Major investment in academic leadership

Published Thursday 19 January 2012

The search is on for more than 40 exceptional new chairs who will take academic leadership roles across the University and make a major contribution to helping us achieve our world-class ambitions for the future.

As part of the £23m investment in academic leadership, five new posts have been identified within the Faculty of Engineering which it is hoped will bolster our existing strengths and develop other strategically important areas.

• Chair in Energy for the Built Environment
• Chair in Medical Engineering Technology
• Chair in Mobile and Pervasive Computing
• Chair in Nuclear Process Engineering
• Chair in Wireless Communications

“The strategic mission of the University has been highlighted by changes to higher education policy, the new fees regime in 2012 and Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2014,” says Professor Dawn Freshwater, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Staff and Organisational Effectiveness.

“These drivers have accelerated our strategy, and we now need to demonstrate how much the University values the links between research and teaching. The way we see these two areas coming together is through leadership. In order to make a substantial change it is important to invest, and invest quite significantly. Having created a fertile ground over the last 10 years and implemented our strategy, this is about ‘sowing new seeds’ and making sure we can accurately and effectively focus on our values and aspirations for 2015 and beyond.”

Recruitment for the new posts has already started and the first appointments are expected to be in place by September this year. It’s likely that the recruitment process will take up to 18 months. All posts are open to internal candidates.

For further information:
To find out more and to apply visit www.universityofleedschairs.co.uk