Assistant Professor in Psychology (Education Track) (PSYC23-3 PSYC23-4)

Job title:                                 Assistant Professor in Psychology- Education      

Vacancy reference:                23000099

Department:                           Psychology

Responsible to:                     Head of Department 

Salary Range:                        Grade 7 £35,333 - £42,155 per annum  

                                                 Grade 8 £43,414 - £51,805 per annum  

Working arrangements:       The role is full-time, but we will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares 

Open date:                            30th January 2023

Closing date:                          24th February 2023  

Preferred start date:            Successful candidates will ideally be in post by 1st September 2023 

Working at Durham University  

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career while enjoying a high-quality work/life balance. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.  

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Durham? information page.  

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following Total Rewards – Grade 7  and Grade 8.    

The Department 

The Department of Psychology at Durham University seeks to appoint two talented individuals to the role of Assistant Professor (Education).  We welcome applications from those with teaching interests in the broad field of Psychology but particularly people interested in student career development and in research methods including mixed methods and qualitative methods. We welcome innovative educators with a clear strategy for how our learning and teaching can develop in Durham both in terms of face to face and online teaching.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a contribution to the development of the Department’s teaching and curriculum, while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution.  The successful candidates may be involved in digital innovation, module and programme development, and leadership of others. We envisage successful candidates to be involved in supervision of student research projects. One area that we are particularly interested in developing is our research methods and statistics teaching. However, successful candidates may contribute to any aspect of our undergraduate and postgraduate provision, including supporting and growing our placement and year abroad offer, and administration of assessment strategy.

You will be expected to engage in scholarship related to pedagogy, noting that any other independent research (beyond pedagogy) is not part of this post. The appointment will be on the University’s ‘Education Track’ career path, which provides clearly defined opportunities for progression against defined criteria.

While the advertised positions are teaching-based, the Department’s research strengths influence the focus of our teaching. The Department of Psychology is an internationally recognised centre of research excellence and interdisciplinarity across the breadth of psychological and behavioural science. We are currently ranked in the top 150 of Psychology Departments world-wide according to the QS World Rankings. The department’s research groupings reflect our major areas of activity: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, & Quantitative Social Psychology. Each group also leads a taught Masters programme, in addition to current development of a new Executive Masters in Behavioural Science. These programmes extend our research strengths into current professional practice and the next generation.

There is a vibrant research culture with a departmental weekly research seminar series, regular training opportunities and a commitment to open science. We pride ourselves on being a collegiate and welcoming department, committed to success for all who work here. This is illustrated by our Athena Swan Silver Award received in 2013, renewed in 2017 and 2022.

The University is investing heavily in the Department to support a growing undergraduate, taught postgraduate and research postgraduate community. Significant recent investment in staff and new research facilities will continue with planned development of new taught programmes, research centres and leading large-scale interdisciplinary projects across the University and the region. The department’s broad approach to the discipline places it in an excellent position to take advantage of emerging opportunities and challenges and our collegiate approach allows staff to work across research areas to provide novel solutions to global problems. 

With recent expansion into a second building and over £2M investment in research infrastructure over the past four years, the department has outstanding research facilities. Our major research facilities include a 3T fMRI scanner and mock scanner for piloting and habituating clinical populations, as well as excellent dedicated space for rodent behavioural neuroscience. We also have extensive research labs including dedicated TMS, tDCS, EEG/ERP, eye movement tracking, virtual reality, and various biophysiological recording set-ups. The department also has a large whole-body motion capture lab, a fully equipped molecular diagnostics lab, an echo-attenuated chamber, and a suite of observation labs. Our collegiate approach to research allows all members of staff access across our full range of research facilities, which are supported by award winning IT and mechanical technicians.

The department currently has around 69 academic staff members across our three research groups. The department benefits from substantial dedicated administrative support for research and teaching as well as the support of our award-winning technical team.

We offer a prestigious Psychology undergraduate programme (C800), a new undergraduate programme in Behavioural Science (C803), and contribute to a number of non-single honours degrees, as well as a suite of Masters programmes. We are committed to research-led and small group teaching. Our single honours Psychology programme achieved 91% satisfaction with our students in the 2020 NSS and we are privileged to work with outstanding students who are attracted to Durham from across the globe.

For more information, please visit our Department pages at www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/psychology/

 Assistant Professors (Education) at Durham 

Assistant Professors (Education) contribute to teaching, innovation and citizenship whilst fully focussing on the key skills which will secure their progression.  Teaching quality and innovation is critical to ensure a first-class learning environment and curricula for all of our students. You will be supported to develop your teaching expertise and to engage in teaching innovation to embed our student experience. 

Assistant Professors (Education) are encouraged to engage in wider citizenship to enhance their own development, to support their department and wider discipline, and to contribute to the wider student experience. 

You will be expected to engage in scholarship related to pedagogy, noting that any other independent research (beyond pedagogy) is not part of this post. The appointment will be on the University’s ‘Education Track’ career path, which provides clearly defined opportunities for progression against defined criteria.  

We are confident that our recruitment process allows us to attract and select the best international talent to Durham. We therefore offer a reduced probation period of 1 year for our Assistant Professors (Education) and thereafter, subject to satisfactory performance, your position will be confirmed as permanent 

Assistant Professor (Education) in Psychology

Applicants must demonstrate teaching excellence in the field of Psychology, with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.   The University provides a working and teaching environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process. 

While Grade 7 candidates may have limited direct experience of the requirements for the post, they must outline their experience, skills and achievements to date which demonstrate that they meet or that they have the potential to achieve the essential criteria. The post will involve a significant teaching load, which may extend into the summer period. 

Key responsibilities:  

• To deliver lectures, seminars, practicals and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, with the opportunity to teach more widely within the Department, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment;
• Development of asynchronous, blended or other innovative learning formats to optimise delivery of content;
• Engagement in pedagogic activity at Departmental level that supports a high quality, academic professional community of practice within the Department and beyond;
• Maintain an active membership and engagement with a professional body (e.g. HEA or discipline-specific bodies);
• Contribute to ongoing curriculum development, demonstrating innovation in educational practice to enhance the quality of the educational environment in the Department and wider University in support of the Department’s continuing emphasis on international excellence;
• Demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Department;
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Department with regard to its commitment to its vibrant and international postgraduate culture;
• Offer supervision of research projects at both undergraduate and taught postgraduate level;
• Carry out such other duties as specified by the Head of Department.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion 

Our collective aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and we believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  

As a University equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our values  and our Staff Code of Conduct.   At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI. 

We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including disabled people, women, and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.  

We are committed to equality: if for any reason you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of research outputs, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application.  We also understand that the Covid-19 pandemic will have had differential impacts on different people and welcome information on this if you wish to share it. The selection committee will recognise that this may have reduced the quantity of your research accordingly 

The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Employer status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role 

Person Specification  

Education 

Candidates must demonstrate the development and delivery of high-quality teaching that contributes to providing a supportive and enabling learning environment and curricula which encourage students to achieve their potential. 

Candidates applying for a grade 8 post should meet all the essential criteria. 

Essential Education Criteria – Grade 7 

Essential Education Criteria – Grade 8 

          1. Qualifications - -a good first degree and a PhD in Psychology or a related subject or equivalent demonstrable practitioner experience and skills which may include appropriate certification and/or membership of a relevant professional body.

          2. Higher Education Academy (HEA) - candidates must be or have the ability to attain the rank of Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/fellowship/fellow ), which is the national body that champions teaching excellence.

          3. Quality - evidence of the development and delivery of effective and engaging teaching. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching).

      4. Innovation – evidence of contribution to new programme development and innovation in the design and delivery of high quality teaching or assessment of learning including lectures, small group learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment.

      5. Strategic - evidence of strategic teaching development - engagement in the design of excellent teaching programmes which are research informed and led.

      6. Teaching Area Alignment – experience, skills and/or achievements which demonstrate the experiences of, or the potential to engage and contribute to teaching of student career development and/or of research methods including mixed methods and qualitative methods.

Scholarship and Educational Impact

Candidates will have the ability to engage in scholarly activity which contributes to pedagogical practice and understanding within the department, faculty and University.  

Essential Scholarship Criteria – Grade 7

Candidates must be able to discuss (or evidence) work undertaken (or which would be undertaken) in preparation for teaching and keeping up to date with developments in the subject area.

The format will depend on the discipline and the candidate’s career to date but evidence of scholarship and educational impact may include some of the following (or similar) activities:

Essential Scholarship Criteria – Grade 8

Candidates must be able to evidence work undertaken in preparation for teaching and keeping up to date with developments in the subject area.

The format will depend on the discipline and the candidate’s career to date but evidence of scholarship and educational impact may include some of the following (or similar) activities:

Service, Citizenship and Values 

Active engagement in the administrative and citizenship requirements of the Department. Positive contributions to University values  and to fostering a respectful environment as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Essential Service, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 7 

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 8 

Desirable Criteria – Grade 7 and Grade 8

The desirable criteria for this post (for which candidates should provide evidence of some if not all criteria) are: 

Contact Information 

Department contact for academic-related enquiries 

Dr Mike Burt, [email protected] 

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application 

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [email protected]  

Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time.  We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).  

How to Apply  

We prefer to receive applications online.    

Please note that in submitting your application, we will be processing your data.  We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/  which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.  

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on [email protected] .  

What to Submit 

All applicants are asked to submit: 

• A CV  

• A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above; 

• A personal scholarship plan which details planned activity in the next three years relating to teaching, research and/or pedagogy.

• Two of your most significant pieces of work/evidence of your pedagogic activity demonstrating scholarship and educational impact. Examples of this include, but are not confined to, structured teaching observations, student feedback with reflection, presentations at pedagogical conferences and/or publications in pedagogical outlets.

• An EDI & values statement – (of no more than 500 words) which outlines work which you have been involved in which demonstrates your commitment to EDI and our values. I.e. Involvement in quality, diversity, and inclusion activities such as mentoring, volunteering, or attending conferences 

Where possible we request that you provide accessible web links to your publications, which the hiring Department will use to access your work.  The application form contains fields in which to enter each of the web links. Please note we are unable to access publications behind a paywall.   

In the event you are unable to provide accessible links to online hosting of your work, your work should be uploaded as PDFs as part of your application in our recruitment system. Please ensure that your PDFs are not  larger than 5mb. Please note that your work may be read by colleagues from across the Department and evaluated against the current REF criteria;  

Please save all application documents with your name and document type as PDF files. 

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.  

Referees 

You should provide 3 academic referees they should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s).  The majority should be from a University other than your own (save for early career applicants applying for their first post). 

References will be requested for candidates who have been shortlisted and will be made available to the panel during the interview process. 

As part of your application, you will be asked whether you give your consent to your academic references being sought should you be invited to attend an interview. We will only request references where permission has been granted.  

Next Steps 

All applications will be considered; our usual practice is for colleagues across the Department to read the submitted work of long-listed candidates.   

Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University, either virtually or in-person and will have the opportunity to meet key members of the Department.  The assessment for the post will normally include a presentation to staff and students in the Department followed by an interview and we anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th April or Thursday 27th and Friday 28th April 2023. Please note presentations and interviews will take place in person.

In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date. 

Applicant Guidance  

For further guidance on your application please see HERE