Assistant Professor in Psychology

Description

Role: Assistant Professor in Psychology

Grade and Salary: Grade 7, (£37,694 - £47,389)

FTE and working pattern: 1 FTE (35hrs per week), Fixed term, 12 months

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

This vacancy combines the opportunity to apply subject-specialist knowledge in Neuropsychology and/or Neuroscience to deliver a final year undergraduate course in the September semester, with the adaptability to cover a range of other undergraduate courses across the BPS core curriculum.

In the 2026-27 academic year, the department is developing a suite of new online courses as part of our exciting new online Psychology (Conversion) programme. For a candidate with the right level of discipline expertise in biological psychology and neuroscience, there is an opportunity to contribute to this exciting initiative in collaboration with Heriot-Watt's team of learning designers and digital media producers.

The Department of Psychology at Heriot-Watt University is a supportive and inclusive academic community committed to delivering an outstanding student experience. Located on our beautiful Edinburgh campus but globally connected with our departments in Dubai and Malaysia, we offer high-quality, research-informed teaching across a broad range of psychology topics and are proud of our collaborative, globally connected approach to education. We value innovation in teaching, student engagement, and interdisciplinary work, and provide a welcoming environment in which staff can develop their academic and professional skills.

This 12-month Assistant Professor opportunity offers the chance to join a friendly and dedicated team and make a meaningful contribution to our undergraduate programmes.

• Teach as a member of a teaching team in a developing capacity within an established programme of study, with the assistance of a mentor if required.
• Teach in a developing capacity in a variety of settings from small group tutorials to large lectures.
• Transfer knowledge in the form of practical skills, methods and techniques.
• Identify learning needs of students and define appropriate learning objectives.
• Ensure that content, methods of delivery and learning materials will meet the defined learning objectives.
• Planning, and authoring (or revising) new course material as part of the School/Institute’s teaching programmes.
• Develop the skills of applying appropriate approaches to teaching, Challenge thinking, foster debate and develop the ability of students to engage in critical discourse and rational thinking.
• Supervise the work of students, provide advice on study skills and help them with learning problems.
• Select appropriate assessment methods, assess the work and progress of students on this basis and provide constructive feedback to students.

• Reflect on practice and the development of own teaching and learning skills.

• Deal with routine communication using a range of media.
• Communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically.
• Preparing proposals and applications to external bodies, e.g. for funding and accreditation purposes.
• Communicate material of a specialist or highly technical nature

• Liaise with colleagues and students.
• Participate on School/Institute committees; for example, teaching groups, recruitment groups, examination boards, etc.
• Build internal contacts and participate in internal networks for the exchange of information and to form relationships for future collaboration.
• Join external networks to share information and ideas.

• Agree responsibilities.
• Manage own teaching, scholarly and administrative activities, with guidance if required.
• Supervise students on taught courses when carrying out projects, fieldwork and placements.
• Assist students in capacity of personal mentor.

• Collaborate with academic colleagues on course development and curriculum changes.
• Attend and contribute to subject group meetings.
• Collaborate with colleagues to identify and respond…