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.
The Department
The Department of Psychology is an internationally recognised centre of research excellence and interdisciplinarity across the breadth of psychological and behavioural science. The Department’s research groupings reflect our major areas of activity: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, and Quantitative Social Psychology. Each research group also leads a taught master’s programme, extending our research strengths into the next generation. In addition, the Department houses several university research centres in neurodiversity and development, vision and visual cognition, learning and memory, and behavioural science underpinning our collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to large scale challenges. The department also has strong links with other centres and institutes across the University including the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, the Institute of Advanced Study, the Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, the Biophysical Sciences Institute, and the Centre for Research into Inner Experience. 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. This award is recognition of our sustained, evidence-based progress in advancing gender equality and creating a more inclusive environment for staff and students.
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 multimillion investment in research and teaching infrastructure in recent years, the Department has outstanding research facilities. Our research facilities include extensive research labs including dedicated EEG, TMS, tDCS, fNIRS, eye tracking, virtual reality, and psychophysiology as well as excellent dedicated space for behavioural neuroscience. 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 staff and mechanical technicians.
We offer prestigious undergraduate programmes including Psychology (C800) Psychological and Behavioural Science (C807), as well as a range of non-single honours programmes including diverse routes through Natural Sciences. Our undergraduate programmes are accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), the UK’s professional body for psychology, ensuring that our students meet recognised standards and provides graduates with routes towards professional training and careers in psychology. Alongside our established portfolio, we are launching a BPS-accredited MSc Psychology (Conversion) programme in the coming year, and we plan to expand our provision through a range of online and blended master’s degrees, while continuing to develop and strengthen our international partnerships.
We are committed to research-led and small group teaching and embrace active pedagogy. At Durham we strive to provide students with enhanced learning opportunities that enable them to achieve their maximum potential. Our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes regularly achieve high satisfaction with our diverse student population, and we are privileged to work with outstanding students who are attracted to Durham from across the globe.
This academic 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 Departmental pages at https://www.dur.ac.uk/psychology/
Assistant Professors at Durham
Assistant Professors on the Education and Research track are expected to focus on research and teaching. They 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 with a focus on high quality outputs rather than quantity. We aim to support your research not only through, for example, resources to attend conferences, but also through a generous research leave policy, dedicated grant-writing support, 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 one year for our Assistant Professors and thereafter, subject to satisfactory performance, your position will be confirmed as permanent.
Applicants must demonstrate high quality research applying computational approaches, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, to address research questions in psychology and/or neuroscience. Applicants should complement and strengthen one or more of the Department’s three research groups: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, and Quantitative Social Psychology. This appointment reflects the Department's strategic commitment to expanding its expertise in computational and data-driven research, while enhancing opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and research innovation. Applicants must also demonstrate 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 values as part of the assessment process.
Key responsibilities:
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To pursue research that is high quality in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
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To develop clear plans for the pursuit of national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement.
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To play a role in relevant teaching and research supervision, and contribute to ongoing curriculum development, and support the design and delivery of high-quality online and blended learning programmes using digital pedagogies and technologies.
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Contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond through collaborative research activity.
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Demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Department.
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To deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment.
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To contribute to attracting and supervising research students, and to enhance the Department’s commitment to its vibrant and inclusive postgraduate culture.
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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.
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 Leader 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 and in their cover letter 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
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Qualifications –- a good first degree and a PhD in Psychology, Neuroscience, Machine Learning, Computer Science or a related subject.
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Outputs – evidence of high-quality outputs, some of which is recognised as internationally excellent or world-class. Candidates are asked to submit four 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.
Personal Research Plan – evidence of a personal research plan which supports and enhances the Department’s
ambition to strengthen its profile in the use of modern computational or data-driven methodologies (which may include machine learning or artificial intelligence) to address research questions in psychology and/or neuroscience. PSY Research Strategy 2024
Income Generation – evidence of contribution to the development of high-quality competitive funding applications and externally funded research, appropriate to career stage, role, and opportunities. (Candidates may choose to provide evidence through securing external funding; developing or providing methodological, technical or subject-matter expertise to competitive funding applications, whether successful or unsuccessful; establishing and building research collaborations, partnerships and networks that enable future funding opportunities).
Education
Candidates must demonstrate the development and delivery of high-quality teaching in psychology that contributes to providing a supportive and enabling learning environment and curricula which encourage students to achieve their potential.
Essential Education Criteria
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Quality – evidence of the development and delivery of effective and engaging teaching, that would fit within the psychology curriculum. (Candidates may choose to provide student evaluation scores and/or peer reviews of teaching).
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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 and assessment of learning. This can include lectures, small group learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment.
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Strategic – evidence of strategic teaching development, or achievements that demonstrate the potential to engage in the design of excellent teaching programmes in psychology which are research informed and led.
Services, Citizenship and Values
Active engagement in administrative and citizenship requirements and to fostering a respectful environment, including the active contribution to the creation of a welcoming environment in which colleagues feel included and valued.
Essential Services, Citizenship and Values Criteria
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Citizenship contribution – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate the ability to effectively engage in the service and administrative activities of an academic Department, Faculty or University. (Candidates may choose to provide evidence of contributions through formal or informal service roles including committee membership; outreach and public engagement activities; recruitment and promotional events; engagement with professional bodies or community involvement).
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Leadership – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate the ability to provide leadership in supporting the administrative functioning of an academic Department, Faculty, and/or University. (Candidates may choose to provide evidence from academic or non-academic contexts of leading teams, projects, programmes or initiatives, managing people, resources or processed; and/or developing strategy)
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Collegiality and Collaboration – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively, constructively, and respectfully with others to support the effective functioning of an academic Department, Faculty or University. (Candidates may choose to provide evidence of working effectively across teams; sharing expertise and good practice; supporting, developing or mentoring others; contributing to an inclusive and positive working culture).
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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. (Candidates may choose to provide evidence of their ability to effectively communicate with different groups and diverse audiences both within and outside academia).
Desirable Criteria
The desirable criteria for this post (for which candidates should provide evidence of some if not all criteria) are:
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Qualification – candidates to hold 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).
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Digital and Online Teaching – experience, skills and/or achievements in the successful designing and delivering high-quality online and/or blended learning, including the use of innovative digital pedagogies and technologies.
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PhD Supervision – involvement in the provision of excellent supervision for PhD students.
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Research Impact and Translation –experience, skills and/or achievements in generating, enabling or planning for research impact beyond academia. This may include engagement with external partners, industry, healthcare, policy, public engagement, open science, translation of research into practice, or other activities that demonstrate the potential for research to benefit society, the economy or the wider research community.
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Research Leadership – experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of, the leadership of research groups and 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).
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Income Generation – evidence of engagement in the development of successful research projects and quality research grant proposals.
Contact Information
Department contact for academic-related enquiries
Professor Markus Hausmann, Head of Department, [email protected]
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 Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Job Applicants/Potential Job Applicants - Durham University which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.
What to Submit
All applicants are asked to submit:
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A CV
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A covering letter which clearly explains how you meet each of the criteria listed above,. Applicants should provide specific examples to demonstrate their experience, skills and/or achievement's in relation to each requirement.
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Personal research plan.
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Four of your most significant pieces of written work. Where possible your written work should have been published or submitted since 2020, however work prior to 2020 may be submitted where candidates have had career breaks.
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 (if possible) include your most recent employer or PhD supervisor. 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 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.
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
