Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science

Candidate Information B16-02206 Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe

Contents

• About UCL
• About the Institute of Education
• About the Social Research Institute
• Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion
• How to apply
• Job Description and Person Specification

About UCL

Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 18,000 staff and 51,000 students from over 150 different countries.

We are a diverse community with the freedom and courage to challenge, to question and to think differently.

Through a progressive approach to teaching and research, our world-leading academics, curious students and outstanding staff continually pursue excellence, break boundaries and make an impact on real-world problems.

Since 1826, we have challenged orthodoxy and applied ourselves to making the world better, seeking to serve society through the generation and application of ‘useful’ knowledge, with a particular focus on leading interdisciplinary discussion and debate.

UCL is now one of the world’s top universities, with broad disciplinary excellence in research, innovation, education and impact. We operate on a large scale and nevertheless deliver exceptional academic performance: an achievement that has few parallels internationally.

Find out more about UCL here.

About UCL Institute of Education

Working across education, culture, psychology and social science, we create lasting and evolving change in a real-world context. We embrace cross-pollination, collaboration and excellence to create a future that is inclusive and just. We do this through world-leading education, research and enterprise, and have been ranked number one for education worldwide every year since 2014 in the QS World University Rankings.

We merged with UCL in December 2014 and have grown our community to 6,000 students, 1400 staff and hundreds of thousands of alumni who push the boundaries of knowledge and lead challenging conversations.

UCL Institute of Education comprises six academic departments:

• Culture, Communication and Media (CCM)
• Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (CPA)
• Learning and Leadership (LL)
• Psychology and Human Development (PHD)
• Education, Practice and Society (EPS)
• Social Research Institute (SRI)

UCL Institute of Education is also home to the Centre for Languages and International

Education (CLIE).

Find out more about UCL Institute of Education here.

About the Social Research Institute

The Social Research Institute – formerly the Department of Social Science – in the UCL Institute of Education is one of the leading centres for social research in the UK. It is home to seven internationally renowned research units:

• Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• Centre for Time Use Research
• Cohort & Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER)
• Evidence for Policy & Practice Information Centre (EPPI)
• Quantitative Social Science (QSS)
• Social Science Research Unit
• Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU)

Our strategy is to exploit and promote our key characteristics:

• All our centres are multidisciplinary with staff drawn variously from sociology, social policy, demography, economics, psychology, anthropology and social statistics.
• We are working across centres/units to promote cross-methodological, problemsolving interdisciplinary research on particular themes where we have outstanding scholarship and critical mass, e.g. gender, families, work, inequalities, migration, bio-social interactions.
• We are tackling major social challenges, e.g. on how societies support family wellbeing, gender equality and economic prosperity.
• We have a central role in sociological studies at UCL, with staff working on empirically and theoretically rich research.
• Our work is increasingly transgressing the boundaries of academic social science, taking us into life sciences (health, social epidemiology, biosocial research), natural sciences (information science, environmental science) and the humanities (peacebuilding, creative arts).
• Our staff actively engage with public priorities in policy and practice (as seen in our many Impact Case Studies) and with networks for knowledge exchange.
• We are active in the collection and curation of data as a public resource and in the development of research methods as well as in substantive research.
• We have a globally central position in longitudinal research; time use research and systematic reviews.

More than 180 academic, research, teaching, technical and professional service staff work in the department. In addition to the seven research centres, it is home to three undergraduate degrees, three master’s programmes and a thriving doctoral community.

About the QSS Research Centre

The Quantitative Social Science (QSS) research centre is an interdisciplinary group of academics and researchers with expertise in economics, sociology, psychology, social statistics, and policy evaluation. Together, we undertake world-class, interdisciplinary social science research which is both academically renowned and policy relevant. As our name suggests, our research revolves around the development and application of advanced quantitative methods to a wide range of social science issues, with the aim of having real-world engagement and impact. We also design and deliver world-class undergraduate and postgraduate education in all aspects of quantitative social science.

Information about QSS can be found here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-andcentres/quantitative-social-science

Staff Benefits

UCL is a dynamic, global university based in one of the most exciting capital cities in the world. Not only does working at UCL offer the opportunity to work with game changers in your field, but also provides competitive terms, conditions and benefits.

UCL benefits and policies apply equally, whatever the sexual orientation and/or gender identity of employees. Benefits and policies relating to employees’ partners include both different sex and same sex partners.

Annual leave

27 days of annual leave plus six closure days at Christmas and Easter (pro-rata for parttime staff) as well as statutory holidays.

Work life balance

We facilitate flexible working such as flexitime, annualised hours, term-time working, shift working, staggered hours, job share/job splitting, part-time working, compressed hours, career breaks and planned remote working.

Professional development

People development is at the heart of everything we do at UCL. Colleagues have access to a comprehensive range of training programmes and development opportunities that are organised by our Organisational Development team.

Find out more about our other staff benefits here.

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce.

These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people, LGBTQI+ people, and for our grade 9 and 10 roles, women.

IOE holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender equality.

EDI Networks

Our staff equalities networks are open to all staff. They are places where people with shared identities and backgrounds can connect with colleagues and make positive change across the university.

Find out more here.

Equality Areas

Information on various types of equality, including disability, race, gender, sexual orientation and religion, as well as the various charter marks UCL participates in.

Find out more here.

How to Apply

Before completing your application, ensure that you have thoroughly read the job description and have had reviewed the IOE website.

Your application form should address all the person specification points and should clearly demonstrate how your skills and experience meet each of the criteria.

It is important that the criteria are clearly numbered and that you provide a response to each one.

Your responses to all the selection criteria form an essential part of the selection process and a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as 'Please see attached CV' will not be considered acceptable. Following the selection panel's shortlisting process, you will receive notification of the outcome of your application.

Please note that any offer of employment is conditional on your right to work in the UK.

For British passport holders, as part of our standard pre-employment check process, we will be submitting your details to Experian to complete the mandatory RTW checks. For non-UK passport holders, we arrange a Teams video call to verify your share code certificate and status, prior to your start date.

Further information on the application process can be found here.

Job Description

Title: Lecturer in Quantitative

Social Science

Department: SRI

Grade: 8

Location: IoE London (Bloomsbury)

Reports to

Director of QSS

Main purpose of the job

We are now seeking a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Quantitative Social Science to contribute to our research and teaching. Relevant fields include sociology and economics.

A research agenda on the environment and/or climate change is welcome.

Applicants with the ability to teach advanced quantitative methods, particularly causal inference and proficiency in R/Python are especially welcome.

The post holder will contribute to and help shape our interdisciplinary research portfolio by applying advanced quantitative social science methods to pressing real-world challenges around the environment and climate change. They will be expected to develop an ambitious research agenda, seek external funding from a diverse range of sources and produce work with demonstrable impact beyond academia.

The successful candidate will teach and lead modules on our BSc Social Sciences with Data Science, MSc Social Research Methods with Data Science or MSc Sociology programmes and may be invited to (co-)lead these programmes over time.

We are particularly interested in applicants with a commitment to open and collaborative scholarship, innovative pedagogy, and inclusive curriculum design.

Appointees will also be expected to contribute actively to the intellectual and collegial life of the department.

The post is available from 01 September 2027.

Duties and responsibilities

The Assistant Professor/Lecturer will be expected to

• Undertake and publish scholarly research in the social sciences that applies or develops advanced quantitative methods.
• Raise research and consultancy funding from research councils, foundations and public bodies (e.g. Government departments, ESRC, charities) by participating in bids as a co- or principal investigator.
• Contribute to curriculum development and delivery on the BSc Social

Sciences with Data Science, MSc Social Research Methods with Data Science, or MSc Sociology and in the future take a leadership role in these programmes.

• Supervise research dissertations for undergraduate, Masters, and PhD students and act as personal tutor to students as required.
• Collaborate with colleagues in QSS, the Social Research Institute and more widely in UCL to conduct multidisciplinary research.
• Take an active role in the dissemination of research, including engagement with key external stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, media, public sector and third sector organisations).
• Further enhance the international profile of QSS, SRI and UCL through participation in conferences, international exchanges and international fundraising as opportunities appear.
• Such other duties as may be required by the Head of Department/Head of Unit.

General

Follow and actively promote the UCL Ways of Working.

Take responsibility to carry out duties in a way that embodies UCL's environmental and social sustainability values, actively supporting objectives within the remit of their role.

UCL's Sustainability Strategy, policies and Carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.

This job description may be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.

UCL offers hybrid working where appropriate and the successful applicant may normally work remotely for up to 80% of the week if they wish.

For further information contact Professor Kirstine Hansen, Director, Quantitative Social Science research centre and chair of the recruitment panel (k.hansen@ucl.ac.uk).

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

A PhD in sociology, economics or demography where advanced quantitative methods have been applied, completed by time of appointment.

A research agenda around the environment and/or climate change.

A clearly articulated publication strategy and pipeline targeting internationally leading journals in sociology, economics, or related fields.

Experience of teaching with some experience in innovative curriculum design at undergraduate/postgraduate level.

Ability to teach a range of quantitative methods, including causal inference, using

R/Python.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills appropriate for all aspects of the role.

Evidence of commitment to personal learning, academic development and professional development. Ability to support colleagues’ development and work collaboratively.

UCL Ways of Working

Actively follow and promote UCL policies including equal opportunity and race equality policies.

Desirable Criteria

Evidence of success in obtaining research grants, and clear plans for future grant submissions.

Experience of undergraduate and/or postgraduate personal tutoring and dissertation supervision.

Contributions to open science including open-source software, publicly available datasets, open educational resources or other forms of open science infrastructure.

Experience of disseminating research findings to policymakers and external, nonacademic stakeholders.

Application, Interview, or practical test

COVER PHOTO: MATT CLAYTON ucl.ac.uk/jobs