LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

UCL Mellon ProgrammeThe currently advertised research fellowship, Reconfiguring Spatial and Temporal Configurations, is funded for two years and is embedded within a six-year themed research programme established at UCL in 2012, entitled New Horizons in Russia and Eastern Europe: A New Vision through Language-Based Area Studies.

The Fellowship is suitable for someone who has recently completed a PhD in a discipline related to the Fellowship and relevant to the UCL context, and who is seeking to develop an academic career. UCL Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellows benefit from a thorough, structured training in teaching as well as being part of a vibrant and constantly self-examining research community.

Fellows are appointed after an open, international competition. Each Fellow has a two-year appointment at UCL in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).

The complete series of two-year appointments within New Horizons in Russia and Eastern Europe will be as follows:

2012–2014 : Area Studies Old and New (Fellow: Dr. Lora Koycheva) 2013–2015 : Communities, Globalisation and Cultural Exchange (Dr.

Joanna Szostek) 2014–2016 : Reconfiguring Spatial and Temporal Configurations (now

recruiting) 2015–2017 : Internationalisation and the Concept of the National (not

yet recruiting) 2016–2018 : Political Changes and Challenges (not yet recruiting)

The programme is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York and builds on two previous, very successful Mellon Foundation-funded post-doctoral programme at UCL: Individuality, Identity and Culture in Europe (ended in September 2007), and Translations and Transpositions (ended in 2012). Full details of these two programmes can be found on the UCL Mellon Programme website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ssees/research/mellon-programme.

About the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies

The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) is a world-leading multidisciplinary specialist institution for the study of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and Russia. More than 60 staff teach and conduct research at SSEES with specialisations that cover most of the disciplines of the humanities and the social sciences. Please refer to the SSEES website for

a list of academic staff and their research interests at http://www.ssees.ucl.ac.uk/staffresearch.htm .SSEES combines disciplinary, interdisciplinary and language-based research and teaching through the work of individual scholars, clusters of scholars across SSEES and UCL, and national and international networks. SSEES has a multifaceted mission, which is to promote three central aims across research, learning/teaching, and knowledge exchange/public engagement: to produce research at the leading edge of established disciplines; to facilitate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches; and to develop in-depth knowledge and understanding of the SSEES area, in regional, comparative, and global contexts. SSEES seeks to apply its expertise in i) knowledge exchange/public engagement with a wide range of users, and ii) design and delivery of excellent programmes and a rich student experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

SSEES is led by the Director (Head of Department) with three Heads of Research (Social Sciences; Humanities; PhD) and two Heads of Teaching (Resources; Programmes); one of these heads is also the Deputy Director. Teaching is organised in four programme groups: Languages and Culture (Russian, Central and East European); Economics and Business; History; Politics and Sociology.

The Mellon Programme’s RationaleThere is a continuing need for the world to understand developments in post-Soviet Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia. This need is urgent, because of the rapid changes (social, political, and economic) that are now taking place across this resource-rich region.  While these changes create risks that have global implications, they also create opportunities for global benefit.  The region’s nations have begun to emerge onto the world stage in their own right, in a manner quite different from the initial, difficult and often introspective post-Soviet transition period. These countries are now moving towards a more outward-looking (though not necessarily easier) relationship with the wider world.  However, the increasing interconnectedness of the world’s economies and societies means that events and conflicts in the region now have much greater potential for international impact than was previously the case. 

The study of post-Soviet Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia is now best done not through traditional single nation approaches; but rather through contextualisation and collaboration in the much more comprehensive setting of Language-based Area Studies.  The traditional form of regional country-specific studies constitutes a somewhat segmented framework of interconnected but essentially discrete cultural disciplines.  It must now be admitted that this is an inappropriate lens through which to research such diverse, emerging regions as Russia and Eastern Europe.  We envisage that the proposed Mellon Post-doctoral Fellows at UCL will act as a catalyst to develop with senior colleagues at UCL a profound language-based, area studies research programme, underpinned by an interconnected cross-disciplinary vision of the region.

UCL has unrivalled expertise in research and teaching on Russia and Eastern Europe (and, increasingly, in Eurasia).  This work occurs largely within the

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School of Slavonic and East European Studies, which merged with UCL in 1999.  The work of the School has emerged as a world-class model of cross-disciplinary and trans-national studies. The School works not only across languages and cultures, but also draws into its work such diverse social sciences as politics, public policy, law, economics, and sociology. All these are then applied even further afield within UCL, working with – for example - medics and engineers (both as academia and practitioners) who are actively engaged with the post-Soviet region.

The challenges raised by the strategic urgency of post-Soviet regional policy formation are matched by the strategic imperative for world-class social, historical and cultural research that reflects the new political and geographical realities. This is work that is not currently being fully addressed anywhere, and we believe that UCL’s strengths in multi-faculty, interdisciplinary working, centered around our School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies makes it the ideal location for such work.

We aim at nothing less than a fundamental re-conceptualisation of Language-based Area Studies whereby disciplines are brought together with geographical regions and language in order to facilitate awareness and engagement across the Social Sciences and Humanities and beyond to Engineering, Natural and Biomedical Sciences. The formulation of such a re-conceptualisation is the starting point of this latest UCL Mellon Post-Doctoral Research programme.

A more detailed look at the FellowshipSince 2000, the UCL Mellon Programme has been a collaborative development between UCL and the Andrew W Mellon Foundation of New York. Since its inception the UCL Mellon Programme has trained an exemplary cadre of Fellows as high level researcher-teachers who have gone on to publish, to teach in universities and to develop public engagement programs, not only at UCL but also at the following institutions: American University in Paris, University of Cambridge, University of Limerick, Nottingham Trent University, University of Oxford, University of Salford, Liverpool John Moore University, Tate Liverpool, and the Horniman Museum. They all retain good links with the Programme and with UCL.

Although Fellows will be able to devote most of their time to research, they are expected to teach up to 5 hours per week not only within their own departments but also within Faculty-wide programmes. To develop their teaching skills, Fellows are automatically enrolled on UCL’s mandatory training course for new lecturers, which prepares them in: 1. Presentation skills; 2. Working with small groups; 3. Assessment; 4. Lecturing skills; 5. Personal tutoring at UCL; 6. Course design; 7. Responding to student diversity; and 8. Equal opportunities.

Not only are Fellows are assigned a professional academic mentor within their department, but they also receive broader institutional support from the UCL Mellon director, Professor Wendy Bracewell, who meets regularly with the

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Fellows to provide an over-arching mentorship as well as academic and career advice.

It is expected that Fellows will be keen to disseminate their work widely by, for example, organising (interdisciplinary) public events related to her or his main research theme, such as: seminars, study days, exhibitions, conferences, performances. It is also expected that individual publications will come from each Fellowship. Each fellow is allocated a personal research budget of £5000 to support the creation of their research outputs.

It is envisaged that Fellows will actively seek to work together, and that they will engage fully with the life of the university.

Synopsis of the programme’s five strands and six-year life2012–2014 : Area Studies Old and NewThis strand of the programme is focused on traditional models of Area Studies, examining how and why the discipline developed, and concentrates on exploring new forms of Language-Based Area Studies which can facilitate interdisciplinary work, by creating a new triangulation of disciplines, area and language that highlight the importance of the cultural/linguistic. 

- Dr Lora Koycheva appointed for a two-year duration

2013–2015 : Communities, Globalisation and Cultural ExchangeOne of the major features of contemporary life is the constantly increasing patterns of migration, which are, nonetheless inevitably unpredictable.  This strand will examine not only this phenomenon, but also that of transnational networks and the development of new boundaries, contact zones and plural identities.   - Dr Joanna Szostek appointed for a two-year duration

2014–2016 : Reconfiguring Spatial and Temporal Configurations This strand will examine East-West (and/or North-South) divisions, examining the role played by periodisations and the ways in which continuities interact with changes, e.g. communism and after; the post-colonial/post-imperial phenomenon.- One Fellow to be appointed for a two-year duration

2015–2017 : Internationalisation and the concept of the nationalThis strand will consider the impact of policies and practices of internationalisation, globalisation and transnationalism on the ways in which the idea of the national is changing, in terms both of individual and collective identities and of the policies of national states.-One Fellow to be appointed for a two-year duration 

2016–2018 : Political Changes and ChallengesThis strand will focus on reforms of institutions, governance and inequality of democracy.  Particular attention will be paid to the influences on political

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processes of new media and technologies and of the ways in which informal networks increasingly influence decision-making at local, national or regional levels. - One Fellow to be appointed for a two-year duration

The UCL contextUCL is one of the leading research-intensive universities in the world, with some 4000 academic and research staff and 22,000 students.  Amongst our many alumni are Nobel Laureates, heads of state, policy makers, explorers, scientists, the judiciary and influential media figures.  

As the first university in England to accept students irrespective of race, class or religion, and to admit women on equal terms as men, UCL has always sought to attract students from a wide background, all of whom thrive on intellectual rigour and debate.  Drawn from more than 150 different nationalities, UCL’s student body benefits from a diversity and multiculturalism that only serves to enrich the experience of our students. 

As a large multi-faculty, multi-disciplinary institution located in the heart of London, UCL provides a uniquely rich environment for the study and research in all forms, not least because UCL currently offers top-rated undergraduate and graduate teaching and supervision as well as international research expertise in 26 European languages and cultures: Albanian, Belarussian, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian.

UCL scholars are located at the heart of what is probably the world’s richest arts, humanities and social science research nexus: the British Museum, British Library, University of London Library, the Warburg Institute Library, the Institute of Historical Research library, the libraries of the various Institutes of the School of Advanced Studies, the Wellcome Trust library and archive, as well, of course, as UCL’s own libraries and museums, with world-class holdings. Furthermore, UCL is located in Bloomsbury, where several major publishers are still located, and near to Charlotte Street and Soho, which constitute the heart of the UK creative industries.

London is a major European capital, and UCL has well-established good relations with all the relevant embassies and cultural agencies, as well as with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Key requirements:Applicants will have recently completed a PhD, in a discipline related to the Fellowship and relevant to the UCL context, and ideally will have acquired some teaching experience related to their research interests. Applicants' research proposals should be underpinned by clearly stated outcomes that can be met not only by the two-year period of the Fellowship, but also the range of expertise and facilities available at UCL.

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Essential candidate criteria:1. Holds a PhD or will hold such by September 2014.2. Has teaching experience related to her/his academic discipline.3. Has a research proposal that relates to the terms of the Fellowship and the UCL

context.4. Has fluency in spoken English5. Has fluency in written English6. Is sensitive to cultural difference7. Can work full-time for UCL

Desirable candidate criteria:1. Has begun to achieve success in publishing her/his research.2. Has experience of presenting her/his work to academic audiences.3. Has experience of presenting her/his work to the general public.4. Has successfully worked collaboratively in a research team.5. Has experience of organising seminars and/or guest lectures.6. Shows evidence of cross-disciplinary working.

You will be expected to provide the following 6 separate documents, written in English, combined into a single PDF document, which must be uploaded when you make your online application, i.e.at the point you are requested to upload your CV:1. Your CV;2. A personal statement3. The abstract of your PhD4. A sample of written work (no longer than 50pp)5. A short research proposal for the Fellowship6. A description of teaching experience and interests

Short-listed candidates will be invited to give a 15-minute research presentation and to attend a formal interview. The presentation should address the candidate's potential contribution to the research theme for this round of the fellowship .

The precise disciplinary boundaries of the fellowships are intentionally left loosely defined in a genuine attempt to attract the most interesting applications from the widest possible field. Applicants should familiarise themselves with the range of academic disciplines at UCL to ensure their research project is viable in the UCL context.

Additional InformationThe post holder will actively follow UCL policies including Equal Opportunities policies and be expected to give consideration within their role as to how they can actively advance equality of opportunity and good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

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The post holder will maintain an awareness and observation of Fire and Health and Safety Regulations.

The post holder must ensure organisational compliance, and conformance with the Data Protection Principles. All data, whether stored electronically or by other means must be processed in accordance with the Data protection Act 1998.

The post holder will undertake their duties in a resource efficient way and minimising impacts to the environment wherever possible.

Salary and Starting DateThe appointment will be made at Grade 7, currently in the range of £32,699 - £39,523 per annum (inclusive of London Allowance).

The starting date for this post is provisionally set at Monday 1 September 2014.

The post is funded for two calendar years in the first instance, with an increment at the end of the first year, dependent on successful completion of probation and nine-months full-time service before 1 August 2015.

The (optional) pension scheme for this post is run by USS.Application processApplications should be submitted via the UCL Human Resources website: www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs

Queries regarding the application procedure should be addressed to Esther Williams (esther.williams@ucl.ac.uk). Enquiries concerning the requirements of the posts may be directed to Professor Wendy Bracewell (w.bracewell@ucl.ac.uk). The closing date for receipt of applications is Thursday 1 May 2014.

Both presentation and interview - date to be confirmed.

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