Recruiting Research Staff

Are you a PI looking to hire a new member of research staff? Perhaps you are new to recruiting in Maths and would like some further guidance on how to proceed with running a recruitment exercise? This page provides a comprehensive overview of the recruitment process for research staff at the Mathematical Institute, from grant award announcement through to the offer of appointment, and all of the stages in-between.

Our friendly and helpful Recruitment team will guide you throughout the process. Should you have any questions or require further information, please do contact a member of the team at @email.

Before you begin...

Protocol – will your post require Recruitment Protocol? As the majority of research positions are 100% externally funded, recruitment protocol approval is generally not required prior to advertising. However, there are some situations where there is split funding between the department and the external research grant, where protocol is likely needed. The process can add two weeks or longer to any recruitment timeline, so it is important this is addressed at the outset.

Please refer to our Recruitment Protocol page for further information or contact @email.

Existing staff – prior to advertising the vacancy externally, we must first consider whether there are any existing employees in the department coming to the end of their fixed-term contract who may be eligible to take up the role, as per University guidance on the end of fixed-term contract proceedings.

Should there be suitable candidates, these individuals should be interviewed prior to the role being advertised externally, and appointed if they are deemed to satisfy the selection criteria as outlined in the job description.

Planning for Recruitment

Once the Maths Institute Recruitment team has been notified either by yourself or Katie Christoffers, Finance Officer (Research Grants and Studentships), the Recruitment Coordinator will send an email setting up the recruitment. This will include a copy of our Guidelines for Appointment, which we strongly encourage you to read through carefully prior to beginning the recruitment. The Guidelines set out the key considerations for the process, including in relation to timescales, the shortlisting process and requirements for visa applications.

MI Guidelines for Appointments.pdf

Also attached to the email will be a template job description.

Maths Grade 7 PDRA Job Description Template.doc

Note that the University operates according to the HERA grading system, and certain responsibilities (highlighted in yellow) are required for the role to meet grade 7 on the University’s salary scales. Any significant removal of, or amendment to, these responsibilities is likely to result in the role needing to be re-submitted for grading, which could add up to two weeks onto your recruitment timeline. It is also not guaranteed that your role will meet grade 7.

Once the job description has been returned with edits as tracked changes, the Recruitment Coordinator will draft a sample advertisement and arrange a time to meet with you to discuss the following:

Recruitment and Selection Training

As recruitment panel chair, you should also set aside some time before the shortlisting meeting to complete compulsory training, if you have not done so already. Recruitment and Selection Training is valid for four years and records are kept by the Recruitment team regarding the dates of training completion. The Recruitment Coordinator will confirm at the start of the recruitment process whether any training is outstanding and when courses were last completed. Further information on required and recommended training is available on our Recruitment Training page.

Recruitment Panel Membership

Prior to advertising, you should also consider who you would like to be on your recruitment panel. Panels for research staff are generally comprised of a membership of three (five for Hooke and Titchmarsh Research Fellows), and there must be a gender balance of at least 1/3. The Department are particularly keen to champion equality and diversity wherever possible, so do consider 1/3 as a minimum requirement.

We understand there are often difficulties with securing a gender balance from within the department; if this is the case, do contact a member of the Recruitment Team and we will be happy to advise. For example, you may consider approaching a more senior Research Fellow or PDRA, or an individual external to the University with experience in the research area. Note however that in no circumstance should the number of junior members outweigh the number of academic faculty on the recruitment panel.

You should aim to approach your panel members ahead of the advertisement going live, such that the Recruitment Team can coordinate availability and include a confirmed interview date within the job description. This aids considerably with future planning, as candidates can then explicitly declare their availability for this date in their application.

Attraction Strategy

The department circulates all research staff advertisements to the following places as part of the standard process.

Research Staff Advertisement Circulation list.docx

All adverts are also circulated to current finishing PhD students, postdocs, research fellows and affiliate researchers via the appropriate mailing lists, and posted in our weekly Departmental Bulletin and departmental social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

If you would like to circulate your advert to any site or mailing list which is not listed above, please discuss this with the Recruitment Coordinator prior to advertising. Note that if there is a cost associated with the advertising, you must have recruitment funds available in your grant funding to cover this. We will seek confirmation of this from the Finance Officer (Research Grants & Studentships) ahead of placing an advert. This includes advertising for postdoctoral positions on MathJobs.org.

Timeline

Taking grading into consideration, and assuming recruitment protocol is not required, the general PDRA recruitment timeline, once the job description has been received from HR, is between 14-16 weeks, not including visa applications, which can add up to 3 months to the timeline.

PDRA recruitment timeline.docx

Searching for Applicants

During advertisement, recruitment panel chairs and PIs are strongly encouraged to share the advert with any contacts and networks they feel may be relevant to the position.

As a starting point, you might like to think about any previous postdocs/Research Fellows you know who may have been recruited to senior positions and be able to share the details of the post with others in their area. To help increase the diversity of your shortlist, it may also be helpful to think of conferences/events you have attended and whether the post details could be shared with the list of attendees; for instance, perhaps there was a conference for women in mathematics?

Suggested events include:

For high-profile research positions such as the Hooke and Titchmarsh Research Fellowships, you might like to look over high-profile postdoc positions elsewhere, to see whether there are candidates you might like to contact with details of the position and invite to apply. Examples include;

Note that once the position has closed, to ensure fairness and consistency amongst applicants all further correspondence (including interview invitations, rejection letters both after shortlisting and interviews, and confirmation of arrangements) should be sent by the Recruitment Team.

Referencing

For all academic and research positions, the department asks that candidates send in letters of reference to @email by no later than 12.00 noon on the closing date. These letters will then be circulated to the panel alongside the application materials the candidate has been submitted via the e-Recruitment system. Candidates are instructed in the job description that it is their responsibility to request these references and ensure they are received; the department will not follow these up at application stage.

Due to the volume of recruitment that the department administers, the Recruitment Team are not able to request references for candidates ahead of the shortlisting meeting. However, once the panel has shortlisted, HR will follow up and request any outstanding references for the shortlisted candidates (provided the candidate has given permission to do so in their application).

On the closing date…

Once the post has closed at 12.00 noon on your closing date, the Recruitment Team will compile the applications and circulate a shortlisting pack to the recruitment panel.