The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

Overview

Join a leading School of Geography and Planning to work as a Research Associate with Professor Stephen Livingstone and his team of collaborators.

The role holder will contribute to research projects on ice sheet hydrology, including the ARIA-funded Greenland Runoff Monitoring from Passive Seismology (GRuMPS), develop their own research agenda and contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the school.

The successful candidate will help plan and execute glaciological fieldwork, process existing and forthcoming results and work with the project wider team to analyse, interpret and disseminate the results. We particularly seek individuals with a track record in handling large-scale remote sensing datasets, and/ or working at the cutting edge of field sensor design and deployment. A knowledge of passive seismics would also be helpful.

They will also contribute to the coordination and delivery of undergraduate and masters teaching for a diverse cohort of students, including the delivery of seminars, lectures and fieldwork, as well as marking.

They will receive supervision from Professor Livingstone, benefit from field and methodological training, and career development including teaching experience, and build a robust academic network to support sustained research and impact in the field.

The School of Geography and Planning is a world-leading centre for glaciological research. We are committed to supporting the candidate to engage actively in the intellectual life of a scholarly community and develop their research and teaching profile through collaboration with colleagues in the School, wider Faculty and University.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Contribute fully to the School of Geography and Planning as a researcher and collaborator.
• Work to achieve project milestones by conducting research in an appropriate timescale, including managing time, and working flexibly and independently.
• Help to organise and then participate in fieldwork to Greenland, including the deployment of seismic and other geophysical equipment.
• Analyse and integrate geophysical and/ or remote sensing data from project field seasons and combine with the findings from other project members.
• Attend team and project meetings as required.
• Disseminate research findings through publication in leading peer-review journals, and at national and international conferences.
• Contribute to the preparation of papers for journals/presentations at national/international conferences or seminars to disseminate research findings.
• Read academic papers, journals and textbooks and attend conferences to keep abreast of developments.

Teaching - anticipated 50:50 teaching: research in first year, dropping to 30:70 in future years.

•  Lead, co-ordinate, support and contribute to the teaching team as a team co-ordinator or member.

• Deliver teaching on modules, communicating subject matter and encouraging critical discourse to develop rational thinking; observing and reacting to student interventions; giving appropriate academic advice.

• Carry out assessment for modules, designing assessment instruments and criteria; marking assessments, ensuring adequate moderation; providing written/oral feedback; liaising with external examiners in connection with the approval of assessments, marking criteria, marked scripts and final marks; attending exam boards; and collating and providing final assessments of students.
• Supervise dissertation students
• Plan and priorities own daily workload and monitor the work of students
• Plan for teaching ahead of new course delivery
• Deal with reactive requests, such as those relating to teaching, student support and administrative tasks, on a daily basis

• Make a full and active contribution to the principles of the ‘Sheffield Academic’. These include the achievement of excellence in research, and scholarly pursuits to make a genuine difference in the subject area and to the University’s achievements as a whole. 
•  Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Further Information

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place in late July. This will consist of a short presentation and interview followed by questions from the panel. We plan to let candidates know if they have progressed to the selection stage in mid-July. Please contact our operations team who are  dealing with the recruitment process on gpl-ops@sheffield.ac.uk if you require any reasonable adjustments.

Our vision and strategic plan

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision (opens in new window).

What we offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development access to learning and mentoring schemes; integrated with our Academic Career Pathways.
• A range of generous family-friendly policies
  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • access to menopause support in the workplace
  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits (opens in a new window).

We are a Disability Confident Leader (opens in a new window). If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our ideas and expertise change the world for the better, making a real difference to society. We know that when people come together with different views, approaches and insights it can lead to richer, more creative and innovative teaching and research and the highest levels of student experience. Our University Vision (www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.