Lecturer (Computational Sociology)

UOE08 - £48,350 to £59,421  per annum

School of Social and Political Science

Contract Type - Open Ended, from September 2024

Full Time - 35 Hours Per Week

The Opportunity:

You will further the School’s international reputation in teaching and research on digital and computational sociology. You will demonstrate experience, achievement and outstanding potential reflected in a growing portfolio of teaching activities, and a commitment to the provision of academic student support. You will have a research profile, in both experience to date and in future potential, which is at the forefront of scholarship in Sociology, and the field of computational sociology in particular. You will also exhibit a strong commitment to the collegial life of Sociology and the School. 

While substantive specialisation is open, we welcome applications from candidates who complement existing strengths in the Sociology group.

This post is open ended, available from September 2024.

This post is advertised as full-time (35 hours per week), however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns for not less than 0.8fte (4 days per week). We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working. 

Your skills and attributes for success:

• A PhD or equivalent, either submitted or awarded by the time of appointment, except where exceptional experience can suffice as an equivalent 
• Evidence of recent, sustained and developing attainments in teaching, appropriate to career stage, also indicative of commitment to, and potential for, excellence in teaching, including online provision and the ability to develop courses/programmes at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Particularly, teaching quantitative methods in widely used coding languages.
• Evidence of recent, sustained and developing research and publication activities appropriate to career stage, meeting standards of international excellence, and ability to attract external research funding as an independent researcher and to lead research programmes.  Particularly, expertise in computational text analysis methods applied to social scientific research questions and in digital data sources and the analysis of ‘big data’
• Evidence of a commitment to collegiality and team working

Click to view a copy of the full job description  (opens new browser tab)

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary of £48,350-£59,421
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options.  Check out the full list on our staff benefits page  (opens in a new page) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits.

As part of your application, please submit a CV and covering letter that addresses your suitability for the role. 

Informal questions about this post can be directed to the Hiring Manger, Dr Hugo Gorringe, Head of Sociology, via email at 

External applicants, please refer to the guidance in ‘How to Join Us’ to support your application process. 

For current employees interested in applying for this role, please apply as an internal applicant through the People & Money Current Jobs app. 

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages  (opens new browser tab)

Key dates to note:

The closing date for applications is 9 May 2024

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone. 

Interviews will typically be held 2-3 weeks after the closing date.