School/Department
School of Ocean Sciences
Salary Information
Salary: £36,333 - £43,155 p.a. (Grade 7) p.a.
Contract Duration
until 31/08/2024
Closing Date 31-07-2023
Applications are invited for the above temporary (12-month FTE) full time post working in the Centre for Applied Marine Sciences (CAMS) based in the School of Ocean Sciences (SOS) in Menai Bridge, Anglesey.
Main duties will include identifying, accessing and collating maritime archives and marine scientific data sets associated with shipping losses in the Irish Sea to support the development of effective methodologies to identify individual shipwrecks. The role will additionally involve close collaboration with external project partners to develop innovative and effective mechanisms to link related maritime archives, marine data and museum related collections at a national and local level.
Candidates should be educated to PhD or to be near completion (or equivalent) in marine archaeology or closely related subject area and have good working knowledge on accessing relevant information sources, understanding of researching and working with maritime data sets and related archived materials.
The successful candidate will be expected to commence the role during September/October 2023. The post is fully funded until 31st August 2024.
Applications will only be accepted via our on-line recruitment website, jobs.bangor.ac.uk. However, in cases of access issues due to disability, paper application forms are available by telephoning 01248 383865.
Closing date for applications: 31st July 2023
Committed to equal opportunities
Overview
The College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at Bangor University is one of the leading centres in the UK for teaching and research in an extensive range of science subjects. We aim to educate and train a new generation of scientists aware of societal and environmental needs in a world-class research-led environment.
The School of Ocean Sciences (SOS), located on the beautiful shores of the Isle of Anglesey, is a multidisciplinary department with a focus on continental shelf sciences and a strong history of international research excellence and collaboration. Core research interests include oceanography, marine biology and ecology, aquaculture & fisheries, geoscience, biogeochemistry and climate change science.
This position will be based in the Centre for Applied Marine Sciences (CAMS) – a state-of-the-art facility embedded within SOS that acts as a hub for cross-disciplinary research, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of marine science in the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering.
The Centre for Applied Marine Sciences (CAMS) is an externally funded, outward-facing centre that links end users to marine and coastal research. CAMS has an extensive portfolio of applied research projects and a strong history of interaction with external partners across the UK and internationally.
The Project
‘Unpath’d Waters: Marine and Maritime Collections in the UK’ (UNPATH) is a 3-year, £3M Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded, multi-partner initiative led by Historic England (HE) involving seven UK universities, UK heritage agencies and numerous national and local museums, charitable trusts and marine consultants. The purpose of the project is to develop and test innovative methods to connect and promote disparate collections of marine data, archives, documents, artefacts and artworks associated with UK maritime history and make this available to existing and new audiences as well as developing and implementing new integrated management tools designed to protect our most significant heritage.
UNPATH consists of a number of separate, inter-related work packages of which, this role in WP3.2 ‘Science and the Sea’ led by Bangor University, is part. This aspect of the work is being undertaken in close collaboration with Ulster University (UU) and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments Wales (RCAHMW).
Purpose of the Job
The purpose of the project is to develop and test innovative methods to connect disparate collections of maritime related data, archives, documents, artifacts and artworks etc associated with UK maritime history.
The role holder will research and develop effective multi-proxy methodologies to identify unknown shipwrecks and refine/enhance levels of confidence associated with current inferred identities of shipwrecks in the Irish Sea by combining high-resolution Multibeam Echosounder (MBES) data with maritime archives and other relevant scientific and documentary evidence.
This specific UNPATH project work package additionally aims to incorporate this work within the broader WP3.2 aim of identifying, assessing, cataloguing and linking existing scientific data (geophysical, sedimentological, hydrodynamical and ecological), historical documents, maritime archives, artefacts and museum exhibits associated with a selection of historically important Irish Sea wreck sites. The post holder will be expected to play a leading role in developing this work through close collaboration/liaison with both UU and RCAHMW as well as other organisations associated with the UNPATH project across the UK.
The position will be based in the School of Ocean Sciences/Centre for Applied Marine Sciences in Menai Bridge and the successful appointee will operate under the direction of UNPATH WP3.2 P.I. Dr Michael Roberts.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Identify, collate and analyse relevant archival collections/information and scientific data sets.
Develop and test methods to identify shipwrecks based on integrating maritime archives with scientific data.
Develop, optimise and test methods to manipulate and interpret/analyse multibeam sonar data using applicable ‘point-cloud’ based software packages.
Support the development of data archiving solutions and heritage collection linkage mechanisms.
Collaborate with BU project staff and external project partners to support the development and delivery of the ‘Unpath’d Waters project work package aims and objectives.
Develop the Universities’ project related relationship with existing work package contributors and wider project partners, together with identifying and developing new links with additional relevant organisations.
Undertake collaborative research with relevant work package project partners/contributors to ensure successful delivery of the project aims.
Contribute to delivery of research outcomes through the generation/production of research outputs/reports/scientific articles in collaboration with co-researchers.
Share/disseminate research progress/outcomes through attendance at relevant UK based project meetings and conferences.
Support project promotional activities through the creation of suitable publicity material, press releases and social media outputs etc.
Other Duties and Responsibilities
The post holder will be expected to participate in performance review and developmental activities.
The post holder will be expected to comply with the University’s equality policies and statements, Dignity at Work and Study Policy and the University’s Welsh Language Scheme.
The post holder has a general and legal duty of care in relation to health, safety and wellbeing and must take all reasonable steps to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for him/her-self and for other members of staff, students and visitors affected by his/her actions or inactions. The post holder is also required to comply with all applicable health and safety policies, procedures and risk assessments.
The post holder must comply with relevant legal and financial policies and procedures and be aware of their responsibilities in terms of the legal requirements of their post.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Training
Essential
A PhD or to be near completion (or equivalent) in marine archaeology or closely related subject area.
Desirable
Qualification in a maritime heritage related subject area.
Relevant professional accreditation.
Experience/Knowledge
Essential
Research experience in the field of maritime archaeology following achievement of PhD.
Familiarity in using software packages to manipulate and interpret point cloud data.
Proven track record of heritage sector related collaborative research.
Comprehensive understanding and experience of working with maritime heritage datasets.
Detailed familiarity and appreciation of heritage data management systems.
Experience of working independently and as part of a larger research team.
Ability to develop appropriate methodologies to undertake quantitative data analyses.
Track record of publications associated with maritime heritage related research.
Experience in working with GIS and Point Cloud software packages.
Desirable
Experience of shipwreck related research using maritime archives.
Experience of collaboration with heritage sector organisations.
Experience of conference presentations.
Skills/Abilities
Essential
Demonstrate excellent verbal and written skills.
Excellent analytical skills, ability to analyse numerical data and present results appropriately.
Demonstrate the ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines.
Ability to interact and communicate with external partners.
Desirable
The ability to communicate in Welsh is desirable for this role. If applicants are not able to speak / write in Welsh at present, there are opportunities to learn if the successful candidate wishes to do so.
Willingness and ability to travel to meetings, conferences as required by the role.
Full and clean UK driving licence.