Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering (Education) - School of Metallurgy and Materials - 57799 - Grade 9

Full Job Description

Position Details

School of Metallurgy and Materials, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £56,021 to £64,914

Grade: 9

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 10th January 2024

Background

The School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham is a vibrant and thriving academic community, with over 100 academic and research staff, 50 support staff, over 350 undergraduate and masters students, and 150 postgraduate research students. The School has a world-renowned programme of research and teaching in its field, with historical roots which spread back to the seminal efforts of Cottrell and Knott.

The School’s research-led educational activities focus on delivering a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Materials Science and Engineering, as well as managing and co-delivering the Aerospace Engineering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes with the School of Engineering.

We are seeking an outstanding candidate to be appointed to the post of Associate Professor on an Education pathway, in the broader field of Materials Science and Engineering. The successful candidate will collaborate with colleagues in leading the School’s current educational activities, as well develop new ones. The appointed candidate will have a strong track record of managing and developing educational activities, and experience in delivering innovative and engaging lectures, laboratories and research projects.

Role Summary

Contribute at a senior level on a sustained basis to the whole range of teaching leadership and administration. In addition you will be expected to contribute to academic citizenship, likely to be demonstrated through generous, mutually respectful and supportive working relationships with all staff and students.

Teaching is likely to include: (a) development and leadership of major teaching programmes or equivalent; and (b) enhancement of the student experience or employability, that are of manifest benefit to the College and the University. It is expected that you will demonstrate a significant contribution to the advancement of teaching (policy, practice, standards) of the subject, provide leadership in teaching and learning that is innovative to the subject area or institution, with a significant contribution to the debate nationally about teaching. 

Management and administration is likely to include Departmental/School leadership and management activity with University wide involvement – for example through sustained high value impact knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement, public engagement or similar activities. 

Main Duties

Education

You will contribute across the range of teaching and learning activities:

• making a significant contribution to the pedagogical knowledge base of the subject that advances teaching through the enhancement of practice, the development of teaching resources and/or through practice-based research; 
• leading on the management and the development of approaches to teaching and learning, including designing innovative approaches and supporting colleagues to use them in the subject area or institution;
• leading on curriculum design at module and programme level to ensure it is contemporary, inclusive, engaging and academically challenging;
• actively engaging students in curriculum design;
• making an impactful, high quality contribution to debates about education policy, methods and practices through internal and external publications, subject societies and conference activity;
• developing an external profile evidenced through engaging in external quality assurance activities related to teaching, eg. external examining and engaging with/supporting education in other institutions;
• where appropriate, playing an important and sustained role in the recruitment and admission of students; 
• co-supervising doctoral students to completion; 
• leading the development of teaching, learning and assessment policies and strategies;
• acting as an education mentor to colleagues in the School/Department/College or more widely;
• leading the development of new and appropriate approaches to learning and teaching;
• leading sustained high value impact in knowledge transfer and enterprise (including business engagement, public engagement) that enhances the student experience and/or or employability, and is of manifest benefit to learning and teaching in the College and the University;
• undertaking own teaching, which will include teaching and examining courses at a range of levels, planning and reviewing own teaching approaches, developing programme proposals, supervision, marking and examining. You will ensure that your teaching practice is informed by discipline based research, through participating in the research culture of the School.

Management/administration

Lead activities in the Department/ School and represent the School on College/ University committees or working groups. Where appropriate to the discipline, this is likely to include some but not all of the responsibilities listed below. 

• making an important contribution to the development and running of the Department or School, for example, leading activity on teaching assessment; 
• leading a successful international engagement at School or College level;
• developing and managing staff and resources in support of major teaching activities;
• making important contributions to the development of the Department’s (and the University) learning and teaching strategy;
• contributing significantly to the development and delivery of knowledge transfer, enterprise, business engagement and public engagement activities with sustained high value impact of manifest benefit to the College and the University in a teaching/education context;
• develops and implements a culture (including policies and procedures) that promotes Equality and values diversity and inclusion;
• leading, serving on and assisting the work of committees and task and finish groups beyond School/Department, e.g., Senate, Council, University Education or Research Committee etc.;
• leading external committees, e.g., those associated with public/professional bodies or delivery of activities for an external body at an appropriate level, e.g., chairing sub committees associated with large elements of work;
• leading/project managing a team to devise and implement a new and/or revised process (e.g. new programme or a recruitment drive);
• making a sustained contribution to widening participation, schools outreach and/or public understanding of the discipline;.
• contributing to administrative activities within the University (e.g. appeals panels, working groups).

Citizenship

• identifying wellbeing issues within the School/College/University and developing appropriate solutions to address these;
• taking collective ownership of challenges faced by the School or College and working with colleagues to develop solutions;
• mentoring and coaching of colleagues, particularly those in the early stages of their career.

Person Specification

• PhD or equivalent in Materials Science and Engineering or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Management and administration.

Learning and teaching requirements

An excellent teaching profile and performance in terms of both impact and quality. Teaching quality demonstrated to be informed by an appropriate level of scholarship. 

Evidence of success under the following headings.

• High national reputation for the development of teaching and learning excellence within the discipline.
• Successful and sustained use of a range of appropriate teaching methods, and assessment strategies that promote high quality learning, including learning that is flexible, distinctive and current and stimulates learners’ natural curiosity. 
• Significant and sustained contribution to one or more of the following: strategic development of new programmes, approaches to learning, the development of learning resources.
• High quality and sustained contributions to fostering excellence in teaching activities more widely, i.e. in the Department/School or College and/or externally.
• Mentoring and expert advice which develops the skills of colleagues in teaching and in fostering learning.
• Sustained high value impact knowledge transfer and enterprise that is of manifest benefit to the College and University.

Management and administration-related requirements

Demonstrated significant achievement in management and administration-related activities, which may include leadership of activities/initiatives. Evidence of success under the following headings.

• Successful and sustained performance in significant administrative/managerial role(s) (e.g. senior tutor, programme convenor).
• Significant and sustained high quality innovative contributions to the management/administration of the Department/School/College or University.
• Experience and sustained participation in professional accreditation applications and other quality assurance activities.
• Successful and sustained contribution to the corporate life of the School/College/University, displaying willingness to contribute actively to committees, collaborative teaching and administrative tasks.
• Actively promotes equality and diversity to internal and external stakeholders.
• Able to use data to identify equality and diversity issues. 
• Experience of developing interventions to address equality and diversity issues.

Informal enquiries to Professor Alessandro Mottura , email: or Dr Leah-Nani Alconcel, email:

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone  on our website .