Apply to be a DPhil Facilitator – The Vice-Chancellor's Colloquium

Apply to be a DPhil Facilitator

Please note: Applications have now closed for Hilary term 2024.

The Department for Continuing Education is recruiting 20 DPhil students at the University of Oxford for an exciting part-time facilitation and teaching role during Hilary term 2024.

The Vice-Chancellor's Colloquium was announced in her 2023 Oration and reflects a unique opportunity for undergraduates to develop interdisciplinary skills. The pilot year of the Vice-Chancellor’s Colloquium will be focused on climate change, and we are looking for doctoral students from across the four academic divisions to help facilitate a series of four college-based group discussions and activities (visit The Vice-Chancellor's Colloquium for more information). This role will involve a casual contract with the Department for Continuing Education for a total time commitment of 28 hours paid at grade 6.1 or £17.03/hour. 

Responsibilities:

  • Participate in two training sessions (at the end of Michaelmas and beginning of Hilary).
  • Review the Colloquium Facilitators’ Toolkit, which outlines the overall learning objectives as well as group discussion questions and the steps to deliver group activities.
  • Work with another colloquium facilitator to lead college-based discussions and activities for up to 20 undergraduates during weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8 of Hilary.
  • Support the undergraduates in your cohort with technical or scheduling questions, and support the creation of interdisciplinary teams to create a pitch, poster or creative project.
  • Attend the keynote talks of the Colloquium during weeks 1, 3, 5 and 7 at the Martin Wood lecture hall in Physics on Wednesdays from 5pm to 7pm.

Criteria: 

  • Experience with leading small group discussions and activities, for example as a teaching assistant or tutor.
  • Interest in interdisciplinary learning, teaching, research and practical applications.
  • A willingness to share the tools/methodologies/theories of your academic discipline in a manner that is accessible to people outside of your discipline.
  • An openness to different ways of making sense of the world in different academic disciplines.
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • No expertise in climate change is required for this role, however an interest in environmental sustainability is desirable.

How to apply:

To apply for this role, please record a one-minute video explaining why you would like to join the Vice-Chancellor's Colloquium team as a facilitator and send a link to the video and your CV to william.finnegan@ouce.ox.ac.uk.

The deadline for applications is Friday 17 November at 5pm. 

Tips for recording your application video:

  • Prepare a short statement in advance of recording. You don’t need to memorise this statement, but preparing and practicing will ensure you say what you want to say within 60 seconds. One-minute of speaking is approximately 150 words.
  • Consider the responsibilities and criteria above in your video statement.
  • Use a smartphone or laptop to record the video – there are a number of applications that support simple video recordings.
  • Find a quiet place where there is plenty of light on your face to record the video.
  • Speak directly to the camera.
  • Share your video:
    • Upload your video to a file sharing service such as Microsoft OneDrive and send or share the file (see instructions).
    • Upload your video to a video sharing platform such as YouTube and make sure the video will be viewable to people with the link (in YouTube, you may want to set the video as unlisted – see instructions).

If you are offered the post, the offer will be subject to standard pre-employment checks by the Department for Continuing Education. You will be asked to provide: proof of your right-to-work in the UK and proof of your identity. You will also be asked to complete a health declaration so that you can tell us about any health conditions or disabilities for which you may need us to make appropriate adjustments. Please read the candidate notes on the University’s pre-employment screening procedures.