Senior Research Fellow: Crime and Governance - Job ref 316012
Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law
School of Law, Centre for Criminal Justice Studies
Closing Date: 23-05-2006
Further details:
This post is part of the Fellowship Programme which has been running since 1995 as part of the University's strategy to enhance the quality of its research and to add to its portfolio of career opportunities.
You will have a coherent and innovative research agenda that compliments and enhances the work of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies. You will advance inter-disciplinary understandings of the interface between crime and governance in your chosen field and connect concerns over security, order and justice at local, national and/or international levels with changes in policy and shifts in deviant activity. You should have postdoctoral (or equivalent) experience with a track record of achievement and potential to build rapidly on your record and produce high quality research.
At the end of the 5 year fellowship, you will transfer to a full academic appointment (subject to satisfactory completion of probation).
This post is available from 1 September 2006 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Research IA (£20,044- £30,002 p.a.) or II (£27,929 – £36,959 p.a.) depending on experience. More senior appointments may be offered for outstanding applicants.
Informal inquiries to Professor Adam Crawford, Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies – [log in to unmask], Tel (+44) (0)113 343 5045.
For further details about the school visit http://www.law.leeds.ac.uk
Application packs are also available via email [log in to unmask] or Tel 0113 343 5771.
The University is introducing a new reward framework which will facilitate the recruitment retention and motivation of world-class staff.
We are seeking to appoint a University funded Senior Research Fellow in the broad field of 'crime and governance'. The Fellowship is for five years followed by a transfer to an established academic post (subject to satisfactory completion of probation). In the early stages of the Fellowships there will be a strong emphasis on research, with increasing elements of teaching over the five year period. You should have postdoctoral (or equivalent) experience with a track record of achievement and potential to build rapidly on their record and produce high quality research.
You will work alongside established researchers in the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies and may wish to develop research links with colleagues in the new Centre for International Governance also based in the Law School. You will have a coherent and innovative research agenda that connects with and advances the thematic priorities set out for the post. The Fellowship offers you the opportunity to develop your own sustained research agenda, in the context of an environment that encourages original inter-disciplinary studies that are theoretically informed and policy relevant.
You will develop new understandings of the interface between crime and governance which cuts across traditional academic boundaries and draws upon the strength of social science research in the University of Leeds in criminal justice, criminology, international & European law, policy and socio-legal studies. You will develop and carry out a programme of research that connects concerns over (in)security, order and justice at local, national and/or international levels with changes in a variety of fields of policy and shifts in forms of deviant activity.
You will be expected to enhance the research profile of the Law School and CCJS by conducting high quality research that advances new conceptual and theoretical understandings of crime, security and governance in your chosen field.
In your application, you should outline a chosen programme of research appropriate to a five year fellowship. It should be made clear how this programme connects with and advances the thematic priorities of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies and complements its activities as well as how it develops your own research trajectory. This programme should highlight inter-linked projects with funding potential. An outline timetable of development should be included.
You will be expected to be committed to:
· publishing scholarly research outputs in the form of monographs and peer reviewed journal articles;
· attracting external research funding;
· working collaboratively in research teams and managing research staff;
· contributing to the international research profile of School within your area of expertise; · developing and maintaining effective links with important constituent organisations inside and outside the university including research sponsors; and
· in the longer-term, attracting research students and developing programmes of teaching that complement existing teaching expertise within the School of Law.
Person Specification
Essential
You will
a) have a PhD or be of postdoctoral standing;
b) currently, or be able to demonstrate potential to, carry out high quality research;
c) have established your potential for excellence in scholarship and research, through projects in which you have been employed, through publications and other outputs relevant to your field, through your awareness of key developments in your field and through your identification of your own future research programme;
d) demonstrate potential to build rapidly on your track record, through further quality publications and by acquiring independent research funding;
e) demonstrate potential to acquire the broader competencies required for an academic career, including teaching, management and administrative duties;
f) demonstrate potential to contribute to the academic development of the University of Leeds.
Desirable
We are particularly interested in applicants who may wish to develop and carry out a programme of research that connects concerns over (in)security, order and justice at local, national and/or international levels with changes in a variety of fields of policy and shifts in forms of deviant activity within one or more of the following fields:
o The international governance of crime and international criminal justice; o State violence and human rights; o Terrorism, political violence and insecurity;
o Transnational organised crime and/or transnational policing;
o Migration, ethnicity and crime/insecurity;
o The interface between public and private security and justice; o Policy transfer and criminal justice; o The governance of anti-social behaviour;
o The governance of marginalised/socially excluded groups;
o The informal economy and deviant activities;
o The supervision of offenders and 'at risk' groups in the community.
We particularly welcome research programmes that explore these issues in a comparative, international or transnational context.
About the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies
The Centre for Criminal Justice Studies is an internationally acclaimed research cluster with expertise in diverse areas of governance, criminal justice, policing and security. Established in 1987, the CCJS is home to 18 full-time academic research and teaching staff, including 4 Professors, 5 Senior Lecturer/Readers, 4 Lecturers, 1 Research Fellow and 4 Research Officers. The Centre excels in the production of research that is empirically rich, conceptually sophisticated and policy relevant. Research is interdisciplinary and often comparative in its insights to certain key criminal justice issues. It routinely raises implications for, and shapes, practice and thinking. The CCJS is widely recognised as a leading research cluster both within and beyond the University. Those working within the CCJS have established international reputations in the broad field of criminal justice policy research, especially in the areas of policing, crime prevention, victims, youth justice, cybercrimes and the supervision of offenders. We also have strengths in criminal law and procedure and criminological theory. Staff combine commitments to quantitative and qualitative methods in empirical research, as well as doctrinal legal analysis. The interdisciplinary nature of the Centre's active researchers includes backgrounds in criminology, social policy, sociology and law. The CCJS also has membership from and affiliation with staff based within the School of Sociology & Social Policy, Geography and Education.
The CCJS has a sustained track record or external research funding to a value of over £1.5 million since 2000. Key funding sources include the ESRC, Home Office, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Nuffield Foundation, Northern Rock Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, AHRC and various Police forces. The Centre has developed good relations with research sponsors and has a reputation for producing high quality research and publications. Many of the externally funded research projects involve Centre staff in collaborations with colleagues in other research institutions within and beyond the UK. Research produced within the CCJS is at the cutting edge of criminal law, criminal justice and criminology with particular impact on policy debate and reform.
The CCJS has good international links. It is an institutional member of the Groupe Européen de Recherches sur les Normativités (GERN), a leading international research network funded by the French CNRS, which organises pan-European research seminars, themed networks and comparative research projects. The CCJS is a key institutional member of a European Commission funded co-ordination action project entitled 'CRIMPREV: Assessing Deviance, Crime and Prevention in Europe' (€1.1 million), involving some 30 institutions representing 11 European countries. The research consortium will run for 3 years from July 2006. Professor Crawford (Director of the CCJS) is co-responsible for one of the work-packages on 'insecurity' and a member of the overall Steering Committee. The CCJS is currently fostering international collaborations through the World Universities Network (WUN) of which the University of Leeds is a member. The CCJS also has a track record of attracting international visiting scholars and staff hold visiting positions and fellowships at prestigious institutions around the world. The Centre regularly hosts prestigious national and international conferences including most recently, the British Society of Criminology conference in July 2005. The Centre also runs a long-standing seminar programme.
Centre staff supervise research students in diverse fields of criminal law, criminal justice and criminology. The CCJS has a good track record of successful PhD completion and is an ESRC-recognised outlet for studentships. Research students are seen as a vital element in the research environment that the Centre fosters. The Centre also runs a number of linked postgraduate taught programmes including: Criminal Justice Studies (MA); Criminal Justice and Criminal Law (LLM); Criminology and Criminal Justice Studies (MA) and Policing (MA) and Criminological Research (MA). In addition, the Centre runs an undergraduate Criminology and Criminal Justice (BA) programme, which now recruits over 50 students each year.
The Centre's work is supported by an Advisory Board with more than 20 members, drawn from key senior positions within criminal justice research users and sponsors, including the police, judiciary, probation service, prisons and the courts. The advisory board formally meets annually. The advisory board helps to sustain good relations with local and regional research sponsors, attract prospective research students and facilitate knowledge transfer. The Centre has excellent links with and representation on the Leeds Crime and Disorder Partnership.
The Centre publicises its work, research activities and publications through an Annual Report (to date 17 have been published). These are all available on the CCJS web pages: www.law.leeds.ac.uk/crimjust
About the Centre for International Governance (CfIG)
The School of Law established the Centre for International Governance (CfIG) in 2006, to sit alongside the Centre for the Study of Business Law and Practice; the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies; the Centre for the Study of Law and Policy in Europe. The CfIG is an integral part of the Law Development Plan which seeks to develop a distinctive international identity for the School of Law through its strategic focus upon Global Law and Justice. The school's ambition is to be internationally recognized as a leader in its field by 2015, and to be ranked as one of the top ten research-intensive law schools in the UK by 2010. The CfIG brings together a number of existing and newly appointed staff from diverse subject areas within the School of Law and from other disciplines to pursue research activities in specific aspects of international governance. While the new Centre provides a natural base for enhancing research capacity in Public International Law, its wider remit will also include Private International and Human Rights Law. The thematic areas so far identified for development within CfIG are: (i) international governance and constitutionalism; (ii) international governance and markets; and (iii) international governance and human rights.
About the School of Law
The School of Law at Leeds University was established in 1899. It was ranked 10th in the UK in the 2005 The Times' Good University Guide and received at 5A rating in the 2001 RAE. Since 2000 the School of Law has grown by almost 50% in both staffing and financial turnover.
The School has a strong research and teaching profile and is highly committed to research intensive teaching. All senior academic staff teach in their specialist research areas at postgraduate and where possible undergraduate levels. The School currently has a total of 63 members of staff (10 Professors, 2 Readers, 8 Senior Lecturers, 23 Lecturers, 8 research assistants and 12 support staff). It also has just under 1000 students with about 800 at undergraduate level (650 on the LLB scheme and 150 on the BA in Criminal Justice and Criminology) and about 160 postgraduates, 26 of which are research students.
The greater majority the School's research falls within four specialist research Centres in Business Law, Criminal Justice, European Law and Policy and the newly formed Centre for International Governance. Through these Centres the School also provides range of exciting taught postgraduate degrees with LLM and MA schemes in Criminal Justice Studies and Criminal Law, International Business Law, International Trade Law, International Law, International Human Rights, Cyberlaw, European Legal Studies.
The School of Law is keen to encourage links at both theoretical and practical levels where appropriate between its various projects on governance.
Information on the Senior Research Fellows Programme
The University of Leeds established a University Senior Research Fellowships Programme in 1995 as part of the University's strategy to enhance the quality of its research and to add to its portfolio of career opportunities.
Background to the Programme
In 1995, the University of Leeds established a Senior Research Fellowships Programme, supported from the University's own resources, in order to:
· enhance the quality of research in the University, and particularly to assist in the development of research culture, novel directions for research and cross and inter disciplinary working;
· add to the portfolio of career opportunities in the University, by offering posts which allow people in the early stages of developing an academic career to undertake a period of dedicated research activity prior to moving into
academic posts.
Since 1995, over 100 fellows have joined the programme many of who have progressed to Readerships or Chairs during, or shortly after the 5 year fellowship period. The University is fully convinced of the value of the scheme, both in filling a gap in the career structure prior to appointment to a fully independent academic post, and in contributing to the University's research activity.
The University provides through the programme:
o The opportunity for outstanding researchers to focus initially on the development of their research activity.
o Development grants of up to £14,000 to make a contribution to the infrastructure for the Fellow's work.
o Training in teaching, management and other generic competencies.
o A structured career development path, which starts with a period of intensive research activity, and then broadens to include teaching and administrative duties. Successful completion of probation will lead to an academic appointment.
Career Progression
Appointments will be subject to a five year probationary period in two stages.
In the first stage of the probationary period, the Fellows will be required at the outset of their appointment to agree a set of specific research targets, against which their progression can be measured. The Fellow's performance will be reviewed against the agreed criteria after 36 months. At this review, which will involve an external assessor, the University will be able to take a view on the extent to which the appointee has confirmed his/her potential for independent academic research.
Successful completion of the first stage of the review will lead to automatic progression to the second stage which includes a review of teaching and administrative performance and outreach duties. New criteria and performance targets will be agreed and Fellows will, therefore, be expected to take on some additional duties. In no case will these additional duties represent more than half of the workload of a normal member of academic staff in the same disciplinary area, and they will in the main consist of teaching duties.
On successful completion of probation, Fellows should expect to progress to an established academic post at the conclusion of the Fellowship.
If probation is not successfully completed, the Fellowship will terminate at the end of the 5 years, or after 6 months written notice.
Fellows who do not achieve the agreed targets will be provided with supportive career counselling to enable them to maximise the value of their research training. The University of Leeds aims to provide a generic training base which fully validates the transferable skills acquired through research and provides the best possible opportunity for all employees to move to a successful career within or outside the University.
How to apply:
Applications should include the following:-
· A completed application form
· Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form . Please return the Form in a separate envelope marked 'EOs Monitoring'.
Complete an application form available at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/hr/policy/forms.htm#Recruitment
In support of your application please supply both (i) a covering letter explaining why you believe you are suitable for the post of senior research fellow with reference to the 'Person Specification' (above) and (ii) a programme of research to cover the period of the Fellowship ensuring that you include the following:
a) Your planned future research programme during the tenure of your Fellowship.
b) Your perception of the significance of your future work to your discipline.
c) The way in which your work would benefit the University.
Replies will be treated in complete confidence
Completed applications should be returned to Ms Lindsey Hill, The Law School, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT email [log in to unmask] quoting job ref 316012 not later than 23 May 2006.
If you are selected for interview you can expect to hear from the University not later than 4 weeks after the closing date. If you are not selected for interview the University will not contact you again.
A Criminal Records Disclosure is not required for this position.
Disabled Applicants
Disabled applicants wishing to review access to the building are invited to contact the department direct. Additional information may be sought from the Team Co-ordinator in Disability Services, email [log in to unmask] or tel 0113 343 3927
Disabled applicants are not obliged to inform employers of their disability but will still be covered by the Disability Discrimination Act once their disability becomes known.
Data Protection
The information you provide in your application will be used to consider your suitability for the post for which you have applied. If your application is not successful the information will be disposed of confidentially within 8 months. If your application is successful and you are appointed, your information and future data will be processed in accordance with the University's Data Protection Code of Practice. A copy of this code can be obtained from either the University's Human Resources Department or by visiting http://www.leeds.ac.uk/hr/policy/index.htm
Health and Safety Responsibilities
You are required to adhere and comply to the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act, related Regulations and in accordance to the University's Policy on Health and Safety which can be accessed via http://www.leeds.ac.uk/safety/usp/uspindex.htm
In addition you are also required to cooperate with regard to the implementation of Health and Safety arrangements and should not interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interest of Health, Safety and Welfare at Work.
For more information on the University and terms and conditions of appointments please visit http://www.leeds.ac.uk
Professor David S. Wall,
Head of School,
School of Law,
University of Leeds.
Leeds.
LS2 9JT UK
+ 44 (0)113 343 1881
+ 44 (0)113 343 5033
[log in to unmask]
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