Joint Membership Between Institutes

1. Introduction

• The policy for joint membership between institutes provides academic staff with the mechanism to apply for joint membership of two Institutes, including Research Institutes (Infection and Immunity, Cardiovascular and Genomics, Neuroscience and Cell Biology or Population Health), and the Institute of Medical, Biomedical and Allied Health Education (IMBAE).
• The policy and procedure are outlined below. Each year, St George’s, University of London invites academic staff to apply for joint membership between Institutes in order to better recognise the split of their academic activities.
• Applications are now invited for the 2024 application round. The application form is available in Appendix 1 of the policy (Word) (a short, 2-page CV should also be attached).
• Completed applications should be sent to James Bowden (jbowden@sgul.ac.uk), Louise Hermann (lhermann@sgul.ac.uk) and Krystal Francis (kfrancis@sgul.ac.uk), HR Business Partners by Friday 29 March 2024.
• The next application round will take place in early 2025.

2. Timetable

The table below sets out the timetable for the 2024 joint membership between institutes application process:

3. Policy on joint membership between institutes

• St George's recognises that academic staff (Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Readers and Professors) can have varied responsibilities regarding Research, Teaching and Scholarly activity and Administration.
• Research activity is concentrated in the Research Institutes (Infection and Immunity, Cardiovascular & Genomics, Neuroscience & Cell Biology and Population Health), and Research Institute academics perform both research and teaching.
• Teaching and education activity is concentrated in the Institute of Medical, Biomedical and Allied Health Education (IMBAE), and IMBAE academics perform both teaching and research.
• Non-membership of a Research Institute does not preclude staff from research activity but means that a significant responsibility for research is not part of their job description.
• A proportion of academic staff in IMBAE, who are not members of a Research Institute, are research active but are not formally recognised to have a significant responsibility for research, although they have research resources, outputs and expectations which indicate a significant contribution to research. These staff will be eligible for Joint Membership between Institutes.
• IMBAE staff who wish research to form part of their formal job expectations have the opportunity to apply for Joint Membership between Institutes and hold Joint Membership with IMBAE and the relevant Research Institute.
• Research Institute staff who wish education to form a substantial part of their formal job expectations (all research staff are expected to be involved in teaching activities) have the opportunity to apply for Joint Membership between Institutes and hold Joint Membership with the relevant Research Institute and IMBAE.
• The process will be announced annually by the central Human Resources (HR) function.
• It will be an opportunity to review the individual’s academic workload distribution, resources available for research and teaching and agree expectations.
• There will be an appeals process.
• ·The overall process will be reviewed annually for impact on equality, diversity and inclusion.

 4. Procedure for joint membership between Institutes

• There will be an annual call for applicants that wish to apply for Joint Membership between Institutes.
• Eligible staff will be Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Readers and Professors with an academic contract with St George’s, University of London.
• Staff should discuss expectations during their Personal Development Review with their line manager and/or with their current Institute Director within a year of applying.
• Staff should apply using the relevant form, given as appendix 1 and submit it to HR before the deadline.
• The HR Business Partners will oversee and coordinate the application and selection process, receive applications, coordinate the selection panel, and advise the panel on legislation and policy.
• The selection panel members will be the Institute Directors of both relevant Institutes. They will be overseen and advised by the HR Business Partners, as required.
• Eligibility and assessment criteria for Research Institute membership:
  • A track-record of research as reflected in high quality publications and active involvement in original and recent research that is of a high standard;
  • Holding substantial research funding will be viewed favourably.
• Eligibility and assessment criteria for IMBAE membership:
  • A track-record of recent, active involvement in education that is of a high standard, as reflected in good student, peer, course director and external examiner feedback;
  • Recent involvement in curriculum design, innovative pedagogy and educational research, scholarship and leadership will be viewed favourably.
• Where these criteria are found to be satisfied, a meeting between the applicant’s current Institute Director and the relevant joint Institute Director, or their representatives, will be arranged to:
  • Confirm eligibility and appropriateness of Joint Membership at this stage of career.
  • Agree a formal workload distribution and percentage of academic time to be contributed to each Institute.
  • Formally identify how any teaching commitments will be covered on a case-by-case basis.
  • Identify research and teaching objectives and how they will be evaluated.
  • Confirm how and when the joint membership will be reviewed (usually 3 years).
  • Confirm any additional support to be provided, such as mentoring, training and/or research resources.
  • The agreement of both Institute Directors, is required.
• Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application and, if successful, will meet with the relevant Institute Directors to obtain feedback and confirm the logistics of their joint membership.
• Successful applicants will become joint Institute members but, for administrative purposes, will continue to have a “home” Institute, usually their original Institute at the time of application.
• Unsuccessful applicants will be offered feedback on their application.
• Applicants who wish to appeal a decision on Joint Membership between Institutes should submit their case in writing, within 5 working days of being informed of the original outcome, to your HR Business Partner, who will oversee and coordinate the appeals process.
• The appeals process will be organised in confidence by HR, who will have an advisory role on the panel. The appeals panel members will be the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) and the Research Director for Cross Cutting Themes.
• Data on the process of application, selection and appeals will be collected and reviewed annually to identify any improvement measures. The Director of HR&OD will conduct the review and report to the Research Committee.
• The policy and procedure will be reviewed 3 years from policy approval date (next review April 2025).

Appendix 1: Application Form for Joint Membership Between Institutes

• Please download the full policy (Word) for the application form.