18 September 2016

Interview date:  6 October 2016

The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences wishes to appoint a Professor in Palaeontology. The School delivers the only single honours Palaeontology undergraduate degree in the UK and has an excellent reputation for its research in this area. Candidates will have a substantial international research profile as evidenced by publications in leading journals and a track record of attracting research funding. You will provide vision and strategic leadership and develop close interdisciplinary research collaborations with members of the Biodiversity and Evolution research group which also includes staff from the School of Biological Sciences. We particularly wish to encourage applications from those with expertise in the use of environmental change proxies to interpret modern and past environments, and/or cladistics and phylogeny. 

Candidates should be passionate about teaching and research, and possess the appropriate dynamism, expertise and qualifications to contribute to the academic development of our undergraduate and postgraduate Palaeontology programme. You will be expected to enthusiastically integrate your research specialisms into your teaching, thus contributing to the University's strategy for research-informed teaching. Responsibilities will also include active participation in the School’s fieldwork programme (local and overseas).

 Researchers from the School formed an important part of the University’s submission to REF 2014, with over 70% of our research outputs in the earth systems and environmental sciences area being judged to be either world leading or internationally excellent. The research group has benefitted from substantial investment by the University in new laboratories and capital equipment. The successful candidate will have direct access to a wide range of modern analytical instrumentation, including two new Zeiss Evo SEMs, laser ablation and solution ICPMS and MC-ICPMS, ICP-OES, XRD, XRF as well as sample preparation for solid and dissolved samples in a range of dedicated new and clean labs. In addition, our Institute of Marine Sciences houses a state-of-the-art aquarium and sea water system for culturing experiments at a range of conditions. Recent acquisitions of μCT and X-ray microscope machines within the university offer potential for advanced imaging and chemical analysis of Palaeontological specimens. All of our facilities benefit from excellent specialist technical support. The School is committed to gender equality and to obtaining an Athena SWAN Bronze Award later this year. 

Prospective candidates may wish to seek informal discussions with the Head of School, Professor Rob Strachan