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Queen Mary Academy

Queen Mary Academy Fellowships

Queen Mary Academy Fellowships are high-profile opportunities for staff to develop, share and promote their educational and scholarship practice.

Through this unique scheme, Queen Mary staff can apply for a Fellowship with a remit to address strategic educational needs across the University. Fellows represent the Academy, their School/Institute, Faculty and Queen Mary to internal and external audiences, raising both their own and the institutional academic profile. 

As a Queen Mary Academy Fellow:

  • You will have time to develop and share your educational and scholarship practice which is aligned to Strategy 2030.
  • You will have the opportunity to raise your profile and develop wider influence across your School/Institute, Faculty and throughout the University.
  • You will become part of a collegiate community of Fellows, contributing and learning from others in turn.
  • You will benefit from support from the Academy, including support for you to evidence the impact of your work and to develop your scholarship.
  • You will have the opportunity to evidence your institutional impact across Queen Mary, helping you to build a case for professional progression, and for sector-wide recognition through HEA Fellowship and associated awards.
  • You will hold the additional title of Queen Mary Academy Fellow for the duration of your secondment.

How a Fellowship works

  • 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.

Expectations of Queen Mary Academy Fellows

  • 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 working groups and Communities of Practice) alongside the requirements of your own project
  • You will be expected to become an active member of the community of Fellows
  • 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 expected to disseminate your work internally and externally (eg presenting at the Festival of Education, producing case studies, posters, conference presentations).
  • You will be expected to provide regular project updates to the Queen Mary Academy and create an end of project report.
  • 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. 

Strategic priorities

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.

Open call Fellowships

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.

Directed call - Learner Engagement Analytics Fellowships - LEA Lead Fellow

Current Opportunities - LEA Lead Fellow 

Learner Engagement Analytics (LEA) is concerned with combining different types of data regarding learner engagement and learning in order to better understand, and improve, the learning experiences of our learners.   

The Queen Mary Academy seeks to appoint one LEA Lead Fellow on a part-time (0.2FTE) buy-out basis for a period of up to two years to support scholarship and uptake of LEA within schools and faculties.

Responsibilities:

The Fellow will  

  • Collaborate with the Senior Responsible Officer for LEA (currently Professor Stefan Krummaker, Deputy Vice-Principal for Education) to review, update and enhance Queen Mary’s overall approach to LEA in line with Queen Mary’s 2030 Strategy and the ACE approach, and to make recommendations for future strategic investments in LEA. 
  • Provide academic leadership for Queen Mary’s ongoing use and future development of LEA, including by engaging with internal stakeholders, monitoring sectoral trends both in the UK and internationally, supporting and producing internal scholarship in the field of learner engagement analytics. 
  • Take a leading role in LEA adoption and scholarship within their school and faculty (including in-faculty training) 
  • Support, mentor and provide leadership to the community of LEA Fellows. 
  • Undertake analyses of the effectiveness of Queen Mary’s use of LEA, making use of existing LEA metrics and institutional KPIs, and by gathering additional data on the impact of specific interventions. 
  • Contribute academic leadership to LEA Community/ies of Practice comprised of active LEA users and colleagues interested in using LEA data to conduct pedagogic research and promote the use of LEA within the university. 
  • Where relevant, represent LEA at meetings of relevant Queen Mary educational committees and networks. 

Closing date 6 May 2024. For information queries about this opportunity, please contact Graeme Hathaway

For information about becoming a Queen Mary Academy Fellow, please contact qmacademy@qmul.ac.uk  

Directed call - Learner Engagement Analytics Fellowships - LEA Fellows

Current Opportunities - LEA Fellows

Learner Engagement Analytics (LEA) is concerned with combining different types of data regarding learner engagement and learning in order to better understand, and improve, the learning experiences of our learners.   

The Queen Mary Academy seeks to appoint Fellows, representing all faculties, on a part-time (0.2FTE) buy-out basis for a period of up to two years to support scholarship and uptake of LEA within schools and faculties. 

Responsibilities:

The Fellows will

  • Contribute to the reviewing, updating and enhancing of Queen Mary’s overall approach to LEA in line with Queen Mary’s 2030 Strategy and the ACE approach, making recommendations for future strategic investments in LEA.
  • Provide academic leadership for Queen Mary’s ongoing use and future development of LEA, including by engaging with internal stakeholders, monitoring sectoral trends both in the UK and internationally, supporting and producing internal scholarship in the field of learner engagement analytics. 
  • Take a leading role in LEA adoption and scholarship within their school and faculty (including in-faculty training). 
  • Take an active role in the community of LEA Fellows. 
  • Undertake analyses of the effectiveness of Queen Mary’s use of LEA, making use of existing LEA metrics and institutional KPIs, and by gathering additional data on the impact of specific interventions. 
  • Contribute academic leadership to LEA Community/ies of Practice comprised of active LEA users and colleagues interested in using LEA data to conduct pedagogic research and promote the use of LEA within the university. 
  • Where relevant, represent LEA at meetings of relevant Queen Mary educational committees and networks. 

Closing date 6 May 2024. For information queries about Queen Mary Academy LEA Fellowship responsibilities, please contact Usman Naeem

For information about becoming a Queen Mary Academy Fellow, please contact qmacademy@qmul.ac.uk  

Four small images showing Lesley Howell, Zue Zhou, Usman Naeem, Jonathan Kennedy

Queen Mary Academy Fellows work to transform the learner experience at Queen Mary, supporting them to reach their full potential.

Our Fellows are granted time to run projects that align to Queen Mary’s Strategy 2030, creating a truly inclusive environment and opening the doors of opportunity for staff and learners alike. Click on the Fellows’ profiles to learn more about each of their projects.

Current Fellows

  • Dr Radhika Desai, April 2024 - March 2025Dr Radhika Desai portrait
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Curriculum Development

The aim of Radhika's project is to develop and deliver an innovative dental undergraduate programme, co-created with students.

The aim of Graham's project is to support co-creation of the medical undergraduate curriculum with students and real patients, and to develop training and resources for wider use in co-creation projects across Queen Mary University of London. 

  • Dr Sally Faulkner, August 2023 - July 2024Headshot of Sally Faulkner  
    • Excellence in Student Engagement - Focus: Team Based Learning

Sally has taken up a new Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fellowship, working on Team Based Learning (TBL) alongside Peer Led Team Learning (PLTL). Her Fellowship will investigate the implementation of TBL in programmes and measuring its impact in terms of grade outcomes, self-efficacy and confidence development. She will lead on encouraging and supporting the adoption of this new pedagogy at Queen Mary.

  • Dr Heather Ford September 2023 - September 2024Profile photo of Dr Heather Ford
    • Excellence in Student Engagement - Student-paced Learning Activities

Heather has taken up a new Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fellowship, and is developing a series of self-paced learning activities to integrate ChatGPT into learners’ coding skillset. Her starting point is the integration of ChatGPT into a module called Climate Change in Practice.

  • Dr Nicola Georgiou, March 2024 - July 2024Profile photo of Dr Nicola Georgiou
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Curriculum Development

Nicola will be working on a comprehensive review of the LLB curriculum.

 

Gerard’s project seeks to develop a better understanding of how BTEC students learn at college and the transition of BTEC students into university.

  • Dr Lesley Howell February 2021 - August 2024 Dr Lesley Howell
    • Excellence in Student Engagement - Focus: Peer-to-peer learning

Lesley is working on embedding Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) into the curriculum.

 

  • Dr Jonathan Kennedy January 2023 - June 2024Dr Jonathan Kennedy  
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Active global citizen development

Jonathan is looking at the potential for virtual educational exchanges to improve student access to international opportunities.

 

  • Dr Usman Naeem May 2022 - May 2024Dr Usman Naeem 
    • Excellence in Student Engagement - Focus: Individualised learning

Usman is academic lead for the use of Learner Engagement Analytics (LEA) at Queen Mary, with specific responsibility for developing a strategy for and driving forward the uptake and enhancement of LEA.

  • Dr Anne Ropiquet October 2023 – October 2024Dr Anne Ropiquet 
    • Excellence in Education-Focus - Interdisciplinary programmes

Anne is exploring frameworks facilitating Interdisciplinarity to promote innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches to education.  By fostering collaboration among faculty members and encouraging students to engage with diverse perspectives and knowledge domains,  she aims for graduates to be better equipped to address complex real-world challenges.

  • Dr Lilian Schofield, September 2023 - September 2024Dr Lilian Schofield
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Learning by doing

Lilian has taken up a new Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fellowship, and her work will focus on understanding what works in 'learning by doing’ across disciplines and Faculties.

  • Dr Luigi Ventimiglia August 2023 - August 2024Dr Luigi Ventimiglia
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Inclusive assessment

Luigi is building on his previous fellowship project, the awarding gap tool, to promote diversified assessment and investigate whether it might help to reduce the awarding gaps and contribute to graduate attributes.

Louise is exploring ways to embed co-creation at the organisational and individual (staff and student) levels, and to increase uptake of co-creation.

  • Dr Xue Zhou September 2023 - August 2024Dr Xue Zhou
    • Excellence in Student Employability - Focus: Higher-level skill development

The goal of Xue’s project is to provide an extra-curricular opportunity for students at Queen Mary University of London to improve the AI skills and knowledge, as well as to promote the use and adoption of AI technology in their academic and professional pursuits.

Alumni Fellows

  • Professor Jo Brown, September 2022 - August 2023
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Inclusive offer

Jo's project focussed on the development of educational scholarship at Queen Mary, including scoping the opportunity for a new professional doctorate in Education (EdD)

  • Dr Stephen Buckingham September 2020 - August 2022Dr Stephen Buckingham
    • Excellence in Learning Environment - Focus: Technological advances

Stephen worked on providing a central online hub that provides guidance, resources and motivation, as well as the sharing of experiences and good practice, in the shift to blended learning, 2020-2021.

  • Dr Nick Hostettler September 2021 - August 2023Dr Nick Hostettler
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Inclusive offer

Nick's work explored how seminar teaching practice on a core first year module can better support learning practices and independent studentship.

  • Dr Daniela Tavasci July 2021 - June 2023       Dr Daniela Tavasci 
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Inclusive offer

Daniela’s project contributed to diversify the curriculum at Queen Mary and explored how teaching with historical perspectives can be a route for a more inclusive education.

 

  • Dr Sharan Sidhu January 2021 - December 2021Dr Sharan Sidhu                           
    • Excellence in Education - Focus: Supportive assessment

Sharan’s project explored whether one or more proctoring methods have potential for use across Queen Mary and if so, whether it should be discipline / subject specific.

 

  • Dr James Strong January 2021 - June 2021Dr James Strong
    • Excellence in Student Engagement - Focus: Individualised learning

James’ project goal was to understand how students’ broader experience of studying at Queen Mary University affects their engagement and attainment.

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