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 Role and Department
The School of Education is one of the very best UK Education departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching and research. We were ranked 2nd for Outstanding Research in Education and 1st for Impact and Outputs in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), ranked 2nd in the Complete University Guide 2026 and have a top 100 ranking in the QS World University Rankings by subject 2026.
Guiding the School of Education’s research activity is our vision of a more equitable world in which education, informed by innovative high-quality research, plays a vital role in enabling individuals, communities and societies to flourish. To this end, our research and impact strategy enables us to undertake research that: 1) positively impacts on regional, national and global policy and practice; and 2) shapes and develops educational research, research methodology and research capacity in the UK and internationally.
This role would be research only, working on an externally funded research project with a team of evaluation, early years and literacy development experts. The School of Education supports hybrid working and flexible working if required.
The Role
Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (0.8 FTE) to work on the efficacy evaluation of the Talking With Tales for Children (TWiTCH) Early Years language programme. The project is funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and more information can be found on the EEF website (https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/talk-with-tales-for-children-twitch-trial).
TWiTCH is a professional development programme for nursery practitioners that aims to teach practitioners how to use story time as a daily opportunity for complex language interactions between children and adults. It also aims to supports practitioners’ use of teacher/child talk through language games to develop children’s thinking and reasoning skills and to develop children’s ability to express complicated thoughts and ideas. The programme has been developed and is delivered by researchers at Sheffield Hallam University.
This research will work with 132 early years settings across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands to investigate the impact of the TWiTCH programme on 3-4-year-old children’s language and communication skills and on nursery practitioner’s behaviours during story telling using a randomised controlled trial. The research will also investigate how the TWiTCH programme was implemented in different settings, barriers and facilitators to delivery and whether the project theory of change is supported through the implementation and process evaluation.
The successful applicant will be expected to project manage the delivery of the full project, under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, Vic Menizes as well as undertake much of the implementation and process evaluation including the development of research tools, collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data and contributing to the write up of the project report.
This collaborative project is working with colleagues from across the School of Education and department of Anthropology at Durham University, the School of Environment, Education and Development at the University of Manchester, Navigator Insight (formally known as QaResearch), an independent research company, and with the TWiTCH programme developers based at Sheffield Hallam University. The project will also work closely with the EEF as funder of the research.
The role will involve travel across the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands to visit nursery settings, to attend training and to meet with the programme developers.
Key responsibilities:
This post is fixed term working 0.8 FTE for 20 months as the project is time limited and dependent on limited external research funding.
The post-holder is employed to work on a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.
Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post in September 2026.
Working at Durham
A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University:
- You’ll receive 30 days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 42 days per year. The University closes between Christmas and New Year.
- We offer a generous pension scheme, and as a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS).
- No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have ample parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies. You can also take advantage of our cost-effective and environmentally friendly Tusker Car Benefit Scheme, allowing you to lease a brand-new electric or hybrid vehicle with savings on tax and National Insurance.
- We have a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities.
- We provide wide-ranging health and wellbeing support including discounted membership for our state-of-the-art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.
- Our on-site nursery is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and you can access holiday camps for children aged 5-16.
- Our family-friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).
- We offer all staff the opportunity to take part in volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community.
- You can access exclusive discounts via our benefits portal including money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, eating out and days out at various attractions.
- Various salary sacrifice schemes are also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits.
- If you are moving to Durham, you may be eligible for help with removal costs, and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest-free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.
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.
Contact Information
Department contact for academic-related enquiries
Victoria Menzies, Assistant Professor – [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
[email protected]
How to Apply
To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification below. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.
While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.
Submitting your application
We prefer to receive applications online. We will update you about 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 make sure you have not missed any of our updates.
What to Submit
All applicants are asked to submit:
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a CV and cover letter which details your experience, skills, and achievements in meeting (or the potential to meet) the criteria set out below.
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an appendix table providing detailed examples of how your experience and skills map to the essential and desirable criteria. Please note that applications without this table included will not be considered.
Next Steps
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 short presentation to the interview panel, and an interview. Interviews are likely to take place the week commencing 24th August.
In the event that you are unable to attend on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.
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.
When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.
