Teaching Associate in Biogeochemistry

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Teaching Associate in Biogeochemistry

The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Cardiff University is a dynamic and successful multi-disciplinary centre devoted to research and learning in the disciplines of geography and geoscience.

Applications are invited for the fixed-term post of Teaching Associate in Biogeochemistry to provide cover for staff research leave. The successful candidate will be required to teach at both MSc and undergraduate level. You will deliver contributions to the modules Understanding the Living Planet, and Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Science. We encourage applicants who can teach and inspire learning that embraces basic chemical processes, geochemical cycles and microbiology. In addition, you would be expected to contribute to residential field courses, local field day trips, seminars, team work and project work supervision in the area of biogeochemistry.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) available from 1st December 2025 and is fixed term for 6 months.

Salary: £33,482 – £36,130 per annum (Grade 5)

For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Andrew C Kerr, Director of Learning and Teaching, Email: kerra@cardiff.ac.uk

For further details about working in Cardiff University please contact Claudia Peña via email: earthhr@cardiff.ac.uk

More information on the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences – Cardiff University

Important Notes:

Applications can only be accepted via the online system.

It is the University\’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below. Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element.

When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number 20610BR

Closing date: Thursday, 18 September 2025

This post has previously been advertised to employees of Cardiff University only. We now invite external applications.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

Job Description

Prepare and deliver whole or parts of modules including contributing to the assessment of students. Deliver lectures as required (content supplied). Undertake seminars, tutorials and group work. Supervise student projects and carry out teaching-related administrative duties. Teaching contributions are within a framework of an agreed programme typically overseen by an academic member of staff.

Key Duties

• Deliver classroom and field-based teaching. Includes preparing teaching material, communicating subject matter and encouraging critical discourse to develop rational thinking; observing and reacting to student interventions; responding to questions outside class times and to contingencies in course delivery.
• Carry out pre-determined assessment for courses, including marking and providing written/oral feedback; and collating and providing final assessments of students.
• Supervise undergraduate and possibly Masters project students.
• Participate actively as a member of a teaching team.
• Carry out course evaluation, including facilitating student feedback; reflecting on own teaching design and delivery; and implementing ideas for improving own performance.
• Carry out administrative duties such as class record keeping, attending meetings, and report writing.
• Undertake teaching-related and administrative work as allocated by the Head of School and various Committees and within a clear and established programme with assistance and support.
• Plan and prioritise own daily work, and forward plan for some teaching.
• Deal with reactive requests such as those relating to teaching, supervising students and administrative tasks, on a daily basis.

General Duties

• Any other duties not included above, but consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Qualifications and Education

1. A good first degree in a relevant discipline, plus a PhD or equivalent applied/professional experience

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

1. Proven teaching ability, ideally via a teaching qualification
2. An established expertise and ability to teach to degree level within the following fields:

• Environmental microbiology
• Biogeochemistry.

Communication and Team Working

1. Effective interpersonal skills to liaise with students and staff.
2. Proven verbal and written communication skills,

Planning, Analysis and Problem Solving

1. Evidence of demonstrable knowledge of key advances within specialist discipline
2. Evidence of ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning and setting priorities for own work

Desirable Criteria

1. Ability to provide appropriate pastoral support to students, appreciate the needs of individual students and their circumstances and to act as a personal tutor
2. Field experience and the ability to teach on undergraduate residential and day fieldtrips
3. Familiarity with statistical, biogeochemical, and ecological tools for processing and interpreting experimental data

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