Research Associate in Slavery in War

KINGS COLLEGE LONDON; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 46,000; Full time

Job summary

An esteemed research university in the UK seeks a Research Associate to investigate the historical dimensions of slavery in war. Candidates need a PhD in History or a related field, with skills in historical analysis and project management. This full-time role offers an inclusive environment and focuses on significant interdisciplinary research to understand slavery's impact in modern conflicts.

Qualifications

• Significant experience with historical archives and data sources.
• Proven track record in research activity planning.
• Experience in knowledge transfer between disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Map distribution and prevalence of slavery in conflict zones.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams for research projects.
• Engage with non-academic audiences for research impact.

Skills

Historical analysis

Project management

Qualitative methods

Quantitative methods

Communication

Interdisciplinary approaches

Education

PhD in History or closely related subject area

Job description

Organisation/Company KINGS COLLEGE LONDON Research Field History Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Established Researcher (R3) Country United Kingdom Application Deadline 10 Nov 2025 - 00:00 (UTC) Type of Contract Other Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

About us

This role is one of several new roles being recruited under the new Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War, which is based in the School of Security Studies, King’s College London. The new Centre is structured around four interconnected research strands—(Re)conceptualising, Understanding, Forecasting and Tackling—and aims for far-reaching, historically informed insights that transform understandings of war and global responses to modern slavery in conflict settings.

About the role

The role falls under the “Understanding” strand, and the postholder will be based in the Department of War Studies in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy. The Understanding strand will map the distribution, prevalence and forms of slavery across diverse conflict zones in the modern world, building a new analytical paradigm to understand the phenomenon of slavery in war since the 1790s. The postholder will bring historical expertise to the team, supporting work to develop the Centre’s datasets and the team’s use of data analytics and machine learning.

Together, this Centre strand team will build a blended data resource and sets of case studies that can help to gauge the prevalence, forms, and distribution of slavery in wars from 1791 to the present, and to understand the ways slavery and war have shaped each other as phenomena.Key research questions include: How have forms of slavery manifested in wars throughout modern history ? What factors explain how slavery has manifested in wars? How can diverse datasets be synthesised and analysed to research and address slavery in war?

The role-holder will work collaboratively as part of an interdisciplinary team including King’s College London colleagues from War Studies, Digital Humanities and Law, and with colleagues at our partner institution (University of Nottingham) as well as undertaking independent research. They will use approaches, methodologies, and techniques appropriate to the research.

The role-holder will have the opportunity to use their initiative and creativity to identify areas for research, develop research methods and extend their research portfolio within the thematic area of slavery in war. They will have a public-facing role and represent the team externally.

There will be opportunities to work collaboratively with people who have lived experience of slavery, trafficking, and exploitation in conflict settings.

This work is international in scope and covers a wide range of different substantive issues and approaches connected to slavery in war, as well as various different forms of exploitation and contexts. Applications are therefore welcome from researchers who wish to bring a particular perspective, lens, or approach to the work of the Centre.

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered an fixed term contract until 31-Dec-2027.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

• PhD in History or closely related subject area
• Significant experience in working with historical archives, texts and other data sources and repositories, producing critical analysis of data, evaluating texts and bringing new insights.
• Proven track record in planning and managing to completion research activity and meeting own/team research objectives and deadlines in collaboration with others.
• Strong skills in qualitative and/or quantitative comparative methods
• A track record of publication in slavery (including forced labour and human trafficking), human rights, war, conflict, or related subjects.
• Strong organisational and project management skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information with clarity.
• Experience of working effectively with technical teams in the successful development of complex data resources
• Language skills enabling archival research in one or more language(s) other than English
• Publication track record in one or more language(s) other than English
• Demonstrated ability to develop interdisciplinary approaches and research methods.
• Experience in knowledge transfer and methods between areas/ disciplines.
• Track record in effectively engaging non-academic audiences and delivering research impact

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

*Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit ’ pages.

Grade and Salary: £45,031 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Job ID: 126627

Close Date:10-Nov-2025

Contact Person: Dr Maeve Ryan

Contact Details: [e-mail]