Career Opportunities at Queen's

About the job:

This position is part of the FORESIGHTERS Doctoral Training Programme (Future ORiEnted Skills, Innovation for Governance for Health, Technology, Energy, Cities and Creativity) which will provide world-class advanced research training, with an innovative emphasis on skills such as futures literacy, foresight, systems thinking, citizen engagement, and other transferable capabilities. Each Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) will play an active role within a collaborative inter-disciplinary cohort of researchers to undertake a high impact doctoral research project addressing a significant social, environmental, cultural, or economic issue. ESRs will be awarded a 42-month contract, funded through the prestigious Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND programme, with match funding provided by a Northern Ireland Department for the Economy studentship.

You will work primarily under the theme of Technology, undertaking a dedicated research project. Successful appointees will demonstrate and develop skills for working in inter-disciplinary environments and engage with research undertaken across all the thematic areas in FORESIGHTERS.

The Technology Theme will explore how societies can harness technological advances responsibly and proactively, strengthening their capacity for futures-thinking and fostering adaptive, inclusive and long-term innovation strategies. Projects under this theme will emphasise the crucial role of technology as a cross-cutting enabler that supports innovation across interconnected areas, addressing emerging risks and enhancing systemic resilience, ultimately contributing to sustainable and equitable social outcomes.

Interviews are scheduled to take place on Tuesday 6 October 2026.

More information (including advice about the application and assessment and decision making processes) can be found on https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/foresighters/. 

Major duties include (full list available in Job Specification):

• Conduct research underpinned by inter-disciplinarity within the Technology theme and as appropriate across multiple project themes, in an organised and timely manner.
• Carry out the research and training activities specified by a Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP).
• Actively participate in skills development and undertake mandatory training programmes as required by Supervisors, Theme Leaders, and Project Coordinator. Submit training reports in fulfilment of the project requirements.
• Undertake secondment and placements with non-academic partners, as appropriate to the research project. Submit secondment reports in fulfilment of the project requirements.
• Study and engage with contemporary research literature in appropriate disciplines including academic journals and papers, books, textbooks, and other relevant sources to ensure doctoral research projects bring new thinking and state-of-the-art approaches to the research field.
• Record, analyse and write up results of research work and contribute to the production of outputs, in a variety of formats, as appropriate.
• Document, prepare, analyse and complete a final thesis in formats appropriate to the field.

About the person:

ESRs will be highly motivated, and expected to deliver high‑quality, high-impact, cutting-edge research, within the field of Futures research. ESRs pro-actively engage with their inter-disciplinary supervisory team, undertake advanced training and collaborate with intersectoral, non-academic partners to help shape the direction of their research.

Essential criteria include (full list available in Job Specification):

• Hold (or be about to be awarded) a degree equivalent to a UK 1st class or 2.1 Honours degree, from a UK or Republic of Ireland Higher Education Provider, or an equivalent qualification from outside the UK and the Republic of Ireland, acceptable to the University (see below in Additional Information).
• Not yet have been awarded a doctorate level qualification.
• Meet MSCA mobility requirements (i.e. must not have resided or carried out main education and/or employment activity in the UK for more than 12 months in the 36 months prior to the application closing date). This requirement is fundamental to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and will be applied equally to all applicants.
• Ability to demonstrate competence in written and spoken English, in accordance with the University’s English Language Requirements.
• Be eligible and qualified for enrolment in the PhD programme at QUB.
• Sufficient breadth or depth of specialist knowledge in available techniques for investigation of proposed research topic within a Futures framework and in an interdisciplinary context.
• Relevant experience with research methods and techniques appropriate to the proposed project.
• Demonstrable evidence of analytical and problem‑solving abilities relevant to research.
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly.

Please upload the following, combined into a single file:

• A 2-page (maximum) curriculum vitae that includes the following information with details and dates where appropriate: Academic qualifications (or equivalencies in practice experience), universities attended, degree(s) awarded, details of courses taken and grades attained, professional qualifications; employment, research & voluntary experience, publications (if any);
• A 2-page (maximum) Supporting Statement explaining how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the position, and your motivation to undertake doctoral research within the FORESIGHTERS programme;
• A short (maximum 1 page) outline of a Research Proposal describing your research interests within the FORESIGHTERS Research Theme to which you are applying. Where there are potential interdisciplinary links to other Themes, these should be highlighted.

To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information. 

This post is available for 42 months. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding. 

What we offer:

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at  https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/pay-reward-and-benefits/. 

Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/diversity.

If you are an international applicant and don't already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application - http://go.qub.ac.uk/internationalstaffsupport.  

Candidate Information