CENTA Teaching and Training Fellow

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,130 to £45,413, with potential progression once in post to £48,149.

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to May 2028 

Background

The Central England NERC Training Alliance (CENTA) is a consortium of six research intensive universities and three research centres, led by the University of Birmingham, which work together to deliver excellence in doctoral research training in the earth and environmental sciences. We receive funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for the current CENTA2 Doctoral Training Partnership and the CENTA3 Doctoral Landscape Award, which will commence in autumn 2025. At the heart of our studentship offer is our innovative, high quality and comprehensive training programme, designed to equip our Doctoral Researchers (DRs) with knowledge, skills, and expertise to identify and address complex environmental challenges and cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Role Summary 

The CENTA Training Fellow will be responsible for the planning, management, co-coordination and delivery of CENTA’s training programme, as well as higher-level Project Management tasks such as EDI monitoring and UKRI funder regulation compliance. This post will be managed by the Deputy Director of Operations (Research and Knowledge Transfer) and will involve collaborative working with the CENTA Director, the CENTA Manager, and the CENTA Executive Board, who will provide strategic oversight and guidance to the. Key elements of the role are the development, advertising, delivery and evaluation of training provided to CENTA’s PhD students (including self-delivered training sessions, training sessions delivered in conjunction with other CENTA academics and experts from within the CENTA network, and/or externally-sourced trainer), the fostering of collaboration between CENTA’s stakeholders, and the monitoring and analysis of KPI data for the CENTA programme. The role involves travel on occasion, including overnight stays.

Main Duties

• Responsible for the planning, preparation and delivery of training sessions for CENTA students and designing a holistic curriculum related to a) environmental science b) wider research competencies and c) cross-sector transferrable skills, in line with the objectives of the CENTA3 training strategy. This will include some or all the following:
  • Developing plans for the content, pedagogy and format of training related events, including residential training events
  • Coordinating the development, design and delivery of training content in collaboration with trainers from the CENTA network and beyond

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to PhD level in the Environmental Sciences or a related subject or significant relevant experience, demonstrated through increasingly more demanding roles evidencing the experience necessary for this role
• A good understanding of the PhD system in UK Higher Education.
• An interest in cross-sectoral skills development.
• Proven track record of successful project management
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.

Informal enquiries can be made to Victoria Sharp, v.sharp@bham.ac.uk

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We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

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