Please note a full application including a covering letter detailing your experience alongside a CV is required for applications to be considered. Please be advised applications made without providing a cover letter will not be accepted.

Background of department/role

The School of Psychology and Life Sciences is a vibrant and diverse community of academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students with approximately 150 academic staff and 30 professional service and technical support staff, providing innovative multi-disciplinary science and social science education across a range of both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to approximately 2000 students.

The School is organised into three Sections and you will work within the Section of Natural and Applied Sciences (NAS), joining an energetic and multidisciplinary team of about 20 academic staff. The Section runs a number of single honours degree programmes that include both BSc Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science (WECS) and BSc Geography pathways. These pathways incorporate subjects like human and physical geography, GIS and remote sensing, wildlife conservation and climate change. They also include residential field trips to Wales and Malta.

The science programmes within the Section are all offered with a foundation (Level 0) entry and the Section also offers an MPhil/PhD in Biological Sciences and an MSc by Research in Biosciences. Our teaching and research facilities are based within the University’s new GBP 65,000,000 STEM building at the Canterbury campus. Within this STEM building, NAS is located alongside the new Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), other lab-based disciplines in PLS, and the new School of Engineering, Technology and Design. We have close links with local and regional organisations involved in conservation and environmental management such as Wildwood Trust, the Aspinall Foundation, the Environment Agency and Kent Wildlife Trust. We also have a specialist Life Sciences Industry Liaison Lab based at Discovery Park, Sandwich, one of Europe’s leading science and technology parks.

The School has an extensive research and knowledge exchange (RKE) portfolio that focuses on the impact of our work on stakeholders. In the last Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment (REF 2021), the majority of the School’s submitted impact case studies were assessed to be world leading or internationally excellent. This RKE activity contributes to a research-enhanced offer to students that embeds research involvement in the curriculum and allows students to experience first-hand how the subjects and disciplines they are studying make a difference to society, the environment and to people’s lives.

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking an enthusiastic and student-focused candidate to a post at Lecturer or Senior Lecturer Level (commensurate with experience) in Physical Geography or a related field (e.g. geomorphology, hydrology, glaciology, climatology, soil geography, biogeography).

You will have an active involvement in the organisation and delivery of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science and Geography courses at undergraduate level. You will have experience teaching in a higher education setting and ideally have some experience in teaching beyond individual specialism, e.g. delivering sessions on basic biology, chemistry, physics or statistics. You should also have some experience in carrying out high-quality research and/or a strong background in practice (e.g. consultancy, environmental management etc.). As part of your role, you will be involved in teaching across the wider Natural and Applied Sciences (NAS) curriculum and will supervise research project students, alongside teaching specialist modules.

We are particularly interested to hear from you if you have experience using GIS in teaching, research and/or knowledge exchange and consultancy and have an interest in collaborating with researchers with specialism in natural sciences (e.g. ecologists, biologists, chemists). Experience in teaching on climate and climate change would also be beneficial. You should also be able to demonstrate your independent research potential in an area that complements or strengthens existing research activity within our School

How will you work?

We are committed to supporting flexible methods of working wherever possible. You will be a member of the NAS academic team and will work closely with the other members of the team in the planning, delivery, assessment and evaluation of courses.

Campus attendance will vary on a day-to-day basis depending on your teaching schedule and across the year, but you will be spending the majority of your working time on campus. Microsoft Teams is used for remote meetings, calls etc. when working off-campus. Teaching is typically delivered face-to-face, supplemented by blended and flipped learning approaches using Blackboard as a virtual learning environment.

How to apply

Start date for applications: 19/04/2024
Closing date for applications: 20/05/2024
Interviews are to be held: Week commencing 03/06/2024

If you require further information regarding the post please feel free to contact chris.harvey@canterbury.ac.uk (Section Director of Natural and Applied Sciences) quoting reference number REQ04879.

Please note, Canterbury Christ Church University reserve the right to bring the closing date of this position forward where a high volume of applications is received.

Additional Information

Canterbury Christ Church University truly welcomes fresh perspectives and new voices. We want you to bring the real you to work, so we are committed to building a genuinely inclusive working environment where everyone is welcomed and where everyone can have a true sense of belonging. Our spirit of community will help us to eliminate discrimination and will enable us all to thrive in a culture that is underpinned by fairness and justice. We therefore seek people to join us who will proactively support and shape this aim and contribute in their own unique way. If this is you, then we are waiting to hear from you. #yourCCCU

Please ensure you include contact details of two employment referees in your application, one of which must be your current/ most recent line manager.

Please note applications must be made online via the University website; details sent directly via email cannot be considered.

Prior consideration will be given to applicants in the University’s redeployment pool. No agencies, thank you.