Jobs Archive

The Hunterian
The oldest public museum in Scotland, with collections spanning arts, sciences and humanities, The Hunterian is at the forefront of university museums around the world.
Since it opened at the University of Glasgow in 1807, The Hunterian has proved itself an invaluable academic and community resource. Enriching student and staff experience and sharing the University’s teaching and research priorities, for over 200 years it has provided a platform for strategic and international collaborations, civic engagement and academic impact.

Job Purpose
To develop, care for, and engage audiences with the Mineralogy and Petrology (Min/Pet) collections of The Hunterian. The postholder undertakes and promotes research, teaching and learning initiatives and knowledge co-production with stakeholders on these collections, and promotes their use in community and public engagement in line with the stated objectives of The Hunterian as outlined in the 2021-25 Strategic Plan.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
To work with Collections Management and Curatorial colleagues to ensure that the collections are efficiently managed, documented and interpreted for their long-term well-being.
To work collaboratively with Audience Engagement, Collections Management and Curatorial teams to facilitate physical, digital and intellectual access to the collections for HE and other groups, and to encourage engagement with the collections by the widest possible learning audiences, including through exhibition, digital media and other means. This will include contributions to ongoing digitisation programmes in relation to content management systems, and the creation of suitable administrative, descriptive and interpretative content to enable this access.
To advise and be involved in the development of the collections in accordance with The Hunterian’s strategic development objectives for academic and public engagement.
To acquire and keep current a broad and deep subject-related knowledge and provide, as appropriate, expert advice to UoG and related organisations on matters pertaining to the collections, and to participate in national and international activities related to the collections.
To undertake, facilitate and partner in innovative research in the Hunterian collections and to participate actively in international scholarship relating to these collections. The post-holder will be required to write up research findings for publication in leading peer-reviewed journals and through other appropriate media.
To develop and sustain forms of engagement with university and local stakeholder communities, where possible exploring the relationship between the collections and strategic concerns such as colonialism and environmental change.
To be a lead provider and source of expertise in Hunterian laboratory practices relating to microscopy, photomicroscopy and identification, analytical and preparatory techniques (e.g. sectioning, XRD, SEM, pXRF), and their safe management and use.
To engage with faculty in cognate Schools in the University, in particular Geographical and Earth Sciences (GES), maintaining existing teaching and research relationships; initiating and leading on new partnerships across disciplines in order to develop and deliver innovative and multi-disciplinary collections-based teaching and research programmes.
To work with the Curators for Palaeontology, Life Sciences, and Science and Medical History Collections to develop new strategies for the future conservation, display and interpretation of the Min/Pet collections; to work with Audience Engagement and Experience on public engagement and knowledge exchange programmes, using the collections in innovative ways, collaborating with colleagues/researchers as required.
To identify potential sources of funding and secure such funds through grant applications as appropriate, either as an individual or team member, and to manage resources effectively and be accountable for their use in relation to the collection.
To support The Hunterian’s development of decolonial approaches to museum practice and collections work as part of the Collections & Curatorial team.

We are looking for an experienced, qualified support analyst for the Digitisation Project, assisting with their systems-related and hardware issues in-person and online. You will have the experience to swiftly identify faults across a wide range of operating systems and equipment, perform diagnostic tests, and then propose solutions in a confident, non-technical manner, or undertake on-site remedial works. You will be able to manage and prioritise customer tickets in often demanding and challenging circumstances. It would be beneficial if you have a good working knowledge of SQL content management, and experience working with scanning software. You’ll be based in the IT Operations unit and be part of the team that supports IT systems across Kew, but your focus and priority will be on the Digitisation Project.

RBG Kew are currently recruiting staff to work on an exciting and unique project to digitise Kew’s 8.5 million plant and fungal specimens and create a complete catalogue of our internationally significant collections, making specimen records and images freely available online and accessible to researchers across the globe.

The outcome of this project will provide a unique, world-leading resource making accessible data from more than 260 years of scientific exploration, placing them at the centre of efforts to combat urgent global challenges such as habitat degradation, climate change and human health.

In addition, RBG Kew are recruiting staff to support the implementation of a new collections management system to ensure efficient and effective integrated management of the Science and Living Collections and the data describing them.

The Integrated Collections Management System will allow more efficient tracking of the use of specimens to meet legislative requirements concerning access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, including the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity and plant health legislation.

The salary will be £22,750 - £25,663 per annum, depending on skills and experience.

The IT Business Systems Team has an opportunity for a database administrator with strong Linux shell scripting skills, who will ideally bring their experience managing and processing large datasets in a database environment to the team. The postholder will report to the team leader for the IT Business Systems Operations Team. The role will be responsible for the data storage, migration and management of the currently digitised data and the vast amount of new data arising from the digitisation project. You will work closely with external suppliers, the Lead Developer in the Digital Revolution Team and the Digitisation Data Quality officers, as well as with the other members of the IT Business Systems Team and colleagues in the wider IT Directorate.

RBG Kew are currently recruiting staff to work on an exciting and unique project to digitise Kew’s 8.5 million plant and fungal specimens and create a complete catalogue of our internationally significant collections, making specimen records and images freely available online and accessible to researchers across the globe.

The outcome of this project will provide a unique, world-leading resource making accessible data from more than 260 years of scientific exploration, placing them at the centre of efforts to combat urgent global challenges such as habitat degradation, climate change and human health.

In addition, RBG Kew are recruiting staff to support the implementation of a new collections management system to ensure efficient and effective integrated management of the Science and Living Collections and the data describing them.

The Integrated Collections Management System will allow more efficient tracking of the use of specimens to meet legislative requirements concerning access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, including the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity and plant health legislation.

This role is based at Kew with the option of regular home working, subject to operational requirements.

The salary will be £34,000 – £36,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience (+ £4k market supplement, reviewed annually).

We are looking to appoint an individual experienced in herbarium specimen digitisation to provide essential support to the Digital Collections Team. Reporting to the Data and Workflow Manager, the postholder will be a member of the Digital Collections Team responsible for maintaining high standards in the management of Kew’s internationally important digital collections. The postholder will have a focus on training staff, interns, visitors and volunteers in digitisation techniques and will respond to external enquiries to the online Herbarium Catalogue.

Essential skills and experience required for this role include: educated to degree level or equivalent; experience of transcribing and imaging herbarium specimens; and experience of supporting and training others in complex technical procedures.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) is a leading plant science institute, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and major visitor attraction. Our mission is to understand and protect plants and fungi for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth.

We are working to end the unprecedented extinction crisis and to help create a world where nature is protected, valued by all and managed sustainably. We will achieve these goals by drawing on our leading scientific research, unrivalled collections of plants and fungi, global network of partners, inspirational gardens at Kew and Wakehurst, and our 260 years of history.

Join us on our journey as protectors of the world’s plants and fungi.

RBG Kew are currently recruiting staff to work on an exciting and unique project to digitise Kew’s 8.5 million plant and fungal specimens and create a complete catalogue of our internationally significant collections, making specimen records and images freely available online and accessible to researchers across the globe.

The outcome of this project will provide a unique, world-leading resource making accessible data from more than 260 years of scientific exploration, placing them at the centre of efforts to combat urgent global challenges such as habitat degradation, climate change and human health.

In addition, RBG Kew are recruiting staff to support the implementation of a new collections management system to ensure efficient and effective integrated management of the Science and Living Collections and the data describing them.

The Integrated Collections Management System will allow more efficient tracking of the use of specimens to meet legislative requirements concerning access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, including the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biological Diversity and plant health legislation.

This role is based at Kew with the option of regular home working, subject to operational requirements.

The salary will be £26,500 – £28,912 per annum, depending on skills and experience.