Research Fellow - School of History and Cultures - S- Grade 7

School of History and Cultures

Location:

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Part Time, 0.5 FTE (18.75 hours per week)

Fixed Term contract up to July 2028

Closing date: 11 th October 2026

UK and International Travel may be required for this role

This role can be done remotely with occasional group meetings in Birmingham or Oxford

The role will start in January 2027

Singing and the Human Spirit is an interdisciplinary research project based at the University of Birmingham, led by Dr Katie Bank and funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The project explores why singing matters to people and investigates the relationships between choral singing, spirituality, meaning-making, wellbeing, and human flourishing. Bringing together historical, empirical, and practice-based approaches, the project seeks to understand how singing contributes to the ways individuals and communities experience purpose, belonging, and the human spirit.

The project forms part of the wider international Can Beauty Save the World? research programme, hosted by the Catholic University of America, which explores the role of beauty in human flourishing. While contributing to the broader aims of this international collaboration, Singing and the Human Spirit is a distinct University of Birmingham project with its own research agenda, partnerships, and outputs.

The project is already underway, and this appointment has been created to support the next phase of research, including empirical data collection and analysis, a creative participatory workshop, collaborative publications, and engagement with singers, choirs, and wider communities.

This is a 0.5 FTE Research Fellow post for a fixed term of 18 months. The successful candidate will join an established research team at the University of Birmingham, working closely with Principal Investigator Dr Katie Bank and Co-Investigator Professor Stephen Bullivant (St Mary’s Twickenham) to deliver the next phase of the Singing and the Human Spirit project.

The postholder will undertake mixed-methods research exploring the experiences and perspectives of singers and choral communities. They will contribute to the design and delivery of interviews, the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, and the development of practice-led workshop activities that investigate the role of singing in spirituality, meaning-making, wellbeing, and human flourishing. The Research Fellow will work collaboratively with the Principal Investigator to generate original research findings and contribute to the project's interdisciplinary programme of research.

The successful candidate will contribute to a range of academic outputs, including peer-reviewed journal articles, an edited collection, conference presentations, and public engagement activities. They will also be supported to develop an independent publication aligned with the aims of the project, contributing both to the objectives of the grant and to their own developing research profile.

The Research Fellow will participate fully in the intellectual life of the project through regular meetings and collaborative activities. They will also engage with researchers across the wider Can Beauty Save the World? international network, contributing to an interdisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners while remaining embedded within the University of Birmingham research team.

• Work closely with the Principal Investigator to deliver the Singing and the Human Spirit research project in accordance with its aims, objectives, and timeline.
• Co-design,…