Job Description

Professor (Research & Education) in Pre-Modern Heritage Collections

(

Job Number:

25000720

)

Department of History
Grade 10: - From 72,693 per annum
Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time

Contracted Hours per Week

:

35

Closing Date

:

07-Jul-2025, 5:59:00 PM

Disclosure and Barring Service Requirement

:

Not Applicable.

Working at Durham University

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As one of the UK's leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career. The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.



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Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Join Us? - Information Page



Discover more about our total rewards and benefits package here.

The Post and Heritage 360

As part of Durham University's strategic Heritage 360 initiative, the Department of History seeks to appoint an outstanding candidate to the role of Professor in Pre-Modern Heritage Collections. Heritage Collections are defined broadly and openly to include, but not be limited to, object collections , archives, manuscripts and rare books, and the physical locations which house them. The post is open-ended in terms of specific geography or chronology within pre-modern studies, with a focus on expertise across medieval and early modern periods and collections, and a track-record of collaboration across disciplines and/or sectors. Demonstrable capacity to work with collections held in Durham University is essential.



The successful candidate will have research and teaching expertise in

both

medieval

and

early modern manuscript, book, and collections history, of whatever geography, and demonstrable familiarity with heritage science and/or technology techniques and possibilities for research (including digital humanities). The successful applicant will have an outstanding research record with evidence of substantial grant capture, collaborative working within and without academe, and agenda-setting leadership. In addition, they will have the ability to teach at all levels (undergraduate to postgraduate), and a proven commitment to academic citizenship.

Heritage 360

Heritage 360 is a new and exciting research platform funded through Durham University's Strategic Research Fund. Dedicated to holistic approaches to heritage, and in particular to drawing together research on natural and cultural heritage, Heritage 360 will have senior posts in six academic departments (Archaeology, Biosciences, Chemistry, Geography, History, Modern Languages and Cultures) and two posts in Library and Collections (Curator and Technician). The successful postholder will be departmentally-based but for the four-year duration of the initiative will be focused on research, with teaching by agreement with department and Strategic Research Fund management. Contribution to Heritage 360 masters and continuing professional development programmes will also be expected. The successful postholder will be expected to bring leadership across disciplines, departments, and faculties, working to enhance existing areas of excellence in heritage research, and to bring innovative approaches and vision for the field. External grant capture is a key part of the scheme and candidates will be expected to have a track-record in this arena, to have well-advanced plans for applications, and to respond to opportunities for wider sources of funding including philanthropic as they arise.


Five themes provide the framework for Heritage 360: Water and Food Security, Heritage Landscapes, Built Environment and Energy, Social Justice and Wellbeing, Heritage Collections. Some 35 members of Durham staff are involved in the platform as co-investigators; new colleagues will be joining a lively and committed research group. While posts are departmental the Heritage 360 Management Group, consisting of the chairs and co-chairs of the thematic areas, will review and advise on the academic content of the platform and emergent projects.


Heritage 360 is challenge-led with active involvement from seven platform partners from the UK Heritage sector. Individual projects will be expected to work actively with partners and to integrate them into the wider platform. Outreach and engagement with communities, local and global, are also encouraged, as part of the civic obligations of the university, to promote further the work of the platform, and for access to wider community wisdom, learning, and collaboration.

The Department

The Department of History at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Professor. We welcome applications from those with research and teaching interests in the broad field of Heritage Collections. We particularly encourage candidates whose research complements and expands the Department's current strengths. Applications from candidates whose work draws connections between multiple geographical regions or takes a transcultural approach, and who share the Department's commitment to decolonising the curriculum, are especially encouraged.



Durham University History Department is one of the larger centres in the UK for the study of History. We are consistently ranked amongst the top departments in the country by the Complete University Guide, the Times and Sunday Times, and the Guardian University Guide. We place research at the very heart of our varied undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, inducting our students into a community of historians from the outset. Our research expertise and teaching provision extend from late antiquity to the present day, and we are home to scholars of Europe, Africa, Asia and North America and of social, cultural, political, economic, religious, intellectual, environmental and gender history. We believe that this chronological range and breadth opens up possibilities of transnational, transhistorical and comparative work that tends to be the hallmark of ground-breaking research in our discipline. As a group of researchers, we are alive to the fact that historical questions constantly evolve, and we are committed to developing the intra- and inter-disciplinary breadth to respond to, initiate and shape the discipline and scholarship more broadly defined. This brings us together as historians and makes Durham an exciting place to work, research, and study. Current pre-modern research projects include: science in the Latin West and trans-cultural exchange with Islamicate thought; the history of Christian theology; cities and urban communities; agriculture, social mobility and rural history; cultural exchange across the Indian Ocean; history of food; scientific study of manuscripts; multi-disciplinary approaches to our World Heritage Site.



Durham University has an outstanding reputation in the field of medieval and early modern studies, and the Department is closely involved in the interdisciplinary Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, which brings together colleagues from across the University, and whose research strategy dovetails with that of Heritage 360. Durham also holds excellent and wide-ranging resources for the study of heritage collections which incorporate medieval manuscripts, incubula, early modern book, medieval and early modern records and artefacts at Durham Cathedral and the University and the collections of the Oriental Museum. Departmental colleagues work closely with Library and Collections staff. There are also strong links with the Centre for Visual Arts and Cultures, the Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies, the Centre for Catholic Studies, and the Centre for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, and the Centre for the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East as well as with the departments of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and wider connections to Computer Science, Biosciences, Chemistry, Physics, Archaeology, Geography, and Anthropology. Our postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers are also active in this interdisciplinary environment. We are currently home to students funded by two doctoral training centres, the AHRC Northern Bridge Partnership and the ESRC NINE DTP.



This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/history/

Professors at Durham

Professor are encouraged to focus on quality and innovation throughout your teaching and research activity. But we'll also look to you to provide genuine leadership and citizenship - not just in your field, but across the University environment, and in the way your department functions administratively.



Academic colleagues will have the freedom to deliver teaching and pursue research that is world leading and world changing, in terms of originality, significance and rigour. And we'll support your ambitions to publish internationally significant research in your area of interest, provide resources to enable you to attend conferences and to fund research activity.


Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of heritage collections, with the ability to take a leading role in the development of the Department's research and teaching, and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.


We strive to provide a working and teaching environment that is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Key responsibilities:

Pursue research in Heritage Collections that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, commensurate with the Department's continuing emphasis on international excellence; To make a significant contribution to the development of successful research project/fellowship proposals in pursuit of suitable national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement. Deliver excellent teaching, offering lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels in the context of the History Department's curricula requirements. Contribute significantly to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching, including the design of high quality learning environments and curricula, including a new interdisciplinary MA programme in Heritage. To contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond. Contribute to establishing and leading research groups within and beyond the University, and engaging in the mentoring of early career researchers; To attract and provide excellent supervision to research students, and to enhance the Department's commitment to its vibrant and international postgraduate culture. Contribute significantly to the administrative functioning and collegial environment of the Department and wider University, undertaking leadership activities which support the functioning of the Department and wider University. To fully engage in, champion and enhance the values of the Department; To work with colleagues across the Heritage 360 team to develop innovative collaborative approaches to heritage research; Carry out such other duties as specified by the Head of Department.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University's Strategy and a central part of everything we do. We also live by our Purpose and Values and our Staff Code of Conduct. At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It's important to us that all colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.


We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.


If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.


The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Leader status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

Person Specification

Candidates must demonstrate research excellence in the field of heritage collections, with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.

Research

Candidates will demonstrate world-leading and world-changing research, and leadership in a research field within and / or beyond their institution(s), with research outputs consistently recognised as internationally excellent.

Essential Research Criteria - Grade 10

Qualifications - a good first degree and a PhD in History or a related subject area including Heritage Science.

Outputs - evidence of research outputs which are consistently recognised as internationally excellent with some output being evaluated as world class. Candidates are asked to submit two research papers with their application (as outlined in the How to Apply section below). Candidates may additionally choose to submit evidence such as external peer review of their outputs.*
Personal Research Plan - evidence of a personal research plan (c. 500 words) which supports and enhances the Heritage 360 and Department research strategy, and explicit plans for grant capture.

Research Leadership - leadership of national / international research groups and networks, with an internationally recognised contribution to the development of research fields, as well as leadership of research groups and / or mentoring of early career researchers. Candidates may choose to include information about research group leadership, mentoring of research colleagues, invitations to and engagement with significant external events, engagement with international networks or projects, serving on advisory boards, review bodies or commissions, external PhD examination.*


PhD Supervision - a significant contribution to the development of PhD programmes and / or groups, including successful recruitment and excellent supervision of PhD students and examination of research degrees.

Research Impact - demonstrable leadership of research that has significant impact beyond the Candidate's institution(s).

Income Generation - evidence of leadership of successful research projects and / or quality research grant proposals.

Demonstrable capacity and plans to work with Durham Collections.

Education

Candidates will be able to evidence excellence in the development and delivery of teaching. They will demonstrate leadership, distinction and innovation in the design and delivery of high-quality learning environments and curricula, including curriculum development, that enables student to achieve their potential.

Essential Education Criteria

Qualification - candidates must evidence substantial and sustained educational leadership demonstrated by one of the following:

Evidence of at least one example of co-ordination, support, supervision, management and/or mentoring of others in relationship to learning and teaching, or;

Successful completion of the DELTA3 course ("Leadership in Learning and Teaching") or the DELTA4 course ("Strategic Leadership in Learning and Teaching"), or; Achievement of Senior or Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (https://www.heacademy.auk/individuals/fellowship/fellow), which is the national body that champions teaching excellence.

Quality - evidence of excellence in the development and delivery of high-quality and distinctive teaching, at least at a nationally competitive level. Evidence of training, educating and mentoring other teachers in the department and/or the University in relationship to learning and teaching. Candidates may choose to provide Module Evaluation scores or equivalent and / or peer reviews of teaching.*


Innovation - leadership and influence in in curriculum/new programme development and the development of innovative teaching and the design of learning environments/curricula that provide high quality teaching and student experience at an internationally competitive level including lectures, small group learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment.

Strategic - demonstrating leadership and influence in the design and delivery of excellent teaching activities and the creation of learning environments that enable students to achieve their potential.

Services, Citizenship and Values

Candidates will demonstrate sustained excellence of leadership in the provision of the administrative and collegial functioning requirements of the Department, Faculty and University, positively contributing to the University Values and to fostering a respectful environment; as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria - Grade 10

Collegial contribution - evidence of a significant contribution to the collegial work and environment of the Candidate's Department, Faculty, institution and / or discipline. (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, Faculty or University level committees or projects, mentoring activity, pastoral and academic support of students, engagement with widening participation, proactive support of the work of professional services colleagues, contributions to departmental programme management and/or strategic development, contribution to equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies).*


Leadership - evidence of sustained excellence in leadership activities that support the administrative functioning of the candidate's Department, Faculty or University and / or which support the development of their discipline. (Candidates may choose to detail any leadership roles which they have undertaken, preferably in an academic context).*
Communication - candidates must have excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage with a range of students and colleagues across a variety of forums.

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

Professor Giles E. M. Gasper (g.e.m.gasper@durham.ac.uk)

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email. Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you're experiencing to e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk



Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time. We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

University contact for general queries about the recruitment process

If you have any general queries about the recruitment process please contact the recruitment team on e.recruitment@durham.ac.uk.

How to Apply

We prefer to receive applications online.



Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Job Applicants/Potential Job Applicants - Durham University which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:


A CV A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above; Personal research plan, including explicit evidence for grant capture Two of your most significant recent pieces of written work.

Where possible we request that you provide accessible web links to your publications, which the hiring Department will use to access your work. The application form contains fields in which to enter each of the web links.


Please note we are unable to access publications behind a paywall.



In the event you are unable to provide accessible links to online hosting of your work, publications should be uploaded as PDFs as part of your application in our recruitment system.


Please ensure that your PDFs are not larger than 5mb. Your work may be read by colleagues from across the Department and evaluated against the current REF criteria;


All application documents should be uploaded with your name and document type as PDF files.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Referees

You should provide 3 academic referees they should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s). The majority should be from a University other than your own.



References will be requested for candidates who have been shortlisted and will be made available to the panel during the interview process.



As part of your application, you will be asked whether you give your consent to your academic references being sought should you be invited to attend an interview. We will only request references where permission has been granted.

Next Steps

All applications will be considered; our usual practice is for colleagues across the Department to read the submitted work of long-listed candidates.



Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University, either virtually or in-person and will have the opportunity to meet key members of the Department. The assessment for the post will normally include a presentation to staff and PGR students in the Department and a teaching assessment followed by an interview and we anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days in late September.



In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.

Applicant Guidance

For further guidance on your application please see

HERE