Recruiting researchers in Animal Studies (humanities and social sciences)

We are now recruiting four new Post Doctoral Research Associates to join the team.

We are now recruiting four new Post Doctoral Research Associates to join the team.

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Key Researcher

Lucy Dunning

Project Manager

Lucy joined the Multispecies Mutualisms project as the Project Manager shortly after it began in September 2025. In this role, Lucy assists with strategic project planning, maintains the project website, manages project finances, organises events, assists in knowledge exchange and impact activities and oversees data collection protocols and storage.

Prior to this, Lucy was an Operations Manager in the Faculty of Social Sciences, supporting the Social Research Institutes. She has previously also had a stint in the School as a Project Manager, and is pleased to be back supporting this high-profile research project and working with some familiar colleagues again.
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Last year, ‘Multispecies Mutualisms’ was successfully awarded a Wellcome Trust grant of £1.6 million. We are now recruiting four new Post Doctoral Research Associates to join the team.

We are seeking four Postdoctoral Research Associates (PDRAs) to join the Multispecies Mutualisms research team. These three-year positions will begin in September 2026 and are based in the School of Sociological Studies, Politics & International Relations.

We are looking for individuals who are keen to engage in interdisciplinary research, with an arts & humanities and/or social sciences background in animal studies.

These PDRA positions will help us reframe how we understand health, care, and mutual dependency across species.

Closing date for applications is 12/04/2026

Multispecies Mutualism illustration by Lisa O'Hara
Multispecies Mutualism illustration by Lisa O’Hara

Contact us

For informal enquiries or if you have any questions about your suitability for these roles, please contact the project lead, Rosaleen Duffy on r.v.duffy@sheffield.ac.uk. 

If you would prefer to speak to someone over the phone, please let us know.

Disability Confident: Our Commitment

The University of Sheffield is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are committed to supporting disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We offer reasonable adjustments, accessible resources, and an inclusive working environment where everyone can thrive. If you apply for a role, you can indicate whether you wish to opt-in under the Disability Confident scheme. If you opt-in and meet the essential criteria for this role you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process. Learn more about the University of Sheffield’s commitments to the scheme.

The Project

Multispecies Mutualisms is based within the School of English in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, part of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Starting in September 2025 and running for five years, Multispecies Mutualisms investigates how partnerships between humans and animals can support mental, physical, and material health, while also examining the inequalities and harms that may arise from these relationships. The project focuses on four case studies: nature-based therapies, ethical dairy production, equine-assisted therapy, and hypoallergenic dog breeding.

The project addresses three ambitious research questions:

  1. How are the benefits of multispecies mutualism conceived, represented and contested in public understandings of a healthy life?
  2. How are the different, sometimes competing, interests of humans, animals and ecosystems negotiated in practices of multispecies mutualism?
  3. How might the development of new theories of multispecies mutualism transform ethical and conceptual pathways into human, animal, and ecosystem health?

As the first comprehensive critical interrogation of multispecies mutualism, Multispecies Mutualisms will:

  1. Enable comprehensive understanding of how health and wellbeing outcomes of multispecies mutualism are perceived and practised in a range of contexts
  2. Provide new empirical and conceptual tools for policymakers, practitioners and activists working on multispecies health
  3. Pioneer new theoretical trajectories and ethical frameworks for how multispecies mutualism can be understood and implemented

The team 

The team adopts a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together expertise from political ecology, sociology, literary studies, and political theory. It includes Professor Rosaleen Duffy, Dr Eva Giraud, and Professor Alasdair Cochrane from the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, and Professor Bob McKay from the School of English. The project is supported by Project Manager Lucy Dunning, who oversees successful delivery of the programme of work.

Your development 

Your development is really important to us. As a PDRA, we’ll work with you to establish an individual development plan that will be reviewed on a bi-annual basis. You’ll have 10 days per year to undertake training and continuing professional development (CPD) in line with the Wellcome Trust Concordat to Support your Career Development. We will provide support and coaching for you to develop and lead your own grant applications, publications and other project outputs.

To find a list of Frequently Asked Questions, please visit https://sheffield.ac.uk/spir/news/recruiting-researchers-animal-studies-humanities-and-social-sciences

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