Associate Professor in Computational Mechanics (ENG_02)

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 Engineering at Durham University is continuing a period of strategic growth. This is an exciting opportunity to join an expanding, unified Engineering Department which is recognised as one of the very best in the UK, with a reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our graduates. In the REF2021 exercise, 95% of our Engineering outputs were graded 3* or 4*. The Department is committed to an ethos of research-led education at all levels of our taught programmes. Engineering at Durham University was ranked 5th in The Guardian University Guide 2024, 7th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023 and 5th in The Complete University Guide 2024. We were ranked 2nd in Engineering behind only Cambridge in a recent Institute for Fiscal Studies report on the difference in graduate earnings by UK university choice.  We are a scholarly community that is open, representative and diverse: our commitment to this is expressed through work of the Department’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Group, and our Athena Swan Bronze award.

The Department of Engineering demonstrates significant depth of research excellence across a range of disciplines, with activities that are currently concentrated around three Research Challenge areas: Sustainable Infrastructure, Future Energy Systems and Advanced Materials, Electronics and Communications. Thematically, our research is split into eight Research Nodes which group together our day-to-day activities and expertise.  We are particularly proud of the collaborative interdisciplinary nature of our research, which also includes strong industrial partnerships. 

The Department of Engineering has an established and internationally recognised research node in Computational Mechanics.  We are seeking to appoint an outstanding individual with an established academic career and research interests focused on Computational Solid Mechanics.   This appointment will enhance the node’s capabilities in an area integral to the Department of Engineering’s long-term research strategy.  We welcome applicants with research and teaching interests in one or more of the following Computational Mechanics application areas: fracture / fatigue, coupled problems, multi-physics problems, contact and friction, plus other areas that focus on solving / understanding solid mechanics problems using computational methods.  We are open to candidates that specialise in the development of new numerical methods as well as those that focus on applying existing techniques to solve challenging engineering problems.           

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/engineering .

Associate Professors at Durham 

Associate 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 internationally excellent research in high impact outputs including (monographs and journal articles), in their area of interest with a focus on quality rather than quantity. We will fully support your research needs including practical help such as resources to attend conferences and to fund research activity, as well as a generous research leave policy and a designated mentor. Sitting alongside world class research; teaching quality and innovation is critical to ensure a first-class learning environment and curricula for all our students.

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 international 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.

Associate Professor in Computational Mechanics

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of Computational Mechanics applied to problems in solid mechanics, with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.  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 world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, commensurate with the Department’s continuing emphasis on international excellence.  

·         To make a significant contribution to the development of successful research project/ fellowship proposals in pursuit of suitable national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement. 

·         Deliver excellent teaching offering lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels.  Contribute significantly to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching, including the design of excellent learning environments and curricula. 

·         Contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond.  Contribute to establishing and leading research groups within and beyond the University, and engaging in the mentoring of early career researchers.  

·         To attract and provide excellent supervision to research students, and to enhance the Department’s commitment to its vibrant and international postgraduate culture.  

·         Contribute significantly to the administrative functioning and collegial environment of the Department and wider University, undertaking leadership activities which support the functioning of the Department and wider University. 

·         To fully engage in, champion and enhance the values of the Department. 

·         Carry out such 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 must demonstrate research excellence in the field of Computational Solid Mechanics, with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.  

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 significant contribution to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching with a demonstrable contribution to the design of excellent learning environments & curricula, including curriculum development, that enable students to achieve their potential.

Essential Educational Criteria

Service, Citizenship and Values 

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

Essential Service, Citizenship and Values criteria

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 

Professor Charles Augarde, Head of Department, [email protected]

Professor Will Coombs, Academic Lead, [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).  

University contact for general queries about the recruitment process 

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 which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above (maximum of 2 A4 pages). 
•  Personal research plan for the next 3-5 years.  Your strategy for securing funding to support the intended research should also be described. 
• Four of your most significant research publications.  Where possible your written work should have been published or submitted since 2018. 
•  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.  

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 details of three academic referees , plus details of your current line manager. Academic referees 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.  

We will seek a reference from your current line-manager if we make you an offer of employment (noting that you may have also nominated your line manager as an academic referee).  Please clearly indicate which referee is your current line-manager and please let us know if we should only approach them once an offer has been made.

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.  We anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days on or around 6 / 7 May 2024. 

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