rated in all university rankings

The PDRA will be expected to work closely with the PI, Professor Francisco Bethencourt, and the rest of the project team, composed of two other PDRA, two PhD students, and one Research Associate. Archival work will be required in Rome, Lisbon and Madrid. The purpose is to write one academic article and a monograph within the three years of the contract. Research will be guided by the following question: How did material culture reflect gender issues within this ethnic elite? The analysis of houses, villas, palaces, and endowed chapels owned by New Christians will be at stake, as well as collections of art, furniture and exotica in inventories of property. New Christian gendered roles in sourcing objects and materials from different cultures, marketing and diffusing them will be scrutinised. The researcher must have the capacity to participate actively in teamwork while developing this line of inquiry.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed-term contract from 1st January 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter for 3 years.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD awarded in Early Modern History*
2. Reading capacity of Italian, Spanish and Portuguese (at least two of these three languages)
3. Reading capacity of archival documents of the 16th and 17th centuries in these languages
4. Awareness of early modern Southern Europe and the New Christian history
5. Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Desirable criteria

1. Minimum knowledge of database operations
2. Capacity for preparing meetings related to the expertise area

*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 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 scheduled for 21st October.

Grade and Salary: £45,031 - £49,871 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Job ID: 124985

Close Date: 05-Oct-2025

Contact Person: Professor Francisco Bethencourt

Contact Details: francisco.bethencourt@kcl.ac.uk