The John Rylands Research Institute was established in 2013 as a unique partnership between The University of Manchester Library (one of the largest academic library services in the UK) and the University’s Faculty of Humanities. Its activity extends across all the University’s faculties and is truly interdisciplinary. The Institute aims to uncover, explore, unravel and reveal hidden ideas and knowledge contained within our world-leading Special Collections. Digital image capture and analysis is a key research area of the Institute, helping it to unlock this research potential. We are creating an international community of scholars and researchers across many disciplines, to support research and to bring this information to the wider academic community and public.

The Institute’s Director has recently received funding for a large-scale (£1m) project entitled ‘The Syriac Galen Palimpsest: Galen’s On Simple Drugs and the Recovery of Lost Texts through Sophisticated Imaging Techniques’.

We are seeking to recruit two Research Associates who will be part of a team comprising of the principle investigator (Professor Peter E. Pormann) and two co-investigators (Dr Bill Sellers and Dr Siam Bhayro). You will be supervised by Professor Pormann and Dr Siam Bhayro. As Research Associate to this project you will identify and transcribe under text of the SGP, analyse the text with reference to British Library manuscripts and Greek versions, disseminate your findings by means of presentation and publication and assist the Principle Investigators in organising workshops and conferences. You will also be expected to play an active role in the Institute, such as attending and contributing to seminars and lectures.

You will have a strong command of Syriac and Greek, a doctorate and proven track record of research in the field of Syria Studies and previous experience of reading Syriac manuscripts. You will also need excellent interpersonal and communication skills, be able to prioritise and manage your own workload meeting deadlines where applicable, be able to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.