VIRMOBS is an international comparative project led by Social Scientists in Canada, France and the UK. VIRMOBS examines the implications of virtual mobilities (namely forms of ISM where students enroll on online distance education programmes outside their home countries) for learning, cultural experience, social inclusion and the value of credentials. It asks: are virtual mobilities more sustainable, inclusive forms of ISM, or are they low-value alternatives likely to exacerbate existing inequalities? How do different national policy and regulatory contexts influence the shape and impact of virtual mobilities?

VIRMOBS will combine socio-history, quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the national, institutional and individual logics underpinning virtual mobilities in Canada, France and the UK. We will conduct documentary research, student surveys and interviews with staff and students in the three countries.

You will join the UK team and be based in the Department of Education at the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ. You will contribute to all aspects of the project with a primary focus on the UK case. This will include conducting literature reviews and document analysis, designing the research instruments, setting up and conducting interviews and contributing to statistical and qualitative data analysis. You will collaborate with UK, France and Canada-based researchers, help manage and archive project data, present findings at national and international conferences and contribute to scholarly publications with the project team.

This role is offered on a full time (36.5 hours per week) fixed term basis from the 01 May 2025 with an expected duration of 33 months. 

As a member of Research Staff at the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ, you will be encouraged to take up a minimum of 10 days professional development pro rata per year.

A lower grade offer may be made (Grade 6) with comparable reduction in responsibilities and amendment in job title to Research Assistant, if a suitable applicant cannot be found to fill the Grade 7 position. Applicants will need to be within six months of their course completion date and will be promoted to Research Associate once their PhD has been awarded.

About you 

You will have:

• A PhD in a social science discipline such as Sociology, Geography or Education (if you are applying for Research Associate level).
• Expertise in qualitative or mixed research methods.
• A good understanding of quantitative research methods.
• A very good knowledge of the literature on international student mobility and/or global educational inequalities.
• A good understanding of the UK Higher Education landscape and policy context.
• Demonstrated potential to publish in high quality, peer reviewed journals.
• An ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Excellent project management skills.
• Proficiency in French is very desirable.

Further information

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Dr Aline Courtois via ac2630@bath.ac.uk 

What we can offer you:

• a very generous employer contributory pension scheme
• generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
• we are a family-friendly University and with an increasingly agile workforce, are open to flexible working arrangements
• an excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
• a wide range of personal and professional development opportunities
• a number of support options available for new and existing staff to help with the cost of some immigration expenses which you may be eligible for: Relocation allowance, Visa Reimbursement, Interest-Free Loan.

Find out more about our benefits.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our commitment.

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

Find out from our staff what makes the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ a great place to work. Follow us and on Twitter for more information.

Closing Date: 05 Jan 2025

Department: Education & Research

Salary: Salary for a Research Assistant is £30,505 rising to £36,924 per annum. Salary for a Research Associate is £37,999 rising to £45,163 per annum

Join our team at the ICCS International Study Centre (ISC) and play a central role in shaping the future of civic and citizenship education worldwide. 

As a Research Associate, you will contribute to an innovative research programme and to the successful execution of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS), a large-scale international assessment that explores how young people learn about and engage with civic and citizenship issues.

You will:

• Contribute to a ground breaking research programme in collaboration with international experts.
• Oversee project activities, manage stakeholder relationships, and ensure the timely completion of deliverables.
• Contribute to inform educational policies and practices, impacting the lives of young people around the world.

As a member of Research Staff at the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ you will be encouraged to take up a minimum of 10 days professional development pro rata per year.

This unique opportunity allows you to apply your research expertise and project management skills to a project of global significance. Collaborating with a diverse team of researchers, educators and other stakeholders, working on all aspects of the ICCS, from instrument and framework development to data collection and data analysis and reporting. Your research will contribute to a deeper understanding of how young people learn about citizenship and how we can prepare them for active participation in democratic societies. Your project coordination will ensure the smooth operation and successful completion of this important international initiative.

To learn more about the ICCS and its impact visit the project website:

About you:

You will have demonstrated experience working in a highly international environment and the ability to effectively communicate research results to diverse collaborators, including academic, policy, and supranational organisations. Additionally, you will have:

• A PhD degree in a subject area directly relevant to international large-scale assessments (ILSA) in education; or further academic qualifications plus significant relevant professional experience in the discipline, equivalent to that of a PhD, in the field of ILSAs.
• A deep understanding of the operation of international large-scale assessments (ILSA) in education, including planning, design, implementation, and dissemination of results.
• Proficiency in the use of specialised software for analysing quantitative (e.g., R, SPSS, MPlus) and qualitative data (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.ti, Dedoose).

Further information

This role is offered on a full time (36.5 hours per week) fixed term basis with an expected end date of 30/06/2029.

What we can offer you:

• a very generous employer contributory pension scheme
• generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
• we are a family-friendly University and with an increasingly agile workforce, are open to flexible working arrangements
• an excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
• a wide range of personal and professional development opportunities
• a number of support options available for new and existing staff to help with the cost of some immigration expenses which you may be eligible for: Relocation allowance, Visa Reimbursement, Interest-Free Loan.

Find out more about our benefits.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our commitment.

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

Find out from our staff what makes the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ a great place to work. Follow us and on Twitter for more information.

Closing Date: 01 Jan 2025

Department: Education & Research

Salary: £37,999 to £45,163

We are recruiting a team of ambitious early career policy sociologists to contribute to a major new £1.5million UKRI/ESRC-funded project From the Centre to the Periphery – which addresses regional economic disparities within the UK, and specifically examining the role education can play to reduce deep-seated spatial divides.  

We will address this major policy challenge by carrying out the first quasi-experimental evaluation of the Opportunity Areas programme, a £100million national area-based initiative that sought to close gaps in social mobility between different regions and places of the UK. It was a long-term investment in areas of the country that have the most pronounced levels of deprivation and where social mobility is the lowest. Working with our local authority partners, the Department for Education and other third-sector organisations, our research will help to shape future area-based education and social policy.  

This advertised post relates to the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ-based Research Assistant. Running concurrently in this recruitment round is a further Durham-based Research Associate post advertised separately by Durham University.

Those appointed to these posts will work directly with our interdisciplinary team of geographers, sociologists and educationalists, including Professor Michael Donnelly (Education, ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ), Professor Nadia Siddiqui (Education, Durham), Professor Richard Harris (Geography, Bristol), Dr Joanne Davies (Education, ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ), Dr Ceri Brown (Education, ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ), Professor Matt Dickson (IPR, ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ) and Professor Nick Pearce (IPR, ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ). 

The ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ-based Research Assistant will primarily be responsible for impact and knowledge exchange activities but will also contribute to some of the qualitative data collection and analysis. They will implement the knowledge exchange and impact strategy for the project, working with impact lead Dr Ceri Brown. This involves working with Dr Brown to engage key stakeholders, ensuring their knowledge is inputted into the project as well as key policy-learnings successfully impact policy and practice at national, regional and local levels. 

These posts represent an excellent opportunity for early career researchers wishing to develop an academic career in public policy research – those appointed will receive mentoring from the senior colleagues involved in the project to develop co-authored and sole-authored outputs in leading academic journals that are world-leading in quality. 

As a member of Research Staff at the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ, you will be encouraged to take up a minimum of 10 days professional development pro rata per year

About you 

These posts represent an exciting opportunity for ambitious and enthusiastic early career researchers to join one of the largest studies ever to have been carried out into spatial inequalities in education and social mobility within the UK. We are looking for somebody who is passionate about the topic area, is confident at engaging with stakeholders and the wider public, has knowledge of effective knowledge exchange activity, and has strong qualitative research skills.

Further information

This role is offered on part time (21.9 hours per week) fixed term basis with an expected end date of 27/09/2027.

For informal discussions about the role please contact Professor Michael Donnelly on mpd35@bath.ac.uk or Dr Ceri Brown on clb27@bath.ac.uk

What we can offer you:

• a very generous employer contributory pension scheme
• generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work life balance
• we are a family-friendly University and with an increasingly agile workforce, are open to flexible working arrangements
• an excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
• a wide range of personal and professional development opportunities
• a number of support options available for new and existing staff to help with the cost of some immigration expenses which you may be eligible for: Relocation allowance, Visa Reimbursement, Interest-Free Loan.

Find out more about our benefits.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students, so we encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our  commitment.

We are very proud to be an autism friendly university and are an accredited Disability Confident Leader; committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

Find out from our staff what makes the ºÚÁÏÍø³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ a great place to work. Follow us and on Twitter for more information.

Closing Date: 15 Jan 2025

Department: Education & Research

Salary: £30,505 to £36,924 pro rata per annum