Refugee Family Reunion Postdoctoral Research Associate (Forensic)

at  Kings College London

Job id: 106025. Salary: £44,105 per annum pro rata, including London Weighting Allowance.
Posted: 30 January 2025. Closing date: 13 February 2025.
Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. Department: Analytics, Environmental & Forensics.
Contact details: Lesley Nott. Lesley.nott@kcl.ac.uk
Location: Waterloo Campus. Category: Research.
About us
King’s Legal Clinic aims to improve access to justice and educate King’s students by providing free legal advice to members of the public through its Legal Advice Clinic and working with local and international organisations on research and justice projects.
We are now seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate to carry out research for the Refugee Family Reunion (RFR) project, an interdisciplinary project being led by the Dickson Poon School of Law’s award-winning Legal Clinic, King’s Legal Clinic in partnership with DNA @ King’s, King’s Sanctuary Programme, and Refugee Legal Support.
About the role

King’s Legal Clinic is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate to carry out research as part of the Refugee Family Reunion (RFR) project. The RFR project aims to improve the experience of refugee families seeking sanctuary to the UK through legal representation, research, policy, and education. Funded by One King’s Impact Fund, King’s Legal Clinic is leading a network of interdisciplinary partners from across and beyond King’s, including DNA @ King’s, King’s Sanctuary Programme, and Refugee Legal Support. The project aims to make the UK immigration system fairer and more compassionate through:

• Establishing a pilot Clinic providing legal and DNA testing assistance to refugees in the UK
• Conducting research to assess decision making at the Home Office
• Conducting research to improve the use of DNA evidence.

The successful candidate will work with the DNA @ King’s, Directors of King’s Legal Clinic, Sanctuary Programme and partners, including Refugee Legal Support, Home Office and wider stakeholders in the project.
The research associate’s main responsibilities will include, the development of research evaluation:
interpretation of DNA evidence by decision makers
identify differences in the tests and reports provided by laboratories/agencies accredited by the Ministry of Justice
transparency of capabilities of accredited laboratories/agencies offering accepted legal DNA reports
transparency of official DNA guidance and how it is interpreted by decision makers
transparency of the process from identifying and instructing DNA services through to Home Office evaluation
accepted identification and supporting documents and accepted alternatives where families cannot provide these
The successful candidate will also be supported and expected to contribute to project-related engagement activities, including event organisation, conference and workshop participation, presentation of findings, and writing publications.
We are looking for a candidate with knowledge and previous experience of:
research and report writing
quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Some knowledge/ experience in the following fields; forensic genetics kinship testing, accreditation for DNA testing laboratories, use of DNA in support of applications, Human Tissue Authority Act legislation on consent, Home Office legal DNA testing and sample collection guidance, political sociology and human geography.
This is a part time post for 21 hours per week (3 days) on a fixed term contract until 30th June 2025, with the possibility of a further short extension of the contract. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will be based at the Waterloo Campus, King’s College London, able to work in a hybrid model. The post will involve travel to meetings at the Waterloo and Strand campuses.
The Dickson Poon School of Law and DNA @ King’s embraces equality, diversity and inclusion. We attract students and staff from across the world, from many different backgrounds, with a variety of ethnicities, religions, and sexual and gender identities. We promote flexible working as a key enabler of inclusion. We particularly encourage and welcome applications from a forced migration background, women, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates, and from candidates who are LGBTQ+ and/or have a disability.
About you
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

*Essential criteria *

• Research expertise on Refugee law and/or UK immigration law.
• Demonstrable knowledge in one or more of the following fields; Demonstrable knowledge in one or more of the following fields; forensic genetics, accreditation for DNA testing laboratories, use of DNA in support of applications, Human Tissue Authority Act legislation on consent, Home Office legal DNA testing and sample collection guidance, political sociology and human geography.
• Undergraduate degree and PhD in related subjects. Additional research experience would be an advantage.
• Previous experience of conducting high quality desk-based and empirical research, including quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.
• Demonstrable writing skills, including report writing.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, troubleshoot own work and work to deadlines.
• Good interpersonal, communication and teamwork skills, including ability to communicate well with colleagues and all stakeholders.
• Understanding of the benefits and challenges of working in an interdisciplinary field.
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion in alignment with King’s Guiding Principles
• competent in the use of MS Office. Experience with Clio would be an advantage but not essential

Desirable criteria

• Demonstrable experience of working with a range of stakeholders on interdisciplinary research
• Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate, and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Downloading a copy of our Job Description
Further information
This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service clearance.
We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King’s.
We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.
To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.
Interviews are due to be held in February 2025.
We are not able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK

Please refer the Job description for details