Assistant Professor in Sociology (Environmental Health)

Working at Durham University

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting - Durham is a university like no other.

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.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it's also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.

Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential.

Our Purpose and Values

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

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 Department

The Department of Sociology at Durham is one of the very best in the UK with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students. Ranked 4th in the UK for research impact in REF2021, we are committed to world-leading research in a range of social and criminological areas. We are continuing an ambitious programme of investment to consolidate and expand our research capacity in our overarching research themes:

• Communities and Social Justice
• Criminal Justice, Social Harm and Inequalities
• Health and Social Theory
• Higher Education and Social Inequalities
• Violence and Abuse

Information about all our research themes can be found here

We are also committed to research-led and small group teaching and are currently ranked 1 ^st for Criminology according to the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide.

The Department seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor. We welcome applications from those with research and teaching interests in the broad field of social environmentalism, ecology or climate or green sociology.

The successful candidate will join the SMART (Soil Microbiome Augmentation and Restoration Technologies) Soils project at Durham, which is a cross-faculty initiative that aims to reverse decades of soil degradation. Durham University is investing in the SMART Soils project in recognition of the need for a revolution in the way we work with soils in order to address the global challenges facing the environment. Our ambition is to be a world-leading Institute of Living Soils by 2030. We now know that our soils can help us deliver a just transition to a more sustainable future.

There are seven new posts being created across the University in 2025, and this post will be based in the Sociology Department. The Health and Social Theory research group, headed by Professor Tiago Moreira, are taking the lead in Sociology. This post is intended to build the Health and Social Theory group's expertise in environmental health. To this end, we welcome applications with interest in the relation between soils and societies and expertise on the climate, environment and 'more than human' health. It is expected that the successful candidate will have research expertise in and knowledge about environmental sociology and/or responsible innovation in the climate domain. Candidates with an interest in theories of care will be particularly welcomed. Given the focus of the sociological work in the SMART Soils project to engage communities in understanding and contributing to the health of living soils, it is expected that there will be some fruitful collaborations to be nurtured between the Health and Social Theory and the Communities and Social Justice research groups.

The post will concentrate on research for the first year. Thereafter, the role will include teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, retaining a research focus on the SMART Soils project. There may be opportunities to develop a curriculum in environmental social science. Candidates with expertise in theories of care, intersectionality and/or a focus on or expertise in international perspectives would be particularly welcomed.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at Department of Sociology - Durham University and the SMART Soils webpages here: www.durham.ac.uk/smart-soils .

Assistant Professors at Durham

Assistant Professors on the Education and Research track are encouraged to focus on research and teaching, but are also expected to engage in wider citizenship to enhance their own development, support their department and discipline, and contribute to the wider student experience.

Academic colleagues are supported to publish excellent research in their area of interest with a focus on high quality outputs (including monographs and journal articles), rather than quantity. We aim to support your research needs, including practical help such as resources to attend conferences and to fund research activities, as well as a generous research leave policy and a designated mentor.

Durham University is also committed to ensuring outstanding teaching quality, stimulating learning environments, and innovative curricula for all our students. You will be supported to develop your teaching expertise and skills.

We are confident that our recruitment process allows us to attract and select the best talent to Durham. We, therefore, offer a reduced probation period of 1 year for our Assistant Professors and thereafter, subject to satisfactory performance, your position will be confirmed as permanent.

Applicants must demonstrate high quality research in the field of environmental sociology, with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard 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:

• To pursue research in the broad field of environmental sociology that is high quality in terms of originality, significance and rigour.
• To develop clear plans for the pursuit of national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement.
• To play a role in relevant teaching and research supervision, and contribute to ongoing curriculum development.
• To contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond through collaborative research activity.
• To demonstrate a willingness to contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Department.
• To deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment.
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Department.
• To contribute to attracting and supervising research students, and to enhance the Department's commitment to its vibrant and inclusive postgraduate culture.
• To carry out 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 ...