Professor in Design and Creative Technologies

Full time permanent

Location: York 

Salary: £68,857 to £73,040 per annum

About York St John 

York St John is an ambitious, modern university at the heart of historic York and there has never been a more exciting time to join us. 

As one of the fastest growing universities in the UK over recent years, we have a new strategy for the next decade, emphasising our commitment to widening opportunity through the power of education and contributing our talents to creating a fairer world, and a more prosperous region. We are putting inspirational learning and impactful research at the heart of this strategy, recognising our academic expertise as our greatest asset.

The School 

Design, clustered within the School of the Arts, is an ambitious and growing academic and creative department, which is home to the AR-VR Research Group and cognate suite of growing undergraduate and taught postgraduate degrees. Our burgeoning national and international research profile, excellent teaching and learning (TEF Silver Overall, and Gold for Student Experience), and welcoming and inclusive ethos supports an exceptional student experience (achieving 95% for overall academic support in the NSS in Design, and achieving excellent graduate outcomes, including 90% in Product Design). Our School offers a number of undergraduate degrees, and with £5.2 million Office for Students supported investment in the Design Building and high powered computing, we are about to launch new BSc/BA and MSc programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Creative Technologies focussing on virtual reality, augmented reality, and AI, alongside BAs in Games Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Animation and Interior Design, and MAs in Graphic Design, Interior Design and VR-AR, and MSc Product Design. 

The Role 

We are seeking an enthusiastic and engaged Professor to contribute to our vibrant undergraduate and postgraduate offers in Design, with a focus on Creative Technologies, virtual and augmented realities, AI and VFX. The majority of your work will involve leading PGR development in Design, leading and mentoring the team in research development, capacity building toward REF and growing funding capture, and in growing industry connections for research/practice informed teaching which reflects authentic creative careers, embedded in teaching in a variety of settings, including small groups and tutorials/seminars; assessment across the programmes; and the provision of pastoral and academic support to students. The successful candidate will be a collaborative colleague, who is engaged with students, utilising their research/practice across all we do.  

Key Requirements 

Candidates will have expertise in teaching an area of Design, specifically with skills in developing AR, VR, VFX and AI further at undergraduate/masters level, and significantly have the drive, interest and track record in developing postgraduate research provision and staff research culture in Design. The successful candidate will be expected to cultivate an outstanding research profile in Design, within the areas of VR-AR. Please note that we recognise approaches in applied research and practice based-research, industry-based research, patents, journalistic articles or Indigenous research and welcome applicants who have experience of these within the field or VR-AR and Creative technology design. 

It is essential that candidates hold a doctoral level qualification and have had PhD completions. 

Further Information

For informal enquiries please Professor Helen Julia Minors, the Head of the School of the Arts at h.minors.  

Please visit our Social Media profiles and research group website to learn more about our contribution:        

This role is eligible for Skilled Worker Visa sponsorship.  For further information regarding this visa route please visit Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK ().