Project Manager ERC Advanced Investigator Grant, MosaicsMove Ref: 44485

About the Project

MosaicsMove aims to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the entire body of medieval wall mosaics in the Mediterranean in order to explore what mosaics might be able to tell us about the Mediterranean world and intercultural links. We intend to explore connections and developments between mosaics by unlocking the data held in the individual tesserae of each mosaic. These tesserae speak to the physical materials from which mosaics were created and to the ways in which mosaics were put together by artists. We will do this through creating technically-innovative machine learning models to integrate the different types of data associated with mosaics: their material composition, artistic styles and textural metadata.

The team is made up of Liz James (PI), Nadine Schibille (Materials Scientist), N.M.Anoop Krishnan (materials informatics), Nicolas Seymour Smith (software engineer), with an Advisory Board of eight. A PhD student working with Krishnan will also be appointed.

The project begins on January 1^st 2027 and will run for a fixed term of 5 years.

About the role

As Project Manager, you will have responsibility for: developing and maintaining project plans; managing project resources; identifying and managing risks and issues; overseeing project timelines and delivery; reporting progress through formal governance structures.

You will also have a responsibility to contribute to the research side of the project (including but not only database development, data extraction from various sources, data discovery), for which you will need knowledge of the medieval Mediterranean and experience in working in academic projects.

You will support the PI in working with the project team and the advisory board. You will liaise between research team, project partners, participants and other stakeholders, and operational teams in relation to queries and requests, and to ensure the smooth running of the project.

About you

You will have the skills to manage your own workload You will be required to plan, prioritise and organise the work or resources of yourself and others within the team on a regular basis. 

You will be required to use initiative and creativity to resolve problems where the optimal solution may not be immediately apparent but has to be assessed by a process of reasoning, weighing up the pros and cons of different approaches. 

Within the project, you will have the skills to play a part in the collection and analysis of relevant data or information using predetermined procedures and gathering the information from sources. Example: collecting and collating primary sources about a particular mosaic. A further important requirement of the role is to identify an appropriate existing method of analysis or investigation according to the data and objectives, and recognise and interpret trends or patterns in data. In this context, you will need a knowledge of medieval history, art and culture and ideally at least one medieval language.

You will have good communications skills, both oral and written. You will be required to receive, understand and convey straightforward information in a clear and accurate manner, for example by responding to a range of queries from project partners. You will receive, understand and convey information which needs careful explanation or interpretation to help others understand, taking into account what to communicate and how best to convey the information to others. Example: explaining a procedure to those who are unfamiliar with it. You will be expected to respond to emails and enquiries to the project in a clear and accurate manner. You will receive, understand and convey information which needs careful explanation or interpretation to help others understand, taking into account what to communicate and how best to convey the information to others. 

Why work here

Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.  

Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it’s our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that. 

Find out more about our reward and benefits package. 

Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Further Key Information 

Please contact Liz James (E.James@sussex.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.

For full details and how to apply see our vacancies page.

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

Eligibility

Visa Sponsorship: TBC

The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.