Research Fellow in The Politics of River Rights

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have an established background in river/water governance? Do you want to further your career in one of the UKs leading research intensive Universities?

We are looking for a highly motivated an enthusiastic candidate for a fully funded 3-year research fellow position as part of the ESRC (UK Economic and Social Research Council) - FAPESP (São Paulo Research Agency) project “Governing rivers as legal persons: Developing a kin-centric rights framework to address Brazil’s river crisis”. In this international research project, spanning interdisciplinary research teams at the University of Leeds and São Paulo State University (UNESP), the research fellow will play a key role to explore the politics of river rights in Brazil.

The overarching ESRC-FAPESP project will explore (1) whether recent efforts to grant legal rights to rivers are an effective way to address Brazil’s river crisis and (2) to what extent centuries-old kin-centric traditions in Brazil, embraced by indigenous and other riverine communities, have shaped these recent advocacy efforts for river rights in Brazil.  

As part of this position, the research fellow will spend up to six months in Brazil for field research and contribute to the Leeds-based project teams’ overall research activities. Based in the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), the research fellow will also collaborate with water@leeds, one of the largest interdisciplinary centres for water-related research worldwide.

What we offer in return

• 26 days holiday plus approx.16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – That’s 42 days a year!
• Generous pension scheme plus life assurance– the University contributes 14.5% of salary
• Health and Wellbeing: Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art Campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.
• Personal Development: Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team.
• Access to on-site childcare, shopping discounts and travel schemes are also available.

And much more!  

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Markus Fraundorfer, Associate Professor in Global Governance; Email: m.fraundorfer@leeds.ac.uk