Department of Biosciences

Grade 7/8: - £34,304 - £50,296 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 01-Feb-2022, 7:59:00 AM

Vacancy reference: BIOS22-2
Departments: Biosciences & Engineering
Responsible to: Heads of Department
Grade: Grade 7 – Grade 8
Salary Range: £34,304 - £50,296 per annum
Working arrangements: The role is full time but we will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares
Closing date: 31st January 2022 at Midnight (UK)
Preferred start date: Successful candidates will ideally be in post by 1st September 2022

Durham University

A globally outstanding center of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world.

As part of Durham University, you’ll be working with exceptional minds, all with the desire to ask, and answer the big questions. Access to leading-edge facilities and an active contributor to the global research and university community means you’ll be part of an international and diverse network of partners spanning the world’s best research institutions, organisations, and businesses. And all this within the evocative and historic surroundings of the city, county, and community that is Durham.

We find it easy to be proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham. We offer the inspiration, they achieve the outstanding. We invite you to join them.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University. 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. The selection committee will recognise that this may have reduced the quantity of your research accordingly.

Durham University’s Athena Swan institutional award recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting and supporting the development of women. We have also signed up to the Race Equality Charter, a national framework for improving the representation, progression, and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education.

The Departments

The Departments of Biosciences and Engineering at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor. We aim to appoint a candidate who has experience in both Engineering and Biosciences and who is interested in addressing global challenges. Their research should have relevance to the growing bioeconomy and must complement or create new bridges between existing Engineering and Biosciences expertise at Durham. An example could be microfluidics/sensor technologies applied to human and soil health/biogeochemistry. We aim to appoint outstanding new academic staff to strengthen research in cross-disciplinary approaches in bio-engineering, and to provide students with an outstanding educational and training experience.

Research in the Department of Biosciences is focused around four key themes - animal cells & systems; biomolecular interactions; ecology, evolution & environment; and molecular plant sciences (www.dur.ac.uk/biosciences/research/). Research in the Department of Engineering is focussed around three research challenges - Advanced Materials, Electronics & Communications, Future Energy Systems and Sustainable Infrastructure (www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/engineering/research/) and we have recently established a research node in Bio-Engineering.

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. We are particularly interested in receiving outstanding applications from women, and from candidates of ethnic minority backgrounds, to increase our diversity. As an employer committed to promoting the very best talent, we also encourage applications from researchers who may have taken career breaks for family or other reasons, or who may need to consider flexible working. For more information, please visit our Department pages at www.dur.ac.uk/biosciences/ and www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/engineering/

Assistant Professors at Durham

The University is committed to enabling all of our colleagues to achieve their full potential. We promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment to ensure that all colleagues can thrive.  Academic colleagues are supported to publish world-class research in their area of interest with a focus on quality in high-impact journals, 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 of our students. You will be supported to develop your teaching expertise and to engage in teaching innovation to embed our student experience.

All of our Assistant Professors are encouraged to focus on research and teaching but also 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.

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, you will be confirmed in post.

Assistant Professor in Bio-engineering

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of Bio-engineering 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 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: 

• Pursue research that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, commensurate with the Departments’ continuing emphasis on international excellence;
• To be developing clear plans for the pursuit of suitable national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement;
• 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 Departments, the wider University, and beyond through collaborative research activity;
• Demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Departments;
• Offer lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, with the opportunity to teach more widely within the Departments, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment;
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Departments;
• To contribute to attracting and supervising research students, and to enhance the Departments’ commitment to their vibrant and international postgraduate culture.
• Carry out such other duties as specified by the Heads of Department.

Person Specification

Candidates applying for a grade 7 post will have recently completed or be concluding their PhD and, while they may have limited direct experience of the requirements for the post, they should outline their experience, skills and achievements to date which demonstrate that they meet or that they have the potential to achieve the essential criteria.

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

Research

Candidates must have 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 – Grade 7

1. Qualifications - a good first degree and a PhD in Biosciences, Engineering or a related subject (which for grade 7 candidates may be completed or under examination).
2. Outputs - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to produce high-quality outputs that are recognised as world-class or that have world-class potential. Candidates are asked to submit two research papers with their application (as outlined in the How to Apply section below).  Candidates may additionally choose to submit evidence such as external peer review of their outputs.
3. Personal Research Plan - evidence of a personal research plan which supports and enhances the research strategies of the Departments of Biosciences and Engineering.

Essential Research Criteria – Grade 8

1. Qualifications - a good first degree and a PhD in Biosciences, Engineering or a related subject.
2. Outputs - evidence of high-quality outputs, some of which is recognised as world-class.  Candidates are asked to submit two research papers with their application (as outlined in the How to Apply section below).  Candidates may additionally choose to submit evidence such as external peer review of their outputs.    
3. Personal Research Plan - evidence of a personal research plan which supports and enhances the research strategies of the Departments of Biosciences and Engineering.

Teaching

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

Essential Teaching Criteria – Grade 7

1. Qualification - 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.
2. Quality - Experience, skills, and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to deliver high-quality effective, and engaging teaching. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching).
3. Innovation – experience, skills, and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to contribute to new programme development and innovate 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. 
4. Strategic - experience, skills, and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to engage in the design of excellent teaching programmes which are research-informed and led.

Essential Teaching Criteria – Grade 8

1. Qualification - 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 (or Equivalent).
2. Quality - evidence of the development and delivery of high-quality teaching effective and engaging teaching. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching).
3. 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. 
4. Strategic - evidence of strategic teaching development - engagement in the design of excellent teaching programmes which are research-informed and led.

Services, Citizenship and Values

Candidates must actively engage in the administrative and collegial requirements of the Department and positively contribute to the University Values and to fostering a respectful environment; as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 7

1. Collegial contribution – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to participate in the collegial/administrative activities of an academic Department, Faculty or University.  (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, mentoring activity, pastoral and academic support of students, engagement with widening participation, involvement in equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies).
2. Leadership - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to engage in activities that contribute to the administrative functioning of an academic Department, Faculty, University and/or discipline including leadership or responsibilities in an academic context.  (Candidates may choose to detail any leadership roles which they have undertaken, preferably in 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.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 8

1. Collegial contribution – evidence of participation in the collegial/administrative activities of an academic Department, Faculty or University.  (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, mentoring activity, pastoral and academic support of students, engagement with widening participation, involvement in equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies).
2. Leadership - engagement in activities that contribute to the administrative functioning of an academic Department, Faculty, University and/or discipline including leadership or responsibilities in an academic context.  (Candidates may choose to detail any leadership roles which they have undertaken, preferably in 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 – Grade 7

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

1. Research Leadership - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to contribute to the leadership of research groups and the mentoring of early career researchers.  (Candidates may choose to include information about research group leadership, mentoring of research colleagues, invitations to external events, engagement with international networks or projects).
2. PhD Supervision – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to provide excellent supervision for PhD students. 
3. Research Impact - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to evidence research impact beyond their institution.  
4. Income Generation - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to develop successful research project proposals. 

Desirable Criteria – Grade 8

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

1. Research Leadership - contribution to the leadership of research groups and the mentoring of early career researchers.  (Candidates may choose to include information about research group leadership, mentoring of research colleagues, invitations to external events, engagement with international networks or projects).
2. PhD Supervision – involvement in the provision of excellent supervision for PhD students. 
3. Research Impact - demonstrable evidence of the impact of the Candidate’s research beyond their institution.  
4. Income Generation - evidence of engagement in the development of successful research project proposals.

Contact Information

Department contacts for academic-related enquiries

Professor Martin Cann, Head of Department of Biosciences. m.j.cann@durham.ac.uk

Professor Simon Hogg, Head of Department of Engineering. simon.hogg@durham.ac.uk

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 e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk

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

Rachel Connor – HR Administrator rachel.conner@durham.ac.uk

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.

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. 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, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

1. A CV
2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;
3. A personal research plan (two pages maximum).
4. An EDI & values statement - As a University we foster a collegiate community of extraordinary people aligned to the University’s values. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community that is supportive and inclusive, and in doing so, recruit the world’s best candidates from all backgrounds and identities. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI. We, therefore, ask that as part of your application you provide a statement (of no more than 1 side of A4) that outlines work which you have been involved in which demonstrates your commitment to EDI and our values.
5. Two of your most significant pieces of written work.  Where possible your written work should have been published or submitted since 2014, however, work prior to 2014 may be submitted where candidates have had career breaks.

Where possible we request that you provide web links to these which the hiring Department will access to read your work.  The application form contains fields in which to enter each of the web links.

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 details of 3 academic referees and the details of your current line manager so that we may seek an employment reference (if they are not listed as an academic referee).

Please note:

• We shall seek academic references during the application process.  Academic referees should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s) and a majority should be from a University other than your own (save for early career applicants applying for their first post). We would ask that you alert your academic referees to this application as soon as possible, and provide them with a copy of the CV you submit with your application so that we can quickly obtain references should you be progressed to the interview stage. 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.
• Academic references sought for short-listed candidates may be made available to the panel during the interview process.
• We will seek a reference from your current line manager if we make you an offer of employment (albeit 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 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 in or around March 2022

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.

About 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.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

All new staff are given membership in a Senior Common Room in one of our 17 colleges for their first year and thereafter they may choose to remain and/or to join additional SCRs. SCR membership offers the opportunity to participate in social and scholarly events - dinners, lectures, debates, research talks (colleges are all interdisciplinary), music and drama.  Membership includes past and present University staff, alumni, and members of the wider Durham community and gives the opportunity to engage with the College’s students.

Less than 3 hours north of London, and an hour and a half south of Edinburgh, County Durham is a region steeped in history and natural beauty. The Durham Dales, including the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are home to breathtaking scenery and attractions. Durham offers an excellent choice of city, suburban and rural residential locations. The University provides a range of benefits including pension and childcare provision and the University’s Relocation Manager can assist with potential schooling requirements.

If you’d like to find out more about the University or relocating you and your family to Durham, please visit https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/recruitment/

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.