CHASE Researcher Networks Officer
Placement Description
Post Title: CHASE Researcher Networks Officer (Placement Intern)
Hours: 6 month placement worked part-time over twelve months (open to alternative proposals regarding working patterns and placement duration). Preferred start date: November 2024.
Closing date: Friday 1st November (applications must be received by midnight of the closing date)
Location: The CHASE team is located at the University of Sussex, Brighton. Remote working is available, with the occasional need to travel to Sussex/London for meetings and events.
The Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts Southeast England (CHASE) is looking to host a placement for a Researcher Networks Officer, to oversee the administration of the student and staff-led CHASE researcher networks.
Background
CHASE researcher networks are an important part of the CHASE research environment. They facilitate the exchange of ideas within a supportive environment amongst CHASE doctoral researchers, whether funded by CHASE or not. Research networks are led by CHASE-funded researchers but welcome members who are not CHASE-funded and also faculty members at CHASE institutions. Current active CHASE research networks include the Feminist Network, Climate Justice Network, Broadly Conceived, and the Digital Studies Collective, amongst many others. CHASE is committed to enhancing arts and humanities doctoral researchers’ experience across the consortium, including supporting and growing its researcher networks, and this role will be key to achieving this aim.
Reporting to the CHASE Training and Partnerships Manager as your placement supervisor, the post holder is intended to foster strong communication between CHASE researcher networks and the CHASE team; identify and develop shared goals and ambitions between the networks; support administrative tasks relating to networks’ funding applications; support the stability and longevity of researcher networks; encourage participation in relevant networks for PhD researchers across the CHASE consortium; manage communications and web maintenance of Networks pages on the CHASE website; and identify potential and nascent networks and support their development.
For the 10th anniversary of CHASE, the placement will also focus on developing and expanding the CHASE alumni network You will consider and deliver plans relating to how best to engage, communicate with and survey the alumni network.
The placement offers an excellent opportunity to work at the interface of academic scholarship and activism, to understand how academic networks form and function, and to play an active role in strengthening the role of researcher networks within the CHASE research environment.
Primary Responsibilities
Reporting to the CHASE team, the successful candidate will:
Establish lines of communication between CHASE research networks, the CHASE Student Committee, and the CHASE team;
Work with the organising committees of research networks to identify shared goals and ambitions across networks;
Ensure that research network activities complement each other and avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, and explore the potential for cross-network initiatives;
Support networks in their events and activities, including the application for and maintenance of funding;
Correspond with networks to organise in-event sessions at CHASE events, including Encounters and Induction;
Optimise and maintain webpages about research networks on the CHASE website;
Map network coverage against fields of research across the consortium and known areas of interest, with a view to identifying areas not currently covered;
Uncover existing informal networks and ensure they are offered any necessary support to make them accessible to the wider CHASE researcher community;
Support administrative processes relating to network funding applications and securing budgetary and activity reports for funded networks;
Produce and maintain an up-to-date overview of researcher network activity across CHASE;
Develop and expand CHASE’s engagement and communication with alumni;
Ensure that network events are promoted effectively across CHASE, and support registration processes and the collection of attendance and feedback data;
Report on matters relating to research networks at CHASE team meetings;
Other duties that may be assigned by a member of the CHASE team.
The duties and responsibilities outlined are not intended to be an exhaustive list; instead they provide guidance on the main aspects of the post. The post-holder will be expected to be flexible in their duties, to bring new ideas to the role, and to assist with expanding the scope of CHASE’s current activities and online resources.
To apply
Your application should include:
A CV
A brief cover letter, outlining your interest in and suitability for the placement.
Please submit your application to training@chase.ac.uk by Friday 1 November. Applicants may be invited to interview.