Postdoctoral Research Associate

Grade UE07: £41,064 to £48,822 per annum

CAHSS / Edinburgh College of Art / Institute for Design Informatics

Full Time: 35 hours per week

Fixed Term: 1st January 2026 – 30th June months)

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Digital Cultural Heritage Data Ethics & Software Ecosystems to join the Institute for Design Informatics, Edinburgh College of Art.

The Opportunity:

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a major European Commission-funded project focused on data ethics and software design within digital cultural heritage. You will collaborate with leading European partners, contributing to innovative solutions that influence the future of digital cultural heritage. The position involves designing research on ethical guidelines and evaluating open-source tools to ensure legal and ethical compliance in AI-driven processes for Digital Cultural Heritage Objects (DCHOs). You will play a lead role in creating a Rulebook for developers and establishing validation requirements for ethical and legally sound software ecosystems.

This post is funded by the European Union's Horizon scheme and is part of a pan-European research project. Regular European travel will be expected as part of this role.

Starting salary for this role will be up to a maximum of £46,049 per annum.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A PhD in digital humanities, digital ethics, or a related field such as digital sociology, law, or information sciences.
• Demonstrated expertise in data and AI ethics, particularly in digital cultural heritage contexts.
• Experience in evaluating and implementing digital tools with a focus on usability and documentation.
• Strong organisational skills and ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating complex concepts for diverse audiences.
  Proven ability to collaborate across interdisciplinary and international teams.

This post is associated with the Institute for Design Informatics (IDI, ) a long-standing joint research initiative between the Schools of Design and Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. The successful candidate will join IDI's dynamic team of 50+ academics, researchers, software research engineers and professional services staff, contributing to the Institute's diverse research and entrepreneurship activities. DI is an exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent and reward success.

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Please ensure you upload a Covering Letter, CV and highest qualification certificate to your application.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

• A competitive salary

• An exciting, positive, creative, fast-paced and rewarding place to work.

• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community

• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page (opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages (opens new browser tab).

On this occasion the University will not consider applicants requiring sponsorship for this role. International workers will therefore only be able to take up this role if they can demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 24th October 2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.

Interviews will be held on Friday 28th November 2025.