Postdoctoral Researcher – ‘STEMMA'-School of English, Media, and Creative Arts 011345
Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for a full-time, fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Researcher with the project ‘STEMMA: Systems of Transmitting Early Modern Manuscript Verse, 1475–1700’ at the University of Galway, Ireland.
This position is funded by the European Research Council and is available from 5 January 2026.
Information on project
This project, led by Professor Erin A. McCarthy (https://www.universityofgalway.ie/our-research/people/english-and-creative-arts/erinmccarthy/), develops and applies a data-driven approach in order to provide the first macro-level view of the circulation of early modern English poetry in manuscript. It focuses on English verse manuscripts written and used between the introduction of printing in England in 1475 and 1700, by which time the rapid changes in both literary taste and publishing norms ushered in by the Restoration had fully transformed literary culture. The project includes manuscripts circulating in England and anywhere else English was spoken and read, including Ireland, the North American colonies, and continental exile communities. It develops innovative computational models and quantitative methods for studying the social and material forces that informed literary culture.
Whereas the current state of the art has seen the scholarly community address manuscripts primarily as case studies, STEMMA (https://stemma.universityofgalway.ie) seeks to open new frontiers in manuscript research by facilitating the identification of patterns and trends at scale. To that end, the project begins by synthesizing six of the most comprehensive datasets about early modern English manuscripts in preparation for advanced literary, material, and quantitative analyses. This first work package sets the stage for four further, interlocking work packages, to which the doctoral and postdoctoral positions are allocated: networking early modern manuscript poems; early modern literary communities in the English-speaking world; rolling archetypes, computational text analysis, and scholarly editing; and textual circulation between manuscript and print. The research team will comprise the PI, three postdoctoral researchers, and one PhD student with expertise in literary history, textual studies, computational text analysis, and social network analysis. They will be based in the Hardiman Research Building.
Salary: Postdoctoral Researcher salary scale €46,305- €59,063 per annum, (subject to the project’s funding limitations), and pro rata for shorter and/or part-time contracts.
The default position for all new public sector appointments is the 1st point of the salary scale. This may be reviewed, and consideration afforded to appointment at a higher point on the payscale (subject to the project’s funding limitations), where evidence of prior years’ equivalent experience is accepted in determining placement on the scale above point 1, subject to the maximum of the scale.
(Research Salary Scales - University of Galway)
Closing date for receipt of applications is 17:00 (Irish Time) on 30th September 2025. It will not be possible to consider applications received after the closing date.
*Please review full job description for further details and essential requirement