Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Sustainable Business Law
Grade 7: £39,424 - £47,779 per annum
The Oxford Sustainable Law Programme (SLP) is a world-leading multidisciplinary research centre operating at the intersection of law and sustainability. Founded by Thom Wetzer, the SLP is a joint initiative of the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law and its Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment that brings together legal and scientific expertise from across the university and its global network of academic and practitioner partners. The SLP’s work focuses on four themes: (1) climate litigation; (2) legally relevant climate science (like attribution science); (3) climate policy (via the Climate Policy Hub, a joint initiative between the SLP and Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government); and (4) business law and climate change. Across those themes, the SLP’s team produces multidisciplinary, rigorous, and decision-relevant research, educates the global climate leaders of today and tomorrow, and engages actively with senior leadership globally in government, the judiciary, the private sector, and NGOs.
To boost the SLP’s work on business law and climate change, the SLP is inviting applications from highly motivated and ambitious candidates for the newly-created position of Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Sustainable Business Law. The Fellow will work closely with, and report to, Thom Wetzer (Associate Professor of Law and Finance and Director of the SLP), and engage with the world-leading community of business law scholars at Oxford and colleagues from across the SLP. The Fellow will contribute to, and help shape, an intellectually ambitious and challenging research agenda centred around the interaction between business law and climate change – spanning topics such as corporate governance, financial regulation, corporate emission-reduction obligations, market design, and climate finance. The Fellow will help coordinate the work across the SLP’s Business Law Group, contribute to ongoing projects and develop new ones, and be capable of working independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team that transcends jurisdictional boundaries. Where appropriate, the Fellow will have the opportunity to contribute to projects across the SLP and will be invited to join the Faculty of Law’s Business Law Research Group events (including a weekly Business Law Workshop during term).
The successful candidate should hold, or be close to completing, a relevant PhD/DPhil and have relevant experience in the field of law (e.g. business law, private law, climate change law), climate change, corporate governance, or related disciplines; strong subject area knowledge of business law or private law and its interconnections with climate change, a willingness to engage across disciplinary and jurisdictional boundaries, and a capacity for bold and innovative research; ability to manage own academic research and associated activities; previous experience of contributing to publications and presentations and strong project management, organisational and teamwork skills. Experience of independently managing a discrete area of a research project and actively collaborating in the development of peer-reviewed research articles for publication is desirable.
This post is full-time with the possibility to request part-time (min 0.5 FTE) and fixed term for 24 months from March 2026. The post holder will either be based in the Manor Road Building or at the Faculty of Law, St Cross Building, Oxford.
Applications for this vacancy are to be made online via University website. Applicants will be required to submit a supporting statement and CV as part of their application.
The closing date for applications is midday on Monday 12 January 2026 (UK time). In addition, by the same deadline, each candidate should submit by email 1 item of written work, published or unpublished. The work should be sent in a single email in one PDF file to the Faculty HR Team, recruitment@law.ox.ac.uk.
Interviews will be held in February 2026. Shortlisted applicants will be asked to arrange for two written references to be submitted before the interviews
The Oxford Sustainable Law Programme (SLP) is a world-leading multidisciplinary research centre operating at the intersection of law and sustainability. Founded by Thom Wetzer, the SLP is a joint initiative of the University of Oxford’s Faculty of Law and its Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment that brings together legal and scientific expertise from across the university and its global network of academic and practitioner partners. The SLP’s work focuses on four themes: (1) climate litigation; (2) legally relevant climate science (like attribution science); (3) climate policy (via the Climate Policy Hub, a joint initiative between the SLP and Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government); and (4) business law and climate change. Across those themes, the SLP’s team produces multidisciplinary, rigorous, and decision-relevant research, educates the global climate leaders of today and tomorrow, and engages actively with senior leadership globally in government, the judiciary, the private sector, and NGOs.
To boost the SLP’s work on business law and climate change, the SLP is inviting applications from highly motivated and ambitious candidates for the newly-created position of Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Sustainable Business Law. The Fellow will work closely with, and report to, Thom Wetzer (Associate Professor of Law and Finance and Director of the SLP), and engage with the world-leading community of business law scholars at Oxford and colleagues from across the SLP. The Fellow will contribute to, and help shape, an intellectually ambitious and challenging research agenda centred around the interaction between business law and climate change – spanning topics such as corporate governance, financial regulation, corporate emission-reduction obligations, market design, and climate finance. The Fellow will help coordinate the work across the SLP’s Business Law Group, contribute to ongoing projects and develop new ones, and be capable of working independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team that transcends jurisdictional boundaries. Where appropriate, the Fellow will have the opportunity to contribute to projects across the SLP and will be invited to join the Faculty of Law’s Business Law Research Group events (including a weekly Business Law Workshop during term).
The successful candidate should hold, or be close to completing, a relevant PhD/DPhil and have relevant experience in the field of law (e.g. business law, private law, climate change law), climate change, corporate governance, or related disciplines; strong subject area knowledge of business law or private law and its interconnections with climate change, a willingness to engage across disciplinary and jurisdictional boundaries, and a capacity for bold and innovative research; ability to manage own academic research and associated activities; previous experience of contributing to publications and presentations and strong project management, organisational and teamwork skills. Experience of independently managing a discrete area of a research project and actively collaborating in the development of peer-reviewed research articles for publication is desirable.
This post is full-time with the possibility to request part-time (min 0.5 FTE) and fixed term for 24 months from March 2026. The post holder will either be based in the Manor Road Building or at the Faculty of Law, St Cross Building, Oxford.
Applications for this vacancy are to be made online via University website. Applicants will be required to submit a supporting statement and CV as part of their application.
The closing date for applications is midday on Monday 12 January 2026 (UK time). In addition, by the same deadline, each candidate should submit by email 1 item of written work, published or unpublished. The work should be sent in a single email in one PDF file to the Faculty HR Team, recruitment@law.ox.ac.uk.
Interviews will be held in February 2026. Shortlisted applicants will be asked to arrange for two written references to be submitted before the interviews