University of Cambridge
Research Assistant/Associate - Postdoctoral Researcher in Modern Dravidian Studies (Fixed Term)
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Research Assistant/Research Associate in Modern Dravidian History and Politics
The Faculty of History wishes to recruit a Research Assistant/Research Associate within the broad field of 'Modern Dravidian History and Politics 1945-to the present, working under the supervision of Professor Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics. The position is endowed by a recent bequest to the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a full-time post for three years, commencing 1 October 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Pathways and Aims
The pathways and aims of this research are to build historical and analytical perspectives on welfare in relation to shifts in democracy and statecraft including emerging digital public infrastructure. A combination of methods - archival, data sets and interview based will be essential. The interaction of ideas and institutions with public perception, political languages and democratic outcome will be key.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate will be educated to PhD level, with established expertise in South Asian/Tamil history or politics (or clear evidence that completion of such a doctorate is imminent) and will have fluency with the use of research materials in English and Tamil; proven ability to conduct and deliver a high quality research project; be an experienced Microsoft office user, prepared to learn other software tools if required and have the ability and willingness to engage in digital humanities research and public -facing work, in a collaborative and interdisciplinary capacity.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Responsibilities
The postholder will undertake innovative research with data sets, archives and interviews on welfare, democracy and postcolonial statecraft and other repositories utilising Tamil language.
- Write research articles where appropriate from their own work and move towards publishing a monograph at the completion of their postdoctoral fellowship.
- Work with Prof Kapila on to identify key sources for digital humanities research and to design and manage the public platform for the project as required.
- Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues including doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows; and further afield, academics, public intellectuals and others.
- Fully participate in workshops and conferences connected to the project by presenting papers and assisting with arrangements; attend other conferences, held by other associations and groups, when possible.
- Work with interdisciplinary research and writing with a view to presenting ideas and policy perspectives to stakeholders, public and scholarly audiences.
- Engage with tasks connected to the dissemination activities of the project.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
More information about the Faculty is available here: https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/
Fixed-term
The funds for this post are available until 30 September 2029 in the first instance.
Application
Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to: Professor Shruti Kapila (sk555@cam.ac.uk)
If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact: hr@hist.cam.ac.uk
Please quote reference JJ50616 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.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills