Job Description
About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.
Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.
We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.
This is an exciting time to join the Museum as we have secured investment from the UK Government to build a new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park, University of Reading. The purpose-built centre will house much of the Museum's collection and will include laboratories, digitisation suites, collaborative research spaces, conservation labs and workspaces
Diversity and inclusion matter to us.
Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.
We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.
About the role
This position will be embedded in a lab whose focus is broadly the human impact of global change (e.g., climate, land-use and demographic change).
This post-doctoral research assistant position will focus on a One Health, interdisciplinary research project set around anthropological, molecular and ecological data collection in Nigeria, with an international team of collaborators, focussing on the rodent-borne disease Lassa Fever. We are interested in examining questions around how patterns of human behaviour and rodent ecology combine to drive high-risk contact, which results in pathogens people and animals share. To achieve this, we are conducting in-depth participatory social science evaluations of people’s everyday habits and activities, measuring proximity using movement analysis and activity space mapping, and combining this with in-depth ecological surveys. We will then undertake extensive molecular survey work to understand how the presence of Lassa Virus changes over time in the different actors in the community. The post-holder will lead on the quantitative analysis of human and animal data using mechanistic and statistical models to predict cross-scale Lassa Fever transmission risk.
About you
The successful candidate will be a skilled and independent researcher with a strong quantitative background and a focused interest in the intersection of human behaviour, ecology, and disease dynamics. You hold a PhD in Ecology, Epidemiology, Computer Science, Applied Statistics, or a related discipline, with substantial experience within academic research settings. Your familiarity with zoonotic or vector-borne diseases, combined with expertise in mixed-effects modelling—particularly within a Bayesian framework—and proficiency in coding environments such as R or Python, will be critical in addressing the research objectives of this position. An ability to learn and apply AI methods to solve problems will be beneficial.
You demonstrate the ability to manage complex datasets, produce high-quality research outputs, and work both independently and collaboratively. Your strong communication skills and capacity to engage in interdisciplinary research discussions are essential. Additionally, you are expected to contribute to the project through the supervision and support of a cohort of PhD students, guiding their development within the research team.
This role demands a high level of professionalism, self-motivation, and a commitment to maintaining institutional standards for quality, equality, and safety. Fieldwork may be required, occasionally in remote locations, necessitating adaptability and a readiness to engage in all aspects of the research. Your role in this project will be integral to advancing our understanding of the impact of human activity on global health challenges.
Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.
We are ambitious. To make a difference on a global scale we are big and bold in our thinking and set goals which may seem impossibly high. We act with integrity, but we are not rigid or inflexible. We are excellent at what we do and look for opportunities to make a difference for the Museum wherever we can.
We are curious. We never stop learning. We look outwards beyond the Museum and ask questions to advance our understanding. We seek out and actively listen to different perspectives. We take time to reflect, are thoughtful and open to new ideas.
We share the wonder. We are captivated by the natural world, proud of our treasures and trusted guardians of our collections. We are passionate about the Museum, enjoy telling its stories and sharing our knowledge and expertise to inspire others. We don’t take this for granted; we feel proud to work here.
We are pioneering. We are not afraid to try something new and use good judgment and evidence to take risks. We experiment, innovate, and embrace complex problems by adapting our approach. We do not dwell on setbacks or get preoccupied with problems. We find solutions.
We team up. We respect the expertise of others and recognise that we produce the strongest outcomes when we put the best ideas together. We trust each other, keep things simple and make it easy for others to do the right thing. We share information and skills so everyone is equipped and enabled to succeed. We never let bad moments grow into bad relationships. We inspire and empower each other to give our best.
We act with pace. We focus our efforts where we know we can make the biggest impact. We take tough decisions and once a plan is set, we all get behind it to make it happen. We take responsibility and don’t wait to be told what to do. We are racing against time in this planetary emergency, so we work with a sense of urgency.
General Information
All positions at the Natural History Museum are conditional subject to receipt of:
• Proof that you are legally entitled to work in the UK
• A Basic Disclosure Check from the Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS)
• Satisfactory references covering the last 3 years of your employment or education
• Health clearance
The Museum supports flexible working.
How to apply
If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.
Closing date: 23:59 on 08 September 2024
Interviews expected: w/c 23 September 2024
Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.