"Research Assistant/Associate (Fixed Term)"

University of Cambridge - McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 24 months in the first instance.

The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research invites applications for a fixed-term Research Assistant / Associate in African heritage and geospatial data science. This is a fixed term appointment for 24 months. The post holder will work as part of the Mapping Africa's Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments (MAEASaM) project (https://maeasam.org). The project is supported by Arcadia (https://www.arcadiafund.org.uk).

About the MAEASaM project

The project, started in 2020, aims to identify, document and share knowledge of endangered archaeological sites across eleven African countries using a combination of remote sensing, historical map analysis, records-based research supported by ground-verification, and in-country assessments of the nature, extent and likelihood of threats to these heritage sites. MAEASaM is a partnership programme, with the University of Cambridge serving as the lead and coordinating institution. The core collaborating partners are the University of Pretoria; I'Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Senegal; the British Institute in Eastern Africa; University College London; the University of York; Uppsala University; Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique; the Royal Museum of Central Africa; Universite des Sciences Sociales et de Gestion de Bamako, Mali. The MAEASaM project also collaborates with key institutions and stakeholders in Africa, as well as with other Arcadia-funded projects, including Mapping Archaeological Heritage in South Asia (MAHSA), which is also hosted at the University of Cambridge.

Key responsibilities

The primary scope of the role is to develop an effective, user-friendly and replicable digital framework for the monitoring of diverse heritage threats to support sustainable heritage management decisions (particularly in an African context), using advanced methods in satellite imagery analysis, remote sensing and machine learning, combined with geospatial analysis. The Research Associate will work in close collaboration with the Project Manager, Principal Investigator and all team members.

The post holder must have a PhD (or have submitted their thesis) at the time of appointment. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, which will be amended to Research Associate once the PhD has been awarded.

Salary Ranges: Research Assistant: £34,610 - £35,608 (Grade 5) and Research Associate: or £37,694-£46,049 (Grade 7)

Full-time, Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 24 months.

The closing date is 17 October 2025.

Interviews are expected to take place on 30 October 2025.

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from a BAME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to the MAEASaM Project Manager Stefania Merlo (sm399@cam.ac.uk)

Please quote reference JC47355 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.