Call for Expressions of Interest: IAS Think Pieces Academic Editor

IAS Think Pieces is a twice-yearly review that addresses the substantial academic research programme hosted at UCL Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS). Each issue of Think Pieces is devoted to one of our two annual research themes, and represents varied, cutting-edge research and thinking in forms accessible to a broad and heterogeneous audience. We aim to include a variety of materials, including short articles, interviews, book reviews, creative writing, art works, and photographs. Contributions to Think Pieces are research-driven, ideas-led, and creative in the broadest sense. Taking its lead from the IAS, Think Pieces embraces interdisciplinarity and prides itself on enabling conversations between scholars working in and across a wide range of fields. Think Pieces is published online as part of IAS Talk Pieces, which includes sound archives and filmed footage. 

We are currently looking for one Academic Editor from the joint faculties of Arts & Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences to help bring the second, third and fourth issues of this publication to fruition. This is a really exciting opportunity for a full-time UCL academic who wishes to engage in a hands-on way with the intellectual agenda and academic mission of the IAS – to help to shape its profile, activities and future direction. If you enjoy editing, commissioning and conceiving of research-driven copy and want to express your creative energies by working collectively to enhance the public perception of the IAS, the dissemination of its activities through publication, the designing and shaping of ideas, then please do write us a letter expressing interest and indicating what expertise/experience you could bring to the task. The Academic Editor will work with a joint Academic Editor, the IAS Junior Research Fellows (JRFs), the Events Curator and the Director of the IAS to realise each issue.

The Academic Editor will be responsible for quality control, guiding and advising the JRFs, generating ideas, commissioning copy and making sure that the publication is ambitious and engaging. The second issue would ideally be out by the end of 2019.

Our research themes in 2018–19 were ‘Turbulence’ and ‘Laughter’, and our research theme in 2019-20 is ‘Waste’; these will constitute our second, third and fourth issues. Themes are understood and explored in the widest possible terms. To find out more about Think Pieces, its team and to read our first issue on ‘Lies’, please visit Talk Pieces.

We would be delighted to receive expressions of interest from anyone willing to take on this task by 1st October 2019 to Tamar Garb at t.garb@ucl.ac.uk. There is no actual remuneration offered but you would come on board as part of the IAS Steering Group and a member of its core team, and this would obviously count for many brownie points in terms of benefit to UCL, research leadership, enhancing research environment and much else.

We also welcome informal enquiries to the Editorial Manager, Albert Brenchat (a.brenchat@ucl.ac.uk)