Post-Doctoral Researcher (Specified Purpose Contract), (PatentsInHumans Project), School of Law & Criminology, & ALL Institute, Maynooth University

Overview of the ERC PatentsInHumans project:

PatentsInHumans is a 5-year European Research Council Starting Grant funded project led by Principal Investigator, Professor Aisling McMahon. The rapid pace of scientific developments has led to significant advances in health-technologies, such as medicines, vaccines, and medical devices which are often patentable or have patentable elements. How patents are used over such technologies can impact how we treat, use and modify the body, with knock-on bioethical implications. PatentsInHumans aims to develop a deeper understanding of such bioethical implications, and how they are, or could be better, engaged with by relevant decision-making systems in Europe. Ultimately, it seeks to bridge the disconnect between patent law and bioethics in such contexts.

The role:

As part of this project, we are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher which excellent empirical/participant research skills to explore complex and important empirical questions at the interface of health innovation, bioethics and patent law. The candidate will work primarily on the empirical strand of the project, and for this role, we are looking to appoint a candidate with a background in using empirical methods and analysis, such as semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups. It is also desirable that the successful candidate has relevant knowledge of, at least one area related to the project, such as, bioethics, an area of law related to the project, for example, health law, human rights, or intellectual property law, or broader areas considered by the project, including institutional influences on decision-making, theories of governance etc. 

The successful candidate will work with Prof Aisling McMahon (Principal Investigator) on the empirical strand of the project. They will work with the PI to conduct semi-structured interviews and focus groups with relevant experts and stakeholders to gain qualitative understandings of the potential bioethical implications posed by patents over such technologies and to develop deeper understandings of any challenges to engaging with these under the current decision-making systems in Europe. More specifically, as part of the project we aim to conduct expert semi-structured interviews to gain insights over the institutional influences which may impact how decision-making actors engage with potential bioethical issues posed by the grant and use of patents over technologies related to how we treat, use and modify the human body. It will aim to develop a deeper understanding of, whether and to what extent such bioethical issues are currently considered, if at all, within the relevant legal and other decision-making systems in Europe. 

In addition, as part of this role, the candidate will assist with conducting focus groups with technology users, including members of the public and patient representatives, to deepen our understanding of potential bioethical issues at stake, and to deepen understandings of how the public view patent law. Together with the Principal Investigator the successful candidate will analyse such data and will contribute to project deliverables and publications. They will also support the Principal Investigator in carrying out other research tasks related to the project, including developing publications, conducting desk-based research, literature reviews and writing of project reports. The Postdoctoral Researcher will join a dynamic, well-supported multidisciplinary team within the research-intensive School of Law and Criminology in Maynooth University. 

They will be supported in their personal career development plan throughout the project by Professor McMahon. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101042147.