Research Associate (full-time)

The School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) is a leading centre for innovation in governance and global public policy. The School is home to the Liu Institute for Global Issues, the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI), the Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE), the Pacific Affairs journal, and the Institute of Asian Research (IAR) which includes five distinct research centres focusing on Southeast Asia, India and South Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. With a university-wide mandate, the School offers a wide range of programming for students at all levels, faculty, staff, and the community to engage in. For more information, visit: https://sppga.ubc.ca/

An interdisciplinary group of researchers invites applications for a full-time Research Associate position which will be based at The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. The position is expected to begin as early as July 16, 2026, for a two-year term, with possibility of extension, depending on performance appraisals, research progress, and availability of funds.

The Research Associate will be expected to work on a research project that will challenge the dominant decision-making approach for copper exploration and mining design decisions which tend to focus on economic and technical priorities. While social, ecological, and cultural values are increasingly acknowledged, they are still poorly understood and weakly embedded in decision-making across mining policies, practices, and processes. This knowledge gap results in mistrust, conflict, delay, and potential failure. To address this, this research will co-design innovative socio-environmental-technical frameworks by working directly with local communities—alongside engineers, policymakers, and scientists.

The selected candidate will work most closely with Prof. Erik Eberhardt (Head of Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS) at UBC) and Prof. Shaun Barker (Director of the Mineral Deposit Research Unit, EOS at UBC). They will also be supported by Prof. Allison Macfarlane (Director of The School of Public Policy & Global Affairs at UBC) and Dr. Nadja Kunz (School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland in Australia; Affiliate faculty at UBC). The project is funded through the Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials (https://futurematerialscentre.com/) and will also involve collaboration with researchers from the partner universities involved in this particular project: Australian National University (Australia), Imperial College London (UK), and Wits University (South Africa). The successful candidate is also expected to work closely with a postdoctoral fellow with expertise in social sciences.

The successful candidate will hold a PhD (or equivalent) degree, with primary focus in mining engineering, geology, geosciences, or other relevant field by the appointment start date. Individuals with an interdisciplinary PhD and a track record of working across the technical and social sciences are also encouraged to apply and those with some industry experience are particularly welcomed. Prior experience with working on specific research topics listed above is welcome but not required.

Interested candidates should demonstrate strong research skills as well as strong organizational and communication skills. Ideally, they will also have experience with (or an interest in learning) grant program management as this will be a key responsibility of the position.