Assistant Professor (Research & Education) in Sustainable Catalysis / Biocatalysis (CHEM_01)

Working at Durham University  

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career.The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.  

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it’s also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.

Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential. 

Our Purpose and Values

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

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.   

The Department 

The Department of Chemistry at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor in the field of Sustainable Catalysis and/or Biocatalysis. We welcome applications from those with industrial and/or research and teaching interests in the broad fields of synthetically-orientated Inorganic and/or Organic Chemistry. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who will reinforce and/or complement our existing strengths in the broad areas of chemical catalysis, biocatalysis, soft matter, applied spectroscopy, materials, sustainable chemistries, and chemical synthesis, and to work with industrial partners.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally-excellent research and teaching. The successful candidate will join a department with excellent facilities, including dedicated mechanical, electrical and glass-blowing workshops, as well as state-of-the-art analytical capability. The Department benefits from very strong connections with industry spanning the North East’s process innovation cluster. The appointee will be expected to cultivate an internationally-leading research group and to engage in the full departmental range of teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including the development of new postgraduate courses (taught and research) in chemical sciences, and to work with industrial partners.

A World Top 100 department, the Department of Chemistry at Durham is one of the very best in the UK, with an outstanding reputation for excellence in research, teaching and employability of our students. We are an active and vibrant department, with a strong cohort of early career academics and future leaders. We hold an Athena Swan Silver Award, recognising our commitment to gender equality. Our undergraduate programmes are ranked fifth in the Complete University Guide 2023. At postgraduate level, our students come from all over the world to carry out research.

Our research strategy is focussed around three interdisciplinary grand challenge themes: Chemistry for Health; Chemistry for Sustainability; and Chemistry for Change. Within these themes, we have prioritised eight core Research Focus Areas: Synthesis, Catalysis and Process; Sustainable and Resilient (Bio) Chemistry; Materials Discovery; Theory, Computational and Data-Led Chemistry; Soft Matter, Polymers and Interfaces; Chemical Photonics, Spectroscopy and Sensors; Drugs and Medicinal Chemistry; and Agritech and Aquaculture.

There is a strong culture of collaboration within the department and with other departments and institutes within the University, including the Biophysical Sciences Institute, the Durham Energy Institute and the Institute for Data Science. There are also other multidisciplinary centres of excellence in the university that the appointee can interact with including the Centre for Global Infectious Diseases, the Durham Crop Centre and centres in Sustainable Chemistry and Soft Matter. We have strong links with many universities, research centres, and a long tradition of working closely with industry both in the UK and overseas.

For more information, please visit our Department pages at http://www.durham.ac.uk/chemistry  

  Assistant Professors at Durham 

Assistant Professors on the Education and Research track are encouraged to focus on research and teaching, but are also expected to engage in wider citizenship to enhance their own development, support their department and discipline, and contribute to the wider student experience. 

Academic colleagues are supported to publish excellent research in their area of interest with a focus on high quality outputs (including monographs and journal articles), rather than quantity.

We aim to support your research needs, including practical help such as resources to attend conferences and to fund research activities, as well as a generous research leave policy and a designated mentor.  

Durham University is also committed to ensuring outstanding teaching quality, stimulating learning environments, and innovative curricula for all our students. You will be supported to develop your teaching expertise and skills. 

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

We strive to provide a working and teaching environment that 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. 

Key responsibilities: 

• To pursue research that is high quality in terms of originality, significance and rigour.  
• To develop clear plans for the pursuit of national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement. 
• To play a role in relevant teaching and research supervision, and contribute to ongoing curriculum development. 
• Contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond through collaborative research activity (both academic and industrial). 
• Demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Department.  
• To deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment.
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Department.
• To contribute to attracting and supervising research students, and to enhance the Department’s commitment to its vibrant and inclusive postgraduate culture.  
• Carry out other duties as specified by the Head of Department. 

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our Purpose and 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 colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI. 

We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.

If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.

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

Candidates will have completed their PhD (or be close to completion) and should outline their experience, skills and achievements to date, which demonstrate that they meet the essential criteria.

Research  

Candidates must have the capacity for and be progressing towards the independent development of internationally excellent research that produces high-quality outcomes, including some work that is recognised as world-class or that has world-class potential.   

Essential Research Criteria

Education 

Candidates must demonstrate the development and delivery of high-quality teaching/training  that contributes to providing a supportive and enabling learning environment and curricula which encourage students to achieve their potential. This may take the form of written evidence and/or demonstration at interview.

Essential Education Criteria

1.    Quality – evidence of the development and delivery of effective and engaging teaching/training in the fields of Inorganic and/or Organic Chemistry. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching or equivalent evidence).

2.    Innovation – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate your contribution to new programme development and innovation in the design and delivery of high-quality teaching, training and assessment of learning. This can include lectures, small group training and learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment.

3.    Strategic – evidence of strategic teaching and training development, or achievements that demonstrate the potential to engage in the design of excellent teaching and training programmes, which are research informed and led.

Services, Citizenship and Values

Active engagement in administrative and citizenship requirements and to fostering a respectful environment, including a demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values Criteria

1.    Citizenship contribution – evidence of participation in the citizenship/administrative activities of an academic Department, Faculty or University, or in an industrial environment. (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, mentoring activity, pastoral and academic support of students, engagement with widening participation, carrying out departmental and interdepartmental activities effectively. Being involved in departmental activities such as open days, employability events, industrial engagement, departmental meetings and committees. Involvement in equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies) . 

2.    Leadership – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate engagement in activities that contribute to the administrative functioning of an academic or research Department, Faculty, University and/or discipline, including leadership or responsibilities in an academic or industrial context. (Candidates may choose to detail any leadership roles which they have undertaken, preferably in, but not limited to, an academic context).  

3.    Communication – candidates must have excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage with a range of students and colleagues across a variety of forums.  

Desirable Criteria

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 

Candidates who require more information or wish to discuss these roles informally should contact the Head of Chemistry for Sustainability, Phil Dyer, [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.  

What to Submit 

All applicants are asked to submit: 

• A CV  
• A covering letter that details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above. 
• Personal research plan. 
• Two of your most significant research outputs.  Where possible your outputs should have been published or submitted since 2019, however work prior to 2019 may be submitted where candidates have had career breaks. 
• 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 equality, diversity, and inclusion activities such as mentoring, volunteering, or attending conferences.
• A summary table (e.g. prepared as a Word document) providing key factual evidence in a concise format of how you meet each of the essential requirements and any of the desirable requirements for the role.

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, publications should be uploaded as PDFs as part of your application in our recruitment system.

Please ensure that your PDFs are not larger than 5mb. Your work may be read by colleagues from across the Department and evaluated against the current REF criteria. 

All application documents should be uploaded 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.

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 include  presentations to staff and students (research- and teaching-orientated) in the Department followed by interviews. We anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days in the week commencing 18th March 2024. 

If you are unable to attend 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