The University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh has been instrumental in shaping history for over 400 years. An exciting, vibrant, research-led academic community, we offer opportunities to work with leading international academics whose visions are shaping tomorrow’s world. Our 22 Schools, spread across 3 Colleges, offer over 600 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate courses to more than 29,000 students each year. As a member of staff, you will not only be part of one of the World’s top Universities, but also working within one of the top employers in Edinburgh, with over 8,000 people spread across a wide range of academic and supporting roles. |
1. Job DescriptionThe post-holder will take up an Established Chair within the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences. Much of the work may be taken forward in collaboration with colleagues and collaborative research partners within and beyond the University of Edinburgh. It is however expected that the new research direction(s) will capitalise on and enhance the current infrastructure of the world-leading MRC/BBSRC-funded Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (CCACE). CCACE is a cross college research centre linking cutting edge activity in cognition, cognitive ageing and epidemiology across the colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences and Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. This Centre is fully funded until the end of its second quinquennium in August 2018, and its current Director (Ian Deary) will support the post-holder in planning for the future. This will include leading the bid (with strong support from the current Director and the Executive Committee for future funding of CCACE, and assuming Directorship of CCACE (or the future form of this activity) from 2018.The successful applicant will:
• Work with colleagues across the University to develop a compelling vision for the future of cognitive ageing and/or cognitive epidemiology research excellence at Edinburgh.
• Lead major research funding applications to prestigious grant-awarding bodies to take the scientific mission of CCACE into the next phase of work.
• Publish research outputs in high-quality journals
• Provide leadership for other colleagues, assisting them in publishing their research and gaining external research funding
• Recruit and supervise research students to successful completion
• Develop and participate in public engagement activities
• Develop and demonstrate research impact beyond academia
• Contribute to teaching, and development of teaching, within Psychology or related fields as appropriate at Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels.
• Explore the possible creation of online Masters and MOOCs courses.
• Work in collaboration with other staff and assume leadership responsibilities within the School and the University if and as required.
• Undertake other duties as requested by the Head of Subject Area and the Head of School3. Selection CriteriaThe successful applicant will demonstrate the following:
• A world-class research reputation in Cognitive Ageing and/or Cognitive Epidemiology, evidenced by substantial contributions to the highest-quality academic journals and books. As these are fields that cross many traditional academic disciplinary boundaries, the particular areas of possible expertise are wide.
• Additional evidence of high-level peer esteem demonstrable through, for example, invitations to present national and international keynote presentations at conferences, editorial board membership, and awards from and office in learned societies
• An excellent track record in attracting research funding
• Proven ability to manage large research projects to time and to budget
• Evidence of successful research leadership of early career researchers and/or research teams
• Experience of working within multidisciplinary research teams, including biomedical sciences
• Experience of working with research councils, or with policy-makers at a local and national level to effect research impact
• Evidence of public engagement in research
• Experience of doctoral supervision and research degree completions
• Evidence of developing and delivering research-led teaching to both undergraduate and postgraduate students
• An enthusiastic, positive and creative approach to teaching and research, ability to work as part of a team, ability to manage a team, openness and commitment to providing the highest quality education to students and supervisees at all levels
Knowledge
Essential
• High-level knowledge of Cognitive Ageing and/or Cognitive Epidemiology and related fields
• Knowledge and experience of relevant major national and international funding bodies
• Knowledge of how to coordinate large multidisciplinary research teams effectively
Desirable
• Ability to work collaboratively and imaginatively on public engagement projects
Skills
Essential
• Ability to design and manage large research projects that address complex research questions in an inter-disciplinary manner
• Ability to develop and demonstrate research impact
• Highly effective research, teaching and general communication skills
Desirable
• Ability to identify and attract a wide range of funding sources, including from private stakeholders
• Demonstrable critical, informed and scholarly capacity to engage with a range of teaching mediums including online and distance learning and teaching
Experience and Achievement
Essential
• Internationally recognized research outputs at the highest level
• Strong track record of leading successfully funded research proposals
• Project management skills commensurate with leading large and complex research projects to successful completion
• Public engagement profile
• Demonstrable research impact
Desirable
• Demonstrable experience of working and networking with an international range of researchers and stakeholders
Personal attributes
• Ability to lead teams and work within teams with a collegial attitude and respect and sensitivity toward students and other staff members
• Evidence of being proactive, enthusiastic and highly motivated in developing and delivering new research and teaching initiatives
Application Procedure
All applicants should apply by clicking the apply link at the bottom of this page and submitting an up to date CV. The application process is quick and easy to follow, and you will receive email confirmation of safe receipt of your application. The online system allows you to submit a CV and other attachments.
The application procedure will include asking candidates to prepare a 1000 word summary of their vision for their collaborative programme to take forward CCACE’s work with new funding beyond 2018. We encourage prospective candidates to visit CCACE either prior to or after application, and will be happy to set up a programme of meetings with senior figures in CCACE as part of this.
You will be notified by email whether you have been shortlisted for interview or not.
The closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 25th November 2015 at 5pm (GMT)
Eligibility to Work
In accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 the University of Edinburgh, as an employer, has a legal responsibility to prevent illegal working and therefore must check that all employees are entitled to work in the United Kingdom (UK).
To do so, the University of Edinburgh requires to see original documents evidencing right to work in the UK before commencement of employment and this is normally carried out at interview. Details will be provided in any letter of invitation to interview.
For further information on eligibility to work please visit our eligibility to work website
If you are not currently eligible to work in the UK, the University has the authority to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to successful candidates who meet the eligibility criteria. The CoS enables candidates to apply for a Tier 2 (general visa) in accordance with current UK Visas and Immigration rules.
For applicants interested in sponsorship information is available on our Working in the UK website
However, if you have previously been sponsored by an employer within the UK but your leave has expired or lapsed and you are no longer in the UK, according to Home Office Visa Immigration rules you cannot apply for sponsorship under any category of Tier 2 for a period of 12 months after the date your visa expired and/or you left the UK.
If you are an academic in the field of sciences; humanities; engineering; medicine; digital technology; or the arts and come from outside the EEA, it may be possible for you to apply for a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa.
The Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa route offers a greater flexibility in your employment compared to other UK immigration routes, meaning you can, for example, move organisation, location and/or job role. By contrast with, a Tier 2 visa where you are ‘tied to a UK sponsor’. Tier 1 provides greater flexibility in undertaking additional engagements, such as collaborations and is intended as a route to settlement. Allowed absences from the UK are up to 180 days per year without losing the eligibility to qualify for settlement, with no restriction on the reason for absence (unlike Tier 2, where any absences from the UK must be for a purpose consistent with the person’s employment or economic activity, including paid annual leave, or for serious or compelling personal reasons).
You would initially need to apply to be endorsed as an internationally recognised leader or emerging leader in your particular field by a designated competent body (Arts Council England, British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, Tech City UK).
Tier1 (Exceptional and Exceptional Promise) Endorsement Criteria
Once successfully endorsed, you are able to apply for a Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) visa. More information on this entry route is available at UKVI Website.
Conditions of Employment
Pension Scheme
This role is grade UE10 and therefore the post holder is automatically included in membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), subject to the USS membership criteria, unless they indicate that they choose not to join the Scheme.
For further information please visit our Pensions website.
Salary
The role is grade UE10 and the slary will be on the professorial scale. Salary is paid monthly by direct transfer to your Bank or Building Society account, normally on the 28th of the month. Salaries for part-time staff are calculated on the full-time scales, pro-rata to the Standard Working Week.
The University recognises that the person appointed should be able to accept, within reasonable limits, consultancies or other paid employment outwith their University appointment. Permission to undertake such activities will not be unnecessarily withheld, but it is a condition of the appointment that such employment may be undertaken only with the express approval of the appointee’s line manager, the Head of School or when appropriate, the Head of College.
The University reserves the right to vary the candidate information or make no appointment at all. Neither in part, nor in whole does this information form part of any contract between the University and any individual.
The Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology
CCACE’s (www.ccace.ed.ac.uk) aim is to understand the reciprocal influences of cognition and health across the human life course and between generations. It is funded by the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and the University of Edinburgh. CCACE is an international leader in the crucial field of Cognitive Ageing and the newer field of Cognitive Epidemiology. Its mission is: (1) to elucidate the routes to the vulnerable ageing brain, and provide information to ameliorate cognitive disability and its consequences for health and wellbeing; (2) to determine the mechanisms by which lower cognitive ability through the life course renders the body vulnerable to ill health and impaired wellbeing; (3) to provide an outstanding environment for interdisciplinary research training.
Ian Deary is the Director of CCACE, with John Starr and Jonathan Seckl as Co-Directors. CCACE has four substantive research groups, each of which is led by eminent researchers in their fields: Cognitive Epidemiology (led by David Batty and Catharine Gale), Cognitive Ageing: Individual Differences (led by Ian Deary); Cognitive Ageing: Human Cognitive Neuropsychology (led by Sergio Della Sala), and Mechanisms of Brain and Cognitive Ageing (led by Alasdair MacLullich and Megan Holmes). There are two methodology groups that support this scientific structure: Genetics of Brain Ageing (led by David Porteous), and Human and Animal Brain Imaging (led by Joanna Wardlaw). In the University of Edinburgh Research Excellence Framework for 2014, CCACE was one of two Centres around which the return for the Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience was made. The submission returned 117 FTE Category A staff and achieved an overall quality profile of 49% at 4*, and 38% at 3*. This places the University of Edinburgh in the top 4 research environments in the UK.
CCACE began in 2008 with 10 core staff, 25 full Research Members and 2 Associate Members. The second quinquennium started in September 2013 with 41 full Research Members and 45 Associate Members. We still retain 10 core staff. The members and core staff come from both the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The core staff are Geneticist, Genetic Statistician, Statistician, Computer Programmer, Knowledge Exchange Officer, Administrative Secretary, Scientific Administrator, Brain Imaging Research Fellow, In-vivo Imaging Research Fellow, Human Psychometric Testing Officer. CCACE has funded PhD students and Post-doctoral Fellows. It runs an MSc module and other short courses. It is active and well known for its knowledge exchange activities. MRC e-Val (2009-2012) and then the UK Research Councils system, Researchfish (2013-date), has been the annual means of recording the scientific output. During CCACE Phase 1 the CCACE membership (around 60 members by August 2013 and the end of phase 1) published 935 papers on cognitive ageing and/or cognitive epidemiology related topics. Since the 2013 renewal and across the increased membership of 86 scientists, CCACE members have written and/or contributed to 216 peer reviewed journal articles between September 2013 and December 2014. CCACE, in its Phase 1 from 2008 to 2013, attracted 113 grants at both the individual level of our membership and at a higher Centre level. They have totalled tens of millions of pounds. Between September 2013 and December 2014 CCACE members have also been awarded 24 grants. As well as individual award holders, general Centre level grants and large-scale initiatives that CCACE has been involved with have included three from the RCUK’s Life Long Health and Wellbeing Initiative, the MRC’s Integrated dementia research environment, the MRC UK Dementia Platform, and the ESRC’s Administrative Data Research Centre. These grants alone total over £22M. CCACE is one of the core contributors to our successful Wellcome Trust award starting in 2016 for a 4 year PhD training programme in ‘Translational neuroscience – lifecourse influences on human brain health.’
The University of Edinburgh environment enhances CCACE’s research excellence
The broader environment at the University of Edinburgh is excellent for psychological research and the study of cognitive and brain ageing and neurodegeneration more generally. CCACE benefits from a smaller sister centre that also has its office and main administration located in the Department of Psychology: the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre (ASDRC) , of which John Starr is Director and Ian Deary is Co-Director. Whereas CCACE focusses on normal cognitive ageing and transitions to pathological cognitive ageing, the ASDRC focusses on dementia. The CCACE Director is a member of the Board of Edinburgh Neuroscience , which brings together 210 PIs, of whom 50 are also clinically active, at the University of Edinburgh. Other relevant Centres at the University of Edinburgh also study brain and cognitive function and dysfunction: MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine , MRC Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine, BHF Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems , Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences , Anne Rowling Clinic , Euan MacDonald Centre , Patrick Wild Centre . Of relevance to the public health and epidemiological dimensions of psychological research, the University of Edinburgh is at the forefront of data science both nationally and internationally, as evidenced by the world-leading School of Informatics , the MRC Farr Institute in Scotland (Director: Andrew Morris) , the ESRC funded Administrative Data Research Centre (Director: Chris Dibben), and the newly-established Usher Institute (Director: Andrew Morris) . |
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| Psychology |
Psychology was established in 1906, as one of the first departments of psychology in Britain, and currently has around 40 academic staff.In the 2014 UK Research Exercise Framework, Psychology at Edinburgh was ranked 3rd in the UK and 1st in Scotland on internationally leading research by volume.Psychology comprises world-class groups in human cognitive neuroscience, individual differences, psychology of language, and developmental psychology. Psychology also houses the Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, which is an international leader in the field, and the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre. Research-led teaching in Psychology includes a well-established multi-national postgraduate programme, offering five taught MSc programmes as well as PhD study.Undergraduate intake from around the world ranges from around 350 in first year (including a first year intake onto Psychology single and joint honours degree programmes of around 90 students) to specialist fourth year classes of between approximately 20 to 50 students.
Psychology has excellent facilities for research and teaching including research laboratories, a cognitive neuroscience facility with EEG/ERP, NIRS, TMS, and integrated eye and motion-tracking technologies, a developmental facility with infant eye-tracking capabilities, a psychometric test library, subject library, and computing facilities. Staff have access to the Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility and the Scottish Brain Imaging Research Centre, as well as a large volunteer panel to assist the recruitment of normal adult subject samples. In addition to a number of inter-disciplinary links within the School, Psychology has links, both throughout the University and across the world, with world-class researchers in cognate disciplines such as clinical neuroscience, basic neuroscience, neuroinformatics, and cognitive science.
The Department of Psychology holds a Bronze Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance the representation of women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology
www.psy.ed.ac.uk |
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| The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
The School comprises Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences (Linguistics and English Language). The main aims of the School are to develop our internationally-renowned reputation for research and to use this as a solid foundation for our teaching.In all subject areas the School is recognized as world-leading, as shown in its high rankings across all areas in the 2014 Research Exercise Framework.There are 100 + academic staff within the School, and the breadth of expertise ranges from analytic philosophy and the study of English language, through theoretical and applied linguistics and experimental psychology, to cognitive neurosciences and genetic influences on human behaviour. The School is unique in offering outstanding opportunities for inter-disciplinary teaching and in pioneering novel forms of research that reach across traditional boundaries. Each year, the School welcomes a diverse mix of undergraduate and postgraduate students from around the world. The School has well-established links with other areas of the University such Clinical Neuroscience, and Medicine, Informatics and Edinburgh College of Art.All subject areas have active links with research organizations outwith the University, and a broad network of collaboration with a range of universities around the globe. The School offers extensive support for academics, including dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate teaching offices, a highly experienced research support team, knowledge exchange team and a highly skilled IT resources team.
The School facilities include a range of specialist laboratories and a well-stocked and resourced School library which is supported by a full-time librarian. This is in addition to the nearby University central library. The School is located across two buildings set in the heart of the University’s George Square campus.
www.ppls.ed.ac.uk |
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| College of Humanities and Social Science (http://www.ed.ac.uk/humanities-soc-sci) |
| The College of Humanities and Social Science is the largest and most diverse of the three Colleges in the University. Led by Vice-Principal Professor Dorothy Miell, it has 12,600 undergraduates, 4,500 taught postgraduates, 2,000 research students and more than 3,100 academic and support staff. The College incorporates 11 Schools (Business; Divinity; Economics; Edinburgh College of Art; Education; Health in Social Science; History, Classics and Archaeology; Law; Literatures, Languages and Cultures; Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences; and Social and Political Science), the Institute for Academic Development, the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and the Office of Lifelong Learning. The College is located on multiple sites across Edinburgh, with the majority of Schools and College Offices based in the central George Square area. The College, which is recognised as one of the world’s leading centres for the arts, humanities and social sciences research and teaching, has been investing strongly in recent years.Research Excellence Framework 2014 (REF2014)The College operates at the highest levels of international quality across a very wide range of disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences and submitted the work of more than 750 staff to 23 Units of Assessment in the Research Excellence Framework 2014. The College achieved a superb result, combining a large-scale, broad and diverse submission with very high quality outcomes: 86% of its research impact and 76% of the overall quality profile were assessed as world-leading (4*) and internationally excellent (3*). Using the widely used Research Power index (which combines the submission’s overall score for 3* and 4* work with the volume of staff submitted), 12 Units which were ranked within the top five in the UK, and 18 Units which were ranked first in Scotland are located in the College. With an assessment of more than 95% at 3* and 4*, we’re particularly proud of the outstanding research environment we create for staff and research students. |
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| The University of Edinburgh |
For more than four centuries, our people and their achievements have rewritten history time and again. They’ve explored space, revolutionised surgery, published era-defining books, paved the way for life-saving medical breakthroughs and introduced to the world many inventions, discoveries and ideas from penicillin to Dolly the sheep. We have believed that anything is possible.We still do. The latest Research Excellence Framework highlighted our place at the forefront of international research. This adds to our international reputation for the quality of our teaching and our student experience excellence.As a member of staff you will be part of one of the world’s leading universities, with 22 Schools spread over 3 Colleges that offer more than 500 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate courses to over 35,000 students each year. Professional services are critical to this success as well as our world-class teaching, research and student facilities. In fact, we are one of the top employers in Edinburgh, with over 12,000 people spread across a wide range of academic and supporting roles.The University is proud of its success with online teaching initiatives, with 2100 students currently studying its online distance learning postgraduate programmes, and a total to date of 1.84 million enrolments for Edinburgh MOOCs.
As a world-changing, world-leading university we are an exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. We give you support, nurture your talent, develop and reward success and integrate academic, professional and personal career goals, as well as give your career the benefit of a great and distinguished reputation.
The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance the representation of women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. We are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions actively promoting LGBT equality.
The University has a range of initiatives to support a family friendly working environment. See our |
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