Deadline for applications May 15th, 2016
We are developing major new Medicine Galleries to showcase thousands of objects from our medicine collections for the next generation. Thanks to the initial financial support from the Wellcome Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Wolfson Foundation, these six new galleries will open in 2019, transforming much of the first floor of the Museum and putting the history of medicine and biomedical research at the heart of the Science Museum. Over the coming months the museum will be inviting a broad range of projects from collaboratively supervised PhDs to research fellowships. We are seeking researchers to work with our curators and carry out short projects and help deepen our knowledge of particular areas of the collection.
This position will involve research in secondary literature and other relevant resources. It may also include working with the museum’s collections, for which training will be provided. The researcher will receive a fixed fee to produce text following a set brief and should be able to express complex subjects clearly and accurately within a tight deadline (4 weeks). We are looking for a diligent post-graduate or early-career researcher with excellent organizational and communication skills. Candidates should be available to work in May and early-June, 2016.
Candidates should apply to work on no more than one of the following research questions:
- What methods, ranging from incentives to criminalisation, have been used to alter behaviours to improve public health and how have these been communicated to the public?
- What have been the trends in the response to malaria over the last century?
- What is Margaret Lowenfeld’s place in the history of psychotherapy and why have her psychotherapeutic practices not been as popular as other comparable practices?
- What impact did Ludwig Guttmann have on physiotherapy?
- With reference to the set of objects identified in the briefing document, please email, how have these objects shaped medical practice/diagnosis in relation to mind and mental health?
- What is the social and personal context of the Moreen Lewis and Milton Roy kidney Machine (object number 1979-202)?
- How does the Southern Nigerian Medicine Man’s outfit (object number: A657336) relate to other objects in the museum’s collection from the same area? Do these objects relate to any contemporary traditional medical practices?
Fee:
The fee for each project will vary between £850 and £1750.
Requirements:
- A good degree in a related field
- Post-graduate research experience
- Strong research and writing skills
- Knowledge of the relevant field
- Ability and availability to work to deadlines
Application process:
Candidates should send their CV as well as a brief statement (no more than 1 page), detailing their area of research, their suitability for the position, and how they would approach their chosen research question, to Oisin Wall by May 15th, 2016.