Department
This role will be split between the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the Department of Sociology for the first three years of the role.
ISER has a global reputation as a multidisciplinary centre of quantitative social science research. It was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2017 for its “authoritative social and economic research to inform the policies of governments for the improvement of people’s lives”. ISER hosts MiSoC, one of the longest running ESRC-funded centres with researchers from a variety of disciplines, including: Sociology, Demography, Economics, Social Policy, Political Science, Social Statistics and Epidemiology. MiSoC’s research explores the interaction between changing circumstances at the macro-level with behaviour and values at the individual and family level. Our 2019-2024 programme continues this tradition with a focus on new questions raised by technological change, recent demographic patterns, and shifting policy priorities and political constraints, with special attention now placed on the social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Department of Sociology is renowned for its research excellence. It is highly ranked in the QS World Rankings and has been in the top ten for the quality of its research in every research assessment exercise since 1986. All staff are research active, and work in a wide array of fields including sociological theory, social and cultural history, social anthropology, ethnography, quantitative social science, economic sociology, migration, environmental sociology, social psychology, criminology, cultural studies, and LGBTQ, feminist and gender studies.
The Department and ISER are keen to develop the diversity of their staff. The search committee is especially interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching, and/or service, will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.
Duties of the Role
We are seeking a quantitative social scientist for a permanent, full-time post in the Department of Sociology, with an initial 3-year 50% secondment to ISER funded by the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC). The post-holder will, subject to ESRC approval, become a Co-Investigator on the MiSoC programme. During the first three years of the role, the post-holder will have a correspondingly reduced teaching and administrative workload within Sociology and will instead be required to pursue internationally excellent research and contribute to external funding generation (including the MiSoC refunding bid) at ISER. MiSoC funding is guaranteed until 30 September 2024, at which point the post-holder will either revert to a full-time position in Sociology, or continue a fractional appointment in ISER.
Within Sociology, the post-holder is expected to contribute actively to excellent research, to undergraduate and postgraduate education provision, and to the administration of the department. The post-holder will work to enhance the local, regional and international profile of both the Department and the Institute.
Appointment to this post will be made as Senior Lecturer or Reader and a full list of duties and responsibilities can be found within the respective job pack.
Qualifications and Skills required
Applicants should hold a relevant doctoral-level research degree or equivalent professional experience or practice.
You will possess a sustained record of effectiveness in education and experience teaching quantitative methods or data science, or survey methods at the undergraduate and postgraduate level and experience of leading small research programmes or defined areas of larger projects, and of developing research objectives and proposals. In addition, you will possess an established and internationally recognised research profile, with a well-developed future research agenda combined with a clear publication plan for submission to future Research Excellence Framework (REF) programmes as well as a record of success in generating external research income.
A full list of Essential and Desirable criteria can be found under the Person Specification of the respective job pack.
Please state clearly on your application form if you are applying for this post as a Senior Lecturer or Reader.
At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.
To support this commitment we have our Global Forum, a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre, which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives. For more information see: https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/student-facilities/religion-and-faith
Please see the attached job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification, which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application. Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please email the Resourcing Team (resourcing@essex.ac.uk).
*More information: Working at the University
