NZ/UK Link Foundadtion
NZ/UK Link Foundation: New Visiting Professorship Programme
In a welcome New Year's development, the NZ/UK LInk Foundation has announced the institution of a new Visiting Professorship to be established in London. Each Professorship will be for a period of three months. The Foundation will provide the return airfare, accommodation costs at Goodenough College and an honorarium of £10,000 for each Visiting Professor.
Background
The NZ/UK Link Foundation was established in 1991 as a registered charity whose objectives were 'the advancement of education for the benefits of the public in the UK and NZ'. Briefly, this was to be achieved through the establishment of scholarships and exchange schemes for individuals to study and teach the economic, social, cultural and scientific history of both countries and the inter-relationships between them.
The Trustees have recently undertaken a strategic review and have agreed that in pursuit of these objectives the new focus of the Foundation's activities should be on "making an ongoing substantial contribution to the intellectual, educational, vocational and academic underpinning of the bi-lateral relationship in a changing world'.
As a result, the Foundation now wishes to support the establishment of a new Visiting Professorship programme, aligned to the overall strategic purpose of the Foundation.
The Foundation was helped in developing the programme by discussions with New Zealander, Sir Graeme Davies, Vice- Chancellor, University of London.
Location of Visiting Professorship Programme
The new Visiting Professorship will be managed in collaboration with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London -see www.sas.ac.uk The School of Advanced Study (SAS) is at the hub of the University's collaborative academic activities. It unites ten prestigious institutes and is a national research resource of outstanding reputation for academics and postgraduates. Its specialist schools include the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, the Institute of Historical Research and the Warburg Institute. This will give Visiting Professors (VPs) access to extensive research facilities and appropriate academic specialists as required. In addition the SAS and the University will be able to provide practical and logistical support to the VP.
Accommodation for the VPs will be provided by the NZ/UK Foundation (the Foundation) at Goodenough College. The College provides 4 star accommodation overlooking Mecklenburgh Square Gardens in the heart of Bloomsbury, Central London. Located in five Grade II listed Georgian town houses, the College provides accommodation for international and national senior academics and postgraduates and runs an extensive programme of cultural and academic events -see www.goodenough.ac.uk
Length of Visiting Professorships
Each Visiting Professorship will be for a period of three months. If the chosen VP wishes to remain longer than three months in the UK, she/he will be obliged to cover her/his own expenses including accommodation beyond the three month period.
Initially the Foundation will offer one VPship a year though it hopes to increase this over time. The VP will also be required to cover the travel and other costs of an accompanying partner.
Required academic focus
The Foundation anticipates that its VPship - starting in particular with the first VP - will establish a high profile in the UK, especially in London. It therefore seeks high calibre candidates whose research interests must contribute to an understanding and appreciation of some important aspect of the contemporary relationship between the UK and NZ. It is also essential that the proposed research field and expertise of the candidates be relevant to the Foundation's purpose and of sufficient interest and contemporary importance as to engage leading opinion formers and key decision makers in the UK. It is, therefore, important that the chosen VP should also have robust communication skills and be capable of attracting and engaging the Foundation's target audiences.
The Foundation's VPs might represent numerous academic disciplines - from history to environmental science, from economics to social policy, from political science to trade, and so on. However for the first VPship the Foundation is particularly interested in applicants whose areas of interest are in one of the following fields:
* the economic relationship e.g. trade/financial institutions (governance and regulation/investment )
* immigration/workforce mobility
* participative democracy including electoral systems
Applicants will be senior academics working at Professorship level and with a valid passport. The Foundation does not expect that candidates should be limited to those with NZ nationality or residency but candidates must have an excellent understanding of the circumstances in both the UK and NZ so as to be able to make a significant contribution to intellectual debate about an aspect of the bilateral relationship.
Conditions & Commitments
Apart from pursuing a relevant research programme of their own, the Foundation will require the chosen VPs to give four lectures or seminars during their three month VPship period. The audiences for these will be specially chosen by the Foundation - with University and SAS advice - and are likely to comprise academic, political, business, policy, and media constituencies.
The Foundation anticipates that these lectures will be arranged in consultation with the VP and some if not all will be arranged in collaboration with important and appropriate organisations such as Chatham House, the Royal Society, and the Institute for Strategic Studies. These may include selected universities situated within the national regions.
The Foundation will wish to make the transcripts of these lectures available as published monographs and/ or via a specially created website.
Honorarium and expenses
The Foundation will provide the return airfare, accommodation costs at Goodenough College and an honorarium of £10,000 sterling for each VP. This honorarium is intended to cover any ancillary costs involved in living and travelling in the UK. The Foundation assumes that the VP's own institution will continue to pay the VP's own salary during the period.
Time-frame
It is hoped that the first Visiting Professorship will take up his/her post in October 2010. Applications must be submitted by 28 February 2010 to the Chair, NZ-UK Link Foundation c/o New Zealand House, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4TQ or by e-mail to linkuknz@talktalk.net
Applications
Applicants should provide a full CV including details of research and publications to date. They should also provide a detailed description of the research they wish to undertake during the period of the VPship and state why they think they would be a suitable Foundation VP. They should also outline what subjects they propose to provide for the four required lectures, together with any suggestions about appropriate audiences for such presentations. Finally they should provide a letter of recommendation and support from their Vice-Chancellor endorsing their application.
Selection Process
The VP will be chosen from applicants by a Panel which will include a representative of the SAS and representatives from the Link Foundation. Candidates will be notified of the outcome by the end of March 2010.
Enquiries
For further information about the VPship please contact the Link Foundation at linkuknz@talktalk.net