Associate Professor in Social Science

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Job Title: Associate Professor in Social Science (UK -PHRST)

Department: Global Health and Development

Faculty: Public Health and Policy

Location: Tavistock Place

FTE: 1.0

Grade: G8

Accountable to: Professor Shelley Lees and Professor Gwenda Hughes

Job Summary: The postholder will lead a team of social scientists within the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) at LSHTM.

Specifically, the post holder will have three remits:

1. Develop and lead a social science research strategy for UK-PHRST and manage new and innovative research projects.
2. Support the development of social scientists in programme eligible countries to ensure effective preparedness and response for future epidemics/pandemics.
3. Lead development of effective integration of social science in outbreak deployments.

The post will also work closely with the UK-PHRST Deputy Director for Research in the Faculty of Epidemiology and Public Health and with the UK-PHRST RCCE lead at the UK Health Security Agency to ensure that RCCE is informed by social science evidence.

The post-holder should expect to travel overseas frequently on behalf of the UK-PHRST to build strategic partnerships and oversee research and capacity development projects in Low and Middle-Income Countries. As a member of the Core Deployable Team, the post holder should be available to be deployed to outbreaks within 48 hours’ notice for approximately two deployments per year.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is renowned for its research, postgraduate studies and continuing education in public and global health.

Our missionis to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.

We embrace and value the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote equity, diversity and inclusion as essential elements in contribution to improving health worldwide. We believe that when people feel respected and included, they can be more creative, successful, and happier at work. While we have more work to do, we are committed to building an inclusive workplace, a community that everyone feels a part of, which is safe, respectful, supportive and enables all to reach their full potential.

History

Founded in 1899 at the London Docks, LSHTM is now based in Bloomsbury, where it has two main sites at Keppel Street and Tavistock Place, and additional sites in The Gambia and Uganda. Today, our staff, students and alumni work in government, academia, international agencies and health services across the world.Learn more about the history of LSHTM.

Research

Research income has grown to more than £180 million per year from national and international funding sources including UK government and research councils, the European Union, the Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation and other philanthropic sources.

Our diverse research talents, skills and experience underpin our position as a leader in public and global health. These range from the molecular to the global, the theoretical to the applied, the analytical to the political. Our staff are conducting research in more than 100 countries.

Staff community

We have 3,300 staff based all around the world with core hubs in London and at the MRC Units in The Gambia and Uganda, which joined LSHTM in February 2018. Our outstanding, diverse and committed staff make an impact where it is most needed – deploying research in real time in response to crises, developing innovative programmes for major health threats, or training the next generations of public and global health leaders and researchers.

Partnerships

Working in partnership is central to achieving our mission. Ourstrategic collaborationsin the UK and across high-, middle- and low-income countries deliver health and socioeconomic benefits across the world, especially in the most disadvantaged communities.

LSHTM is also a member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies, the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region, and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.

Education

We deliver research-led educational programmes to future health leaders, managers and researchers across the world. We have more than 1,200 face-to-face Master’s and Doctoral students, 3,000 studying by distance learning, and 1,000 each year on short courses and continuous professional development. Our free online courses are studied by more than 270,000 participants globally.

Excellence in research and education

We perform strongly in various global university league tables. In the ShanghaiRanking’s

Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2020 we placed 3rd inpublic health(1st in the UK). In the2020 CWTS Leiden RankingLSHTM is ranked the UK’s top university for the proportion of academic research with women listed as authors, and third in Europe for publishing open access research.

In the US News Best Global Universities Ranking 2021, we ranked3rd in the world for public, environmental & occupational health,4th in the world for infectious diseases,11th in the world for social sciences & public health, and12th best University in the UK overall. Weranked 27thfor medicinein the 2019 QS World University Rankings.

In 2017, the inaugural Center for World University Rankings by Subject placed LSHTMfirst in the world for tropical medicineresearch,second for parasitologyand seventh forinfectious diseases,public, environment and occupational health, andsocial sciences and biomedical.

LSHTM was namedUniversity of the Year 2016by Times Higher Education and awarded aQueen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Educationin 2017 in recognition of our response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. LSHTM does not appear in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as universities are excluded if they do not teach undergraduates.

We seek to foster and sustain a creative and supportive working environment based upon an ethos of respect and rigorous scientific enquiry. We embrace and value the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote equality as an essential element in contribution to improving health worldwide.

LSHTM is one of around 20 specialist institutions that receive institution specific funding from theOffice for Students(OfS). This funding recognises the additional costs that LSHTM incurs because of its unique range of teaching, specialist facilities, and the scale of its contributions to national and international agencies.

FACULTY INFORMATION

Faculty of Public Health and Policy

The Faculty of Public Health & Policy is responsible for research and teaching in the policy, planning and evaluation of health programmes and services. Its interests are both national and international, encompassing industrialized, and less developed countries. The Faculty has three research departments: Health Services Research and Policy, Global Health and Development, Social and Environmental Health Research

Each department is multidisciplinary containing about 100+ academic staff representing medicine, statistics, epidemiology, sociology, economics, anthropology, operational research, psychology, nursing and history. Each department is responsible for its own research. The School has adopted a rotating system of management for its academic departments and faculties. The management of a department is under the control of the Department Head, appointed by the Director for a period of three years in the first instance.

The Faculty Head is appointed in a similar manner but for an initial period of up to five years.

Teaching

The Faculty of Public Health and Policy is responsible for organizing a one year Master’s courses in Public Health, which allows students to take a general MSc in Public Health, or to follow one of the following streams: Health Services Management, Health Promotion, Environmental Health or Health Services Research. The Faculty also jointly teaches MSc Public Health in Developing Countries and MSc Control of Infectious Disease (with the Faculties of Infectious and Tropical Diseases and Epidemiology and Population Health), and MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing (jointly with LSE). Master’s courses are organized in a modular format across the whole School. One of the growing areas of

Faculty teaching is in the distance-based MSc in Public Health, introduced in 2005/6. In the current year the Faculty is responsible for about 271 students on the MScs mentioned above, and 545 distance based students. The Faculty has also reorganized and expanded its research degree (MPhil/PhD; DrPH) training. Currently there are about 108 students and 23 staff members registered for a research degree.

Department of Global Health & Development (GHD)

The Department aims to conduct novel and policy-relevant research and training that concerns health issues with a global reach, predominantly from the perspective of the development of low- and middle-income countries.

The Department comprises approximately 100 staff and 80 research degree students, with total grants funding of over £30mspread over a range of funders including research councils, UK and overseas charities, the European Union, Department for International Development and others. Staff come from a wide range of disciplines including economics, epidemiology, mathematics, policy analysis, medicine and social anthropology. Members of the Department also edit the journal Health Policy and Planning

The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST)

Launched in 2016, the UK-PHRST is an innovative government-academic partnership funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and co-led by UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with a consortium of academic and implementing partners in the UK and internationally.

It is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of public health professionals and researchers with a novel integrated triple-remit of outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening to prevent and control epidemics of infectious diseases in countries eligible for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA). Both institutes contribute and are responsible for delivery of the UK-PHRST triple mandate across outbreak response, research and capacity strengthening, with LSHTM leading the research programme and UKHSA who lead the outbreak response.

The UK-PHRST has the following objectives:

1. support partners in LMICs to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond rapidly to disease outbreaks, with the aim of stopping a public health threat from becoming a health emergency;
2. identify research questions with partners and deliver rigorous research with partners that improves the evidence base for best practice in disease outbreak prevention, detection and response in LMICs;
3. support the development of in-country capacity for an improved and rapid national response to prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to disease outbreaks.

The UK-PHRST team is comprised of epidemiologists, microbiologists, infection prevention and control experts, social scientists, and in addition to the Director and Deputy Director for research, the core management team. It is underpinned by a cadre of multidisciplinary outbreak-focused research fellows.

UK Health Security Agency

At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health. Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our staff are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work. Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.

The portfolio of duties outlined below will vary in accordance with the detailed expectations of the role and any additional role to which you are formally appointed (attached), all of which may be varied from time to time, and as agreed at your annual Performance and Development Review (PDR).

JOB PURPOSE

The main purpose of the post is to provide social science expertise to cover the full range of activities to meet UK-PHRST objectives for outbreak response, research, and capacity development and to lead a team of social scientists at LSHTM. Specifically, the post holder will:

• Develop and lead a social science research strategy for UK-PHRST and manage new and innovative research projects.
• Support the development of social scientists in programme eligible countries to ensure effective preparedness and response for future epidemics/pandemics.
• Lead development of effective integration of social science in outbreak deployments.

The post-holder should expect to travel overseas frequently on behalf of the UK-PHRST to build strategic partnerships and oversee research and capacity development projects in Low and Middle-Income Countries. As a member of the Core Deployable Team, the post holder should be available to be deployed to outbreaks within 48 hours’ notice for approximately two deployments per year as part of the response function of the UK-PHRST, working alongside a wider team of epidemiologists, clinical researchers, infection prevention and control experts, laboratory experts and others. The post holder may be asked to act as team leader if needed.

The post will be within the LSHTM Department of Global Health and Development.

Other key working relationships include:

Internal

• Members of the UK-PHRST, including those based at UKHSA and University of Oxford
• Senior social scientists at LSHTM across departments and faculties, including the Politics and Anthropology of Violence and Epidemics Research Group
• LSHTM Centres, especially the Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre
• Consultants, scientists, information staff and other colleagues that support the UK-PHRST

External

• The Global Health Security Team at the Department of Health and Social Care
• The National Institute for Health and Care Research
• Other Government departments, particularly the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• International health organisations, including the World Health Organisation, the International Association of National Public Health Institutes, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Global NGOs and humanitarian organisations
• UK public health organisations, including the Association of Directors of Public Health, the Faculty of Public Health, and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
• UK Med, the UK government’s partner organisation for emergency medical team deployment
• UK and LMIC academic and research institutions active in the field of global public health
• Ministries of health, research institutions, public health organisations and rapid response/support teams in other countries

JOB DESCRIPTION

Main Activities and Responsibilities

KNOWLEDGE GENERATION

1. To deliver high quality research & scholarshipin your field of study, individually and in collaboration with others, by developing and maintaining a research grant portfolio from good[1] research funders, publishing peer-reviewed outputs, generating and securing (where relevant) intellectual property, and evaluating teaching practice;
2. To participate in doctoral student supervision and examination;
3. To lead and manage research teams and promote and ensure compliance of self and others with good practice in relation to the conduct of research, the ethics policy, inclusivity, and other relevant School policies;
4. To support the development of early-career researchers;
5. To develop and lead a social science research strategy for UK-PHRST;
6. To develop innovative approaches to epidemic/pandemic social science research, strengthening social science research in LMIC countries;
7. To work with the Global Public Health Consultant at UKHSA and other key team members to develop Capacity Development projects related to social science and ensure alignment with the Capacity Development strategy.

EDUCATION

1. To deliver high quality, inclusive education and assessment in relation to your specific subject and within the broader area covered by your department and disciplinary field;
2. To contribute to the improvement of the quality and inclusivity of the School’s education, by participating in the development and review of new and updated learning and teaching materials or approaches, and/or improving assessment practices, and/or improving aspects of the student experience;
3. To support educational leadership and management by active participation in Faculty and Programme or curriculum leadership roles, as appropriate, and by collaborating with professional services staff both centrally and in the Faculty office in carrying out relevant administrative processes;
4. To contribute to teaching of social science knowledge of epidemics/pandemics;
5. To lead and support capacity development in social science in LMICs.

INTERNAL CONTRIBUTION

1. To demonstrate good internal citizenship byundertaking PDRs and promoting staff development, and by participating in the recruitment, mentoring and support of more junior colleagues as appropriate;
2. To participate in the activities of School committees and undertake a leadership or administrative role at School/Faculty/Department/MRC Unit level, as appropriate;
3. To proactively demonstrate LSHTM’s EDI goals in your work and behaviour;
4. To line manage the social science team based at LSHTM;
5. To contribute to wider strategic plans, discussions and implementation as a senior member of the UK-PHRST team;
6. To be a member of the UK-PHRST Strategic Leadership Team.

EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTION

1. To demonstrate good external citizenship by linking with and supporting appropriate external organisations;
2. To promote knowledge translation and enterprise by exploiting academic knowledge beyond academia;
3. To deploy overseas to support UK-PHRST outbreak response as required;
4. To support more junior social scientists during outbreak deployments, and research and capacity development projects;
5. To lead development of effective integration of social science in outbreak deployments.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING

1. To keep up-to-date with the latest research/thinking in your academic field and with changes to pedagogic practice within the School and more generally;
2. To undertake and successfully complete the mandatory training required by the School appropriate to the role;

GENERAL

All academic staff are free within the law to question and test received wisdom, and put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions, to enable the School to engage in research and promote learning to the highest possible standards.

All staff at LSHTM are also expected to:

1. Act at all times in the School’s best interests;
2. Treat School staff, students and visitors with courtesy and respect at all times;
3. Comply fully with School policies, procedures and administrative processes relevant to the role including when acting as Principal Investigator, accepting academic, managerial, financing and ethical responsibility for a project;
4. Uphold and support the School’s values (as set out in the School Strategy);
5. Act as ambassadors for the School when hosting visitors or attending external events;

The above list of duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the role holder will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the role.

Role descriptions should be regularly reviewed to ensure they are an accurate representation of the role.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

This form lists the essential and desirable requirements needed by the post holder to be able to perform the job effectively. Applicants will be shortlisted solely on the extent to which they meet these requirements.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

1. Doctoral degree in a social science with a health focus
2. Expertise in high-quality social science academic research in epidemics/pandemics.
3. Experience of working as a social scientist during epidemic response.
4. An ability to demonstrate a clear vision of the strategic direction of UK-PHRST social science research.
5. A consistent and significant track record of attracting research grant income, including salary recovery, from major research funders (PI, co-PI or leadership within a large proposal such as work-package lead).
6. A track record of contributions as lead and co-author to peer-reviewed outputs, as expected by the subject area/discipline in terms of types and volume of output; significant contributions to at least four outputs within the most recent 5 years that are at least internationally excellent[2].
7. Proven ability to work independently, as well as collaboratively as part of a research team, including experience of supervising and supporting junior researchers and non-academic staff and proven ability to meet research deadlines.
8. An understanding of the strategies for improving equity and inclusion in research and/or learning and teaching.
9. Some experience of doctoral degree supervision.
10. Proven ability to build collaborative research relationships with external researchers and/or institutions, or industry (where relevant).
11. Evidence of ability to deliver high quality research-informed teaching.
12. Evidence of excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
13. Experience in applying social science learning to epidemic/pandemic response e.g. deployment during outbreaks, social science research of biomedical interventions for epidemic response, social science research to inform epidemic response.

DESIRABLE CRITERIA

1. Teaching qualification (or Fellow/ Senior Fellow of HEA).
2. Experience of building and leading a research team.
3. Experience of innovation in teaching delivery and assessment and/or senior teaching management such as Programme Director, Exam Board member, Periodic Review panel member.
4. Demonstrable evidence of improving equity and inclusion in research and/or learning and teaching.
5. Experience of engagement with national and/or international research and/or policy advisory bodies.
6. Ability to speak one or more foreign languages, especially French, at a conversational level.

SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT

The post is funded by UK Government Overseas Development Aid until 31st March 2025 at 1.0 FTE. The salary will be on the Academic scale, Grade 8 scale in the range £57,320 – £65,789 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service. Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year, pro rata for part time staff. In addition to this there are discretionary “Director’s Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available.

Applications should be made on-line via our website at PHP-GHD-2022-14 Associate Professor in Social Science – Jobs at LSHTM

Applications should also include the names and email contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if shortlisted. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to [email protected]. Please quote reference REF

The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as “Please see attached CV” will not be considered acceptable.

Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date

ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION STATEMENT

The School will comply with current UKVI legislation, which requires all employees to provide documentary evidence of their legal right to work in this country prior to commencing employment. Candidates will be required to email a copy of their passport (and visa if applicable) to HR prior to their interview and if appointed will be asked to bring the original documents in to be copied and verified before their start date.

Applications from candidates who require sponsorship to work in the UK will be considered alongside other applications. Applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK will have to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration regulations before they can be appointed.

Further information about Sponsorship and eligibility to work in the UK, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration–rules/immigration–rules–appendix–<a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immi