POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER

Job Description

Line manager: Dr Ruth Bancewicz, Faraday Church Engagement Director, Cambridge

Academic supervisors: Dr Reema Patel (Elgon Social Research, Cambridge) and Dr Rachel Siow Robertson (Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong)

Salary: £37,500-£42,215 per annum (Band 7 of the Faraday Institute Pay Scale) depending on qualifications and experience

Contract: 1 year

Hours: Full time (37.5 hours per week)

Start date: 1st Oct 2026 (negotiable). Funding starts from 1st Sept and the project must be completed by 31st Oct 2027.

Holiday entitlement: 25 days annual leave plus 8 public holidays

Location: Faraday Institute, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0UB

Who we are

The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is a Cambridge-based interdisciplinary research institute improving public understanding of science and religion. Its main focus is on the relationship between science and the Christian faith, but it also engages with those of any faith or none.

Job Description

You will join a team running a one-year project to pilot a new way of fostering constructive conversations between researchers and religious groups. The topic for this pilot will be AI and mental health, and we will work with Christian and Jewish communities using a Participatory Futures model.

This research position has been included in the project to enable thorough internal assessment of the project’s impact on both the researchers and the religious community members involved.

The main responsibilities of the Postdoctoral Researcher are helping to design the data capture aspects of the community events, gathering data from both religious communities and researchers during and after the events, collating and analysing the data, presenting it in written and oral report form, and contributing to academic publications and other dissemination of the research outputs.

As this project covers sensitive topics and involves engaging with minority religious communities, the successful candidate will be involved in ensuring that the data gathered are handled sensitively and professionally, in collaboration with the academic supervisors, project advisors, religious community leaders and other key stakeholders.

You will have the opportunity to undergo specialist training in social science methods and to attend a relevant academic conference as part of this project.

The applicant must be in agreement with the Christian ethos and aims of The Faraday Institute and will be expected to take a full part in the Institute’s activities.

About You

As Postdoctoral Researcher on this project you will have a postgraduate degree in a social science subject, with excellent skills and experience both quantitative and qualitative research methods. You will have good experience of writing and presenting in an academic environment. Experience of participatory action research or qualitative or deliberative engagement would be beneficial.

You will be a team player, comfortable in working with faith groups, adaptable, e_icient and organised. You will have strong interpersonal, organisational and IT skills.

Please send applications to enquiries@faraday.cam.ac.uk and include a CV naming two referees, together with a covering letter summarising the relevance of your background and experience for this position.

For queries, contact enquiries@faraday.cam.ac.uk

Applications will be accepted until 15th July 2026, or until the position is filled. We expect to interview between 29th-30th July.

www.faraday.cam.ac.uk

The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is a registered charity, number 1153702