The Oxford University National Trust Partnership is recruiting for a new initiative in 2019-2020: to design and deliver a range of research training courses to National Trust staff. This is an excellent opportunity to develop and hone your research skills as a professional asset, to raise your profile, to work closely with the National Trust, and to build a network of contacts across and beyond Oxford.
About the opportunity
The National Trust is an independent charity and membership organisation for environmental and heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is Europe’s largest conservation charity, with a large and diverse portfolio of properties, historic collections and landscapes across the three countries and over five million members. Research takes place in many forms across the National Trust – from PhDs and practical testing of new conservation techniques to hundreds of research projects hosted at National Trust places each year. The charity’s research interests are diverse and integrate nature and culture; while many organisations focus primarily on collections conservation, curatorial or environmental research, the National Trust spans all three. You can find out more about research at the National Trust here.
In support of the Trust’s growing research culture, a new training programme is being developed in partnership with Oxford University to up-skill Trust staff in key research techniques. Hosted by the University’s National Trust Partnership based in the Humanities Division, a cohort of Research Skills Trainers is being recruited to design and deliver a series of research training workshops to National Trust staff at Oxford. Working in small teams, Research Skills Trainers will design and deliver training in the following three areas:
- organising and participating in academic conferences
- using research resources
- preparing research for publication
This is a pilot programme for 2019-20, and is intended to be developed into a rolling opportunity, with the training materials created by Training Convenors shared with, and developed by, future cohorts.
Person specification
The ideal candidates will have:
- experience of undertaking primary research
- excellent organisational and interpersonal skills
- strong, demonstrable communication skills
- experience of working in small teams
- understanding of, and an interest in, the strategic aims of the National Trust
The position is ideal for DPhil students and early career researchers in any subject area, especially those with an interest in knowledge exchange. Dphil students are expected to have completed their transfer of status or to provide a letter from their supervisor confirming that the role will not conflict with academic commitments.
Timescales and remuneration
The work will be approximately 12 hours in total, distributed across the period June 2019 – March 2020. Successful applicants will be required to attend an introductory meeting with the National Trust in Oxford on the 28th June 2019 (11am-3pm). Workshops delivered by the Research Skills Trainers to National Trust employees will then be held in September 2019 and March 2020. Convenors will be paid for their time to attend the introductory meeting (4 hours), for preparation time to develop the training (c. 4 hours), and for delivery of the training at a day-long workshop (4 hours).
The rates of pay are £16.98 per hour for the introductory meeting and preparation; and £26.35 per hour for workshop delivery.
There are 12 positions available.
How to apply
The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 26th May. In order to apply, please email the following documents to ntpartnership@humanities.ox.ac.uk:
- CV (2-page maximum)
- 1-page cover letter
- A 1-page session outline for a training workshop. See workshop brief below for full details.
Interviews will take place in the week commencing 3rd June. Successful applicants must be available to attend the introductory meeting on 28th June.
Workshop brief
Please prepare a 1-page workshop outline to meet the following requirements:
- Theme: ‘Convening Conferences’ or ‘Preparing Your Research For Publication’
- Duration: 4 hours
- Venue: St Luke’s Chapel, Oxford University
- Number of participants: 20
- Profile of participants: National Trust employees including Curators, property General Managers and Archaeologists.
