Job description

Job summary

The post is funded by the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment. The Grantham Institute is the largest of the College’s Global Challenge Institutes.

The mission of the Grantham Institute is to drive climate-related research, translating this into real world impact and communicating knowledge to help shape decision-making in business, policy and the third sector. In this role you will expand the Institute’s work on linking scientific and legal discussions about climate change and conduct research on the role of attribution science in strategic climate litigation. Litigation has achieved increasing success for demanding climate action from governments and corporations, but litigators face persistent challenges in building causal evidentiary arguments despite recent advances in attribution science. This work will facilitate the translation of scientific insights into legal frameworks by analysing how plaintiffs, defendants and courts evaluate climate change evidence. In addition, you are expected to establish a direct relationship with the institute’s sister institute at the London School of Economics, the Grantham Research Institute, and interact with stakeholders from various sectors, including lawyers, journalists and other relevant groups.  

You will be expected to submit publications to refereed journals. Your research will contribute towards the Institute’s vision of a sustainable, resilient, zero-carbon future.

Duties and responsibilities

• Formulate research questions and develop a coherent research programme on the role of climate science in climate change litigation and the gaps in understanding between the scientific and legal communities


• Conduct research with the ability to identify appropriate methods of investigation and analyse and research complex ideas, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary socio-legal research methods


• Develop the Institute’s network at the climate science and law nexus, including a focus on strengthening ties with the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics


• Identify strategic opportunities for expanding research on the climate science and law nexus and explore new avenues of potential funding, developing funding proposals as required


• Engage with stakeholders and researchers within the College and the wider community


• Actively participate in the research programme of the Institute


• Contribute to teaching activities related to your field of research, including in supporting the supervision of PhD students


• Attend meetings, workshops and events internally and externally as required to represent and promote the research interests of the Grantham Institute and the College.


• Publish in high quality journals and to present data at national and international meetings.

Essential requirements

You should hold a PhD in anthropology or related social science.

In addition, you have to be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

• Knowledge of and publication record on the interface between climate science and law
• Experience in liaising with legal practitioners on climate litigation
• Experience in collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders
• Established access to stakeholder and/or networks within the field of climate litigation
• Experience of presenting results and findings to specialist and non-specialist audiences
• Expertise on the interface between climate science and law
• Knowledge of environmental legal practice
• Knowledge of climate change attribution research
• Excellent verbal communication skills and the ability to deal with a wide range of people
• Excellent written communication skills and the ability to write clearly and succinctly for publication
• Ability to organise own work with minimal supervision
• Ability to prioritise own work in response to deadlines
• Advanced computer skills, including word-processing, spreadsheets and the Internet
• Ability to direct the work of a small research team and motivate others to produce a high standard of work
• Willingness to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative
• Flexible attitude towards work
• Discipline and regard for confidentiality and security at all times
• Willingness to undertake any necessary training for the role
• Willingness to travel both within the United Kingdom and abroad to conduct research and attend conferences
• Willingness to work out of normal working hours (including weekends) if the requirements of the project demand.

Further information

This role is part-time (0.2 FTE) and fixed term for 2 years. You will be based at South Kensington Campus.

If you are thinking about applying for this job and want to discuss it further, please contact Prof Joeri Rogelj j.rogelj@imperial.ac.uk

Want help submitting your application? Please visit the Grantham Institute’s Tips on how to submit a successful application.

Find out more about the Community and Culture at the Grantham Institute.

Should you have any queries about the application process, please contact Gosia Gayer, g.gayer@imperial.ac.uk. 

Hybrid working may be considered for this role.  Staff working in roles that are suitable for hybrid working will normally be expected to work 60% of their time onsite. The opportunity for hybrid working will be discussed at interview.

More information is available on the following web page: Work Location Categories (from 30 September 2023) | Administration and support services | Imperial College London

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research/ 

Documents

• Job Description Research Fellow.pdf