Research Associate (Fixed Term)

Job description

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 18 months in the first instance.

This is a full time, fixed term position for 18 months, 1 December 2026 to End date: 31 May 2028

Salary - £38,448

This opportunity is funded through Dr Theil's AHRC grant.

Dr Stefan Theil is looking for up a postdoctoral Research Associate for his AHRC funded project The legal impact of UK court decisions, parliamentary deliberations and administrative policymaking on outcomes at the European Court of Human Rights. The project aims to identify to what extent UK court decisions, parliamentary deliberations and administrative policymaking are taken into account by the European Court of Human Rights and whether they have any discernible impact. The research involves doctrinal analysis of a considerable body of court decisions from the ECHR and the UK as well as recording findings in a comprehensive dataset.

The Research Associate will be line-managed by Dr Stefan Theil.

Person specification:

Essential

• An undergraduate degree in law or closely related subject

• A PhD in law or closely related subject (either completed or nearing completion at the time of application)

• A strong understanding of UK public law and familiarity with the European Convention on Human Rights

• Experience with legal referencing systems and a track record of independent research commensurate with career level

• Experience drafting, editing and revising research documents in MS Word

• Attention to detail and ability to manage workload independently

Desirable

• Experience extracting doctrinal datapoints from court decisions

• Experience with social science research methods

• Experience recording, editing and maintaining datasets in MS Excel

Your normal place of work will be the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to any resident of the United Kingdom subject to a successful right to work check.

The closing date for applications is midnight (GMT) on 16 November 2026, and interviews are expected to take place shortly after. Please use the subject line: Research Associate Application and explain clearly how you meet the requirements for the role. The Faculty of Law reserves to right to not make any appointment.

Informal enquiries about the project may be addressed to Dr Stefan Theil ( [email protected] ). Enquiries on the recruitment process should be emailed to [email protected]

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

As part of your application, please submit a CV (2 pages max), a cover letter (maximum 800 words), and a recent writing sample (maximum 10,000 words) as well as the contact details of two referees.

Please quote reference JK51444 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.