Queen Mary Academy Fellowships

• Fellowships are part-time, fixed-term secondments, funded by the Queen Mary Academy. 
• Secondments must have the support of the Head of School or Institute. 
• The secondment will normally be approved for an initial period of no more than 12 months, for a maximum 0.2 fte (ie one day a week). Fellowships can also be undertaken in more intensive, shorter blocks of time. 
• Fellowships should normally begin at the start of a semester, though there can be flexibility if there is a good reason for a different start date.
• At the end of the Fellowship, a Fellow may apply for a new secondment beyond the initial 12 month period. This will be considered based on outcomes.

• A Queen Mary Academy Fellowship is a leadership position with an institutional remit and responsibility. You will therefore be expected to commit to making an active contribution to institutional educational initiatives (eg strategic projects, working groups, Communities of Practice, the Festival of Education) alongside the requirements of your project.
• You will be expected to provide regular project updates to the Queen Mary Academy and create an end of project report.
• You will be expected to disseminate your work internally and externally (eg producing case studies, posters, conference presentations).
• To support internal and external promotion of the Fellowship scheme, you should have an up to date Queen Mary University staff profile page including a biography and a current photograph.
• You will be invited to an end of project meeting to discuss opportunities to maximise the impact of your work.

If a Fellow is not able to meet the expectations of the role, early conclusion of the secondment may be considered. 

We are seeking expressions of interest for Fellows to share their knowledge and expertise in areas related to achieving the University’s 2030 Strategy, with a focus on the four pillars of education and student experience excellence along with our Education Approach: Active Curriculum for Excellence.

From time to time there will be opportunities to apply for a Fellowship on a specific topic or project. More information about opportunities to apply for a Directed Call Fellowship is available on the second tab below.

How to apply

Step 1

Consider if a Fellowship is right for you. Do you have a specific project that you wish to set up or an area that you want to explore? 

It is worth reflecting on the criteria by which Queen Mary Academy Fellowships are awarded and the expectations of Fellows. Support for your project within your School or Institute and the alignment of your project with School/Institute and University-wide strategic aims are key considerations.  

Step 2

If you feel that a Fellowship is right for you, you should approach your line manager to discuss the possibility of your application being supported by your School or Institute. The agreement of your Head of School or Institute Director is required to release you to undertake a Fellowship. Line managers will consider whether it is possible to release an individual from their current role for the requested time period, taking account of the needs of the Faculty, School or Institute, the development needs of the member of staff and the School/Institute’s ability to ensure that the individual can return fully to the substantive role. The Queen Mary Academy can support line managers in any queries they may have about Fellowship arrangements and commitments, but it is expected that conversations about the suitability of the Fellowship from the School/Institute perspective will take place without Queen Mary Academy involvement.  

Step 3

If your line manager is supportive of your application, you should complete the Queen Mary Academy Fellowship application form [DOC 24KB] and send it to qmacademy@qmul.ac.uk requesting a meeting with the Head of Innovation and Learning to discuss. At this stage your application will still be in draft, and this meeting will help ensure that any gaps and questions relation to expectations of the role can be addressed before formally submitting your application.

Step 4.

Following the meeting with the Head of Innovation and Learning, your application should be finalized and approved by the Head of School or Institute before submission to qmacademy@qmul.ac.uk

What happens next

Fellowship applications are considered by a panel, the members of which are nominated by the Vice-Principal (Education). They will look at the suitability of each application, considering:

• Alignment with the University’s 2030 Strategy and existing portfolio of projects and workstream.  
• The plan for evaluation and the potential to make a measurable contribution to one or more key strategic priorities 
• Achievability of project in terms of scope, considering the time allocated and the proposed project outcomes 
• How well the proposed project fits in with current Fellows’ work (for example if work is already being done on a specific topic, other projects may be prioritised). 
• How effectively the work can be disseminated, both internally and externally.  
• Spread and diversity of Queen Mary Academy Fellows across Schools/ Institutes and Faculties. 
• Demonstrable evidence of a successful track record of delivering impactful educational project(s) in your School/Institute, which have clear potential to be scaled up to address strategic needs across the University. 

The panel will make a recommendation to the Vice-Principal (Education), who will approve all Fellowship awards. If successful, you will be sent the secondment agreement form, which will need to be signed by your and your Head of School/Institute.  

The Fellowship panel is normally convened once a semester, prospective Fellows will be informed of the final decision within two weeks of the panel meeting.

Current Opportunities - Assessment and Feedback Enhancement Fellowship

The Queen Mary Academy seeks to appoint three Fellows, one from each Faculty, on a part-time (0.2FTE) buy-out basis for a period of up to 12 months to develop expertise in bringing alive the Queen Mary Education Approach - Active Curriculum for Excellence (ACE) and help to grow effective practice which is aligned to the National Student Survey (NSS) questions for Assessment and Feedback:

• How clear were the marking criteria used to assess your work?
• How fair has the marking and assessment been on your course?
• How well have assessments allowed you to demonstrate what you have learned?
• How often have you received assessment feedback on time?
• How often does feedback help you to improve your work?

The successful candidates will work together, as a small thematic peer group, to identify opportunities to develop disciplinary good practice within the area of assessment and feedback, around the following topics:

• Co-creating with learners a common understanding of assessment and feedback
• Designing assessment so that learners have opportunities to act on feedback
• Taking a programme-level view of assessment to support learning
• Approaches to assessment and feedback for large cohorts
• Innovative, impactful approaches to assessment integrity

Responsibilities

The Assessment and Feedback Fellow will:

• Champion the ACE approach using innovative approaches to address the key areas of learning.
• Source, develop, share, and model innovative practice that supports learning.
• Offer support across the University around innovative approaches to assessment and feedback (e.g. workshops, seminars, participation in away days etc)
• Provide leadership and encouragement in the evaluation of educational interventions and initiatives for impact.
• Engage with internal stakeholders, monitor sectoral trends both in the UK and internationally and keep up with relevant pedagogic research.
• Contribute academic leadership to Queen Mary Academy Communities of Practice and thematic peer groups, comprised of colleagues interested in enhancing their teaching and the conducting of pedagogic scholarship.

How to apply

Step 1

Consider if this Fellowship is right for you. Do you have experience which is relevant to the responsibilities set out in the Fellowship responsibilities? Do you have the support of your School/Institute to take up this opportunity? Please contact us if you would like to have an informal conversation at this stage.

Step 2

If you feel that the Fellowship is right for you, you should approach your line manager to discuss the possibility of your application being supported by your School or Institute. The agreement of your Head of School or Institute Director is required to release you to undertake a Fellowship. Line managers will consider whether it is possible to release an individual from their current role for the requested time period, taking account of the needs of the Faculty, School or Institute, the development needs of the member of staff and the School/Institute’s ability to ensure that the individual can return fully to the substantive role. The Queen Mary Academy can support line managers in any queries they may have about Fellowship arrangements and commitments, but it is expected that conversations about the suitability of the Fellowship from the School/Institute perspective will take place without Queen Mary Academy involvement. 

Step 3

Submit the completed application form Queen Mary Academy Fellowship - Directed Call application form [DOC 29KB] by email to qmacademy@qmul.ac.uk. Applications must have the support of your School or Institute to be considered. 

What happens next

Fellowship applications are considered by a panel, the members of which are nominated by the Vice-Principal (Education). They will look at the suitability of each application, considering:

• Understanding of the role and responsibilities of the Fellowship 
• Prior experience or expertise that would prepare a Fellow to take up the responsibilities set out in the Fellowship description. 

The panel will make a recommendation to the Vice-Principal (Education), who will approve all Fellowship awards. If successful, you will be sent the secondment agreement form, which will need to be signed by you and your Head of School/Institute.