Career Center

The McDonald Institute invites applications for the second annual Fellowship in archaeology (broadly defined) aimed at candidates of Black Identity or Heritage. The McDonald Institute aims to nurture excellence in the discipline of archaeology regardless of background and in pursuit of diverse knowledges, approaches and practices. We recognise that persistent structural inequalities disadvantage people from Black backgrounds and communities, including within higher education and academic research. As such, we are keen to enable underrepresented early career researchers of Black Identity or Heritage to develop their portfolio of research experience and to thrive in academia. This one-year postdoctoral Fellowship is designed to attract research excellence and we will provide the Fellows with training, mentorship and support to drive their careers forward and to generate a more diverse pipeline of future talent.

The Fellowship is aimed at early career researchers and the general requirement is a successfully examined PhD in archaeology or a related field, held at the time of application. Applicants must have normally defended their PhD a maximum of 7 years prior to the closing date shown below. Applications are encouraged from all branches and fields of archaeology broadly construed, including also human evolution, heritage and museums studies, with no restrictions on methodological approach, period or geographic focus. The successful applicant will take up their Fellowship on 1 October 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. We strongly support applications from candidates of any nationality, though the successful post-holder must hold or be granted the right to live and work in the UK. The Fellowship is open to people who self-identify as being from a Black Identity or Heritage background, including dual-heritage, understood as, Black British; Black African; Black Caribbean; African American; Black American; other Black backgrounds.