Job Advert -- Section Director, MRC Institute of Hearing Research, Glasgow

[Michael Akeroyd <maa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

MRC/CSO Institute of Hearing Research - Scottish Section, Glasgow

Section Director – Scientific Programme Leader


Closing date: 31st March 2015
Interview date: to be confirmed
Salary: MRC Band 2 £48,658 - £71,578
Hours: full-time

This is an exciting opportunity to become Director of the MRC/CSO 
Scottish Section of the MRC Institute of Hearing Research (IHR). The 
Scottish Section is currently one of IHR’s largest research groups, 
conducting applied research on hearing losses and hearing aids in older 
adults. An innovative researcher is sought to be responsible for 
directing the research of the Scottish Section, through leadership of 
your own projects and oversight of the group’s research portfolio. You 
will be expected to develop links with overlapping and complementary 
programmes, and to have a strong interest in the potential of basic 
research to generate translational benefits and will have the 
opportunity to play a major role in the long-term scientific and 
strategic direction of IHR

IHR, with its headquarters in Nottingham, is the MRC’s national 
investment in hearing research, and one of only a handful of centres 
around the world that delivers interdisciplinary research on hearing. 
Its science covers a wide portfolio of auditory science from fundamental 
neuroanatomy to the quality of life experienced by a patient, conducted 
by research staff with expertise in neuroscience, psychology, acoustics, 
and medicine.  IHR has a track record of developing many of the leaders 
in UK hearing science who have at some point in their careers worked 
there, and with the appointment of a new Director, Dr Michael Akeroyd, 
IHR is looking forward to a long-term future.

The Scottish Section is based in new custom-built experimental 
facilities in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. The labs, opened in January 
2014, have two large double-walled chambers, each equipped with arrays 
of 24 loudspeakers and motion-tracking equipment, and two medium-sized 
chambers for audiological and headphone work. These allow the testing 
and measuring of listening in complex environments, recreating the 
acoustics of any situation while tracking how people move as they 
listen. The Section is fully equipped with sound presentation, 
audiological, calibration, and hearing-aid measurement software and 
equipment. The Section currently has 15 staff, including clinical and 
non-clinical scientists, PhD students and support staff, with the 
capacity for further expansion. There are strong scientific links with 
four of the local Universities (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow 
Caledonian, and West of Scotland).

The MRC is a unique working environment where researchers are rewarded 
by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities.  You will 
have access to a whole host of benefits from a final salary pension 
scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to an array of other 
employee benefits.

For informal discussions about this post please contact Dr Michael 
Akeroyd (Director-Elect, MRC IHR) at maa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To apply, please send a cover letter, a CV, and an outline of your 
intentions for the future research of the Scottish Section by email to 
Graham Borland, Senior Unit Administrator, by 5pm on March 31st. 
graham@xxxxxxxxxxxxx