Job Title: Chair in Inflammation Sciences at Queen Mary University of London
Institute: William Harvey Research Institute
Faculty: Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD)
Grade: Non Clinical Professor
Type of Academic Contract: Principal Investigator (see Appendix 2)
Hours: Full-time
Appointment period: Permanent
Probationary period: N/A
Main Location: Based at the William Harvey Research Institute. The post-holder may be required to move to another of the QMUL sites should the need arise. The post-holder may also be required to carry out duties on other College/Hospital sites related to QMUL.
1. Accountability
· The post-holder is managerially directly accountable to the Institute Directors (DoI) at the William Harvey Research Institute at QMUL.
· The post-holder will also be accountable to the Vice Principal for Health at QMUL.
· The post-holder is accountable to the DoIs for the research elements of the post.
· The post-holder is accountable to the DoIs and Institute Teaching Lead for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training.
2. Job purpose
· To undertake and direct high level inflammation research complementary to the overall research strategy of the SMD and QMUL.
· To direct and support strategic bids to externally raise research funds, educational income and philanthropy in support of the mission of the newly formed Centre for Inflammation and Therapeutic Innovation (CiTI) at QMUL, developing and implementing an internationally leading strategic vision for anti-inflammatory research and education at QMUL to ensure we will be a world-leading inflammation centre.
· To oversee, manage and ensure that research and educational performance of CiTI’s staff is at the highest level.
· To contribute to the organisation, delivery and assessment of teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students at QMUL.
· To undertake such administrative, managerial and other duties as are reasonably to be expected of a senior member of academic staff, as agreed with the DoIs.
3. Summary of post
· The post sits within the WHRI.
· The appointment is tenured
4. Duties of the post
Leadership: The role of the Chair of Inflammation Sciences is:
· To exercise leadership and direction commensurate with a global-leading academic centre.
· To lead external strategic bids for research, education or capital to external funding bodies (including the National Institute for Health Research) and establish key links to international centres of excellence and industry in pursuit of the Centre mission.
· To establish an environment and culture where world-leading performance amongst staff is an absolute requirement.
· To create a location for training at undergraduate and postgraduate levels that is viewed as internationally leading.
· To capitalise on the multi-Faculty nature of QMUL and on the institution’s relationship with Barts Health to produce the highest quality research and education in pursuit of the Centre goals.
Research: Research productivity will be assessed according to the QMUL performance standards for academic staff (see Appendix I).
· To perform research to the highest international standards.
· To acquire resources and financial support in order to develop and direct an independent research programme in Inflammation and therapeutic innovation research complementary to the overall research strategy of the Centre, Institute, School and QMUL.
· To publish research results using well-regarded means, such as high impact factor peer-reviewed academic journals and conference proceedings.
· To develop and maintain national and international research links and a high profile in the subject or field, e.g. by attending and presenting at national and international conferences.
· To supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students engaged in research, postdoctoral research workers and research assistants, as appropriate.
· To maximise the recovery of overheads and coverage of direct costs associated with research activity via grant income.
· To ensure that all research is undertaken according to QMUL protocols and governance arrangements.
Teaching: The post-holder’s contribution to teaching activities will be determined according to the School’s performance standards for academic staff (see Appendix I).
· To oversee undergraduate and postgraduate leads for the delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula in accordance with the Institute’s Teaching and Learning Service Level Agreement and as agreed by the Institute’s Teaching Lead and the DoI. This will include oversight of course and examination organisation, and, when required, serving on strategic or tactical committees related to teaching.
· To support and contribute where possible to the development and organisation of inflammation and therapeutic innovation as subject areas in undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
Health and Safety:
· The post-holder must be fully aware of and comply with QMUL’s policies and procedures in relation to confidentiality, health and safety at work, COSHH regulations, infection control, safe handling of drugs, and all local safety rules regarding fire, chemical, radioisotope and gene manipulation hazards.
· The post holder is expected to undertake appropriate management responsibilities in accordance with QMUL’s Health and Safety policy and report as necessary any untoward accident, incident or potentially hazardous environment. The post holder will promote and implement the Health and Safety Policy. QMUL operates a No Smoking Policy on its campuses.
C. Other
· The post-holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to QMUL’s equal opportunities policy.
· The post-holder must at all times respect the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
· Due to the nature of the work, this post is exempt from the provision of section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemption Order 1975). Applicants are therefore not entitled to withhold information about convictions, including those which, for other purposes are “spent” under the provisions of the Act. Failure to disclose such information may result in dismissal or disciplinary action.
· Appointment is subject to satisfactory pre-employment health screening carried out by QMUL following recommendation for appointment.
· This job description sets out the duties of the post at the time it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or level of responsibility entailed.
· The duties of the post outlined above are not exhaustive, and the post-holder is expected to be co-operative and flexible, undertaking such other duties as may from time to time be reasonably expected of a senior member of clinical academic staff in a university.
· These duties will be subject to review in line with the changing requirements of QMUL, the School or Institute, and with the development needs of the post-holder as identified through regular review/appraisal processes.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Qualifications / · PhD
· Must have satisfied the academic criteria[1] for award of academic title of Professor* through the University of London appointments/promotions procedures.
Previous experience / · Considerable high calibre leadership experience with clear evidence of world-leading capability
· Evidence of highest calibre research programme in inflammation sciences with high impact publication and research grants
· Successful strategic bids and research grant awards
Special skills and knowledge / · Extremely strong leadership in a Higher Education environment
· Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
· Ability to teach medical students and junior medical and nursing staff
· Ability to manage staff and resources effectively
· Ability to develop research projects and supervise trainees in their research
Personal Qualities / · Flexible and co-operative approach to colleagues
· A demonstrative ability to cope under pressure
· Team player with demonstrable leadership experience.
· Good communication skills
Other Requirements / · A demonstrable commitment to teaching and research
This job description sets out the duties of the post at the time it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.
Organisation ChartAppendiX I: background information For Queen Mary University of London And University College London
Queen Mary University of London is one of the UK's leading research-focused higher education institutions. With around 17,840 students, 4,000 staff and an annual turnover of £300m, we are one of the biggest University of London colleges teaching across humanities, the social sciences, law, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering. Based in a creative and culturally diverse area of east London, we offer a completely integrated residential campus, with a 2,000-bed award-winning student village at our Mile End home.
Our Research Excellence
Queen Mary has made a strategic commitment to the highest quality of research. We have invested in this principle by systematically recruiting the best academics in their disciplines from around the world. The results of the most recent national assessment of research – the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) – have confirmed our place in the very top group of research-led universities in the UK. Overall we were ranked 9th in the UK among multi-faculty universities and 5th in the UK for the percentage of our 3* and 4* research outputs.
Russell Group Institution
Queen Mary is one of 24 leading UK universities represented by the Russell Group, that are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience, excellent graduate employability and unrivalled links with business and the public sector.
High-quality Learning Experience
Queen Mary offers outstanding students a stimulating, supportive and high-quality learning experience, with teaching inspired by our world-leading research. We have also invested more than £250m in new facilities over the last fifteen years to offer our students an exceptional learning environment. This is reflected in our consistently high levels of student satisfaction. In the most recent National Student Survey (NSS 2014), 86 per cent of our undergraduates expressed 'overall satisfaction' with their time here, with eight subjects in the top ten nationally, nine subjects rated as top in London, and 20 out of 28 subjects in the top five in London.
Our School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry is a faculty of QMUL. One of the leading medical schools in the UK, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry brings together two venerable teaching institutions: St Bartholomew's Hospital, which dates back to 1123, and The London Hospital Medical College, which was the first medical school in England and Wales, founded in 1785.
Our students are very satisfied with their learning experience – in the most recent National Student Survey (NSS 2014), 96 per cent were satisfied with the quality of their course.
Our research strength.
According to the Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry is placed within the top seven UK institutions in all three Units of Assessment – Clinical Medicine; Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care; and Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. The School is nationally and internationally recognised for research in these areas, reflected in the £60 million it attracts annually in research income.
The School is organised into the following Institutes:
· Barts Cancer Institute
· Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Science
· Institute of Health Sciences Education
· Institute of Dentistry
· William Harvey Research Institute
· Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine
The William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary.
The William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) is one of the largest multidisciplinary pharmacological institutes in Europe and the largest in the UK, with 380 scientists, clinician scientists, post-doctoral fellows, postgraduate students and support/administrative staff drawn from 45 nations. Our research and training activities are focused upon three disease- oriented scientific areas: Cardiovascular – Inflammation – Endocrinology. By integrating our strengths in key partnerships geared toward therapeutic innovation across QMUL, Barts Health, UCL Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre. Our cross-disciplinary research and training endeavour is summarised by a simple schematic on the three cross-cutting themes Genomics and Stratified Medicine, Experimental Medicine and Pharmacology, Translational Pharmacology and Therapeutic Innovation.
Appendix 2 – Performance Standards at Queen Mary University of London
1 Background
Queen Mary University of London has made major investments at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry since 2002. This led to a dramatic step change in research performance in the 2008 and 2014 UK Research Assessment Exercise/Research Excellence Framework with 90% of research at internationally excellent or world-leading level. All QMUL academic staff are performance managed by analysing their research activity in terms of their publication quality, grant expenditure, research assistants and students and determining financial cut-offs for each new level of post that reflected fairly the level of research activity that could be expected from individuals at different times in their career. Three categories of post are identified in our School structure: Principal Investigators (PI) and Teaching/Research (TR) posts and Teaching Scholarship Posts (TS).
2 Targets of the School
· To advance its performance and reputation as a major international research institution and as a destination of preference for outstanding researchers both nationally and internationally.
· To increase the School’s total externally funded research expenditure by 15% p.a.
· To achieve the highest ratings in the Research Excellence Framework in 2021 and increase Queen Mary’s performance in relation to research expenditure, research publications, numbers of research assistants and research higher degree completions.
· To increase ‘third stream’ activities (knowledge transfer, interaction with business and the community, consultancies) by 15% p.a.
· To provide high quality education to its under-graduate and post-graduate students.
3 Performance Standards
This paper sets out the performance standards for Principal Investigators (PI), Teaching and Research (TR) and Teaching and Scholarship (TS) posts. By performance managing staff, Institute Directors will be able to identify more clearly an individual’s achievements in research and teaching and facilitate opportunities for career progression and reward research and teaching excellence. It will also enable Institute Directors to identify and nurture areas of outstanding capability that would represent major priority areas for investment by the School.