Clinical Academic

Because of their links to the NHS, clinical academic terms and conditions of employment are more complicated than those of other higher education academics.

What is a clinical academic?

A clinical academic would normally:

• have a substantive academic contract of employment with an HEI
• be required, as a condition of their employment, to hold GMC or GDC registration
• and, where relevant, a licence to practise

Many clinical academics provide services and/or have patient contact with a partner NHS body. Their contract of employment for this work is called an 'honorary contract'. Sometimes the clinical academic will work with more than one NHS body and have several honorary contracts.

The Medical Sciences Divisional Office administers the HR processes for clinical academics for the following staff groups:

• Clinical Professorships in conjunction with an honorary Consultant contract with the relevant NHS Trust and in association with an Oxford College (In collaboration with the Senior Appointments Office, the Registrar’s Office and the Vice-Chancellor’s Office.)
• Associate Professorships (clinical)  in conjunction with an honorary Consultant contract with the relevant NHS Trust and in association with an Oxford College
• Clinical Lecturerships in conjunction with an honorary contract with the relevant NHS Trust
• Academic Clinical Lecturerships in conjunction with an honorary contract with the relevant NHS Trust

 The Medical Sciences Division liaises with the following NHS Trusts for its HE staff:

• The Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (incorporating the John Radcliffe Hospital, the Churchill Hospital, the Horton General Hospital and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre http://www.ouh.nhs.uk/hospitals/default.aspx
• The Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust http://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/
• NHS England (for Clinical Academic GPs and previously known as Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)) http://www.england.nhs.uk/
• Public Health England (for Public Health Academics) https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

You can access useful information on CATCH which is a Clinical Academic Training and Careers Hub. 

TITLE OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LECTURER

In order to qualify for the title of University Research Lecturer you must:

• Demonstrate substantial independent research achievements
• Be successful in obtaining research grants independently
• Undertake teaching
• Demonstrate a sustained and continuing contribution to the general work of the Medical Sciences Division over the last 3 years

Please note that it has been decided not to run the exercise for the title of University Research Lecturer in 2021, and to remove the Grade 9 bar for the AP title.

The eligibility criteria for applying for the title of University Research Lecturer are as follow:

Criterion 1

The applicant must demonstrate substantial independent research achievements.  Applicants should:

 i)   Provide full details of all publications during their academic career.

 ii)   Demonstrate the quality of their contributions in their chosen research field by giving details of the 5 most significant publications whilst working for, or in association, with the University of Oxford, and explain their individual contribution to these 5 publications, eg., senior authorship, major contribution to an important aspect of the paper eg statistical analysis, structural biology etc. We would expect most of this to be recent publications i.e. within the last 5 years. 

Criterion 2

The applicant must have been successful in obtaining research grants independently.  Applicants should:

i)   Give full details of all successful grant applications that the individual has made.

ii)   Give a list of all applicants who have contributed to each grant and clearly state their own role in each application (e.g. Principal Investigator) and who the Principal Investigator is if the applicant is not the Principal Investigator

Criterion 3

 The title ‘lecturer’ requires that some teaching is undertaken. However, references to teaching need not merely relate to undergraduate teaching. A distinguished researcher would usually have some responsibility for graduate supervision.  Applicants should demonstrate how they meet this criterion by:

i)   Full details of all teaching (please details of date, number of session, course name, etc).

ii)  Full details and numbers of all graduate students whom they have formally supervised, including dates when this work took place and level of student (Eg: MSc, DPhil).              

Criterion 4

The applicant must have worked for the University of Oxford for at least 3 years and be able to demonstrate a sustained and continuing contribution to the general work of the Medical Sciences Division over the last 3 years.  Applicants should provide evidence that they have met this criterion by:

i)   Describing any role that they have played in the life of their department, the Division or the University by, for example, serving on relevant committees, examining, assessing, mentoring or contributing to the organisation of seminars or other scientific events over the last 3 years.

ii)  Describing any marks of esteem that they have achieved.  These might include, for example, being asked to deliver external lectures, participating in the editorial boards of academic journals etc. 

Further information can be found on the University web pages.

If your University card was issued by the Medical Sciences Divisional Office, please email Ingunn Haugen with your date of birth and current University Card barcode and expiry date of your current card and we will arrange for a new University card.

If your University card was issued by your department, please contact your departmental administrator.

Divisional Office Staff: you should contact your line manager in the first instance, who may refer you to the divisional HR team for questions regarding the administration of your appointment, or to the relevant team (e.g. IT, Safety, supplies).

Academic Staff (Associate Professors, Readers): you should contact the divisional HR team who administers all aspects of your appointment, including payroll and leave arrangements. Your College association is a separate appointment and they are a separate employer, so you should direct any queries to the Senior Tutor (or equivalent) in the first instance.

For any other queries (for instance practical issues regarding office and/or lab space, supplies, IT) you should contact your departmental administrator in the first instance, who may refer you to the departmental HR team.

Full professorships: you should contact the divisional HR team in the first instance (for queries regarding your appointment, e.g. payroll and leave arrangements). Recruitment to statutory posts are administered by the Senior Appointments Office, but once in post, the Professorial appointment is administered by the divisional office or the department. As for academic staff, you should contact your departmental administrator for queries regarding day-to-day issues within the department, and your college regarding any issues to do with your fellowship.

Titular Professorships: you should contact the divisional HR team (if an academic appointment) or your departmental administrator (if a departmental appointment). Your post, duties or salary do not change upon conferral of the title of full professor - it is simply a means of recognising an associate professor’s academic distinction. However, Council introduced a permanent additional salary payment of £2,600 per annum from October 2014 to all of those in the main lecturer grades who have met the criteria for the conferment of the title of (full) professor, unless they already receive additional recruitment or retention payments at that level or above).

Departmental Staff not classified as academic: you should contact your departmental administrator in the first instance, who may refer you to the departmental HR team for queries regarding your appointment.

Further information can be found on the University web pages.

The payroll is run on a monthly basis, with payments made to individuals on the last but one working day of the month. Payment is made by electronic BACS transfer directly into individuals' bank accounts.

Everyone on the University payroll due a payment will receive a payslip advising them of pay, deductions, and net pay for the month.

After the end of each tax year (tax years run from April 6th every year) individuals with an active record on the payroll will also receive a P60 certificate (no later than 31 May of the new tax year) which is an annual certificate of taxable pay, tax and NI deductions. This document should be retained as evidence should you be required to complete a personal tax return.

Main Payroll deadline dates

The Payroll cut-off dates can be found here

Casual payments deadline dates

Casual payments forms should be submitted to the divisional office by the 1st of each month.

Main Salary and grading structure

Oxford University operates a main salary and grading structure based on a National Pay Spine.

Salaries are uplifted in line with national agreements on an annual basis (the 'cost of living allowance' or COLA),  normally in August. Staff salary scales are normally reviewed with effect from 1 August of each year in response to nationally agreed salary settlements, where these are approved by Council for implementation at Oxford.

Oxford is accredited as a living wage employer. The bottom points of the pay scale are therefore reviewed annually in line with the increase in the living wage.

The salary scales for academic, non-academic and academic-related staff can be found on the Finance Division's Salary Scales webpages.

 If you have any questions about your salary, please contact your line manager or a member of our HR team in the first instance.

Opening a bank account

Choosing and applying for a bank account

Once you’ve decided on the account you want to open, the bank or building society will ask you to fill in a simple application form. Someone at the bank should be able to help you with this if you need them to.

Credit and identity checks

The bank will tell you first if it’s going to run a credit check to discover your credit history. This will tell them, for example, whether you’ve had problems keeping to loan or other credit repayments in the past.

By law, all banks must ask you to provide proof of your identity and address, which could mean showing a passport, driving licence or letter from a government department together with a recent utility bill. Most banks will give you a list of the documents they will accept.

If you don’t have the exact documents the bank asks for, don’t worry – talk to someone at the bank and they will tell you what alternative letters or documents you can provide.

Switching bank accounts

Banks and building societies all now offer a free seven-day Current Account Switch Service. It’s backed by a guarantee that means you’ll be refunded any interest and charges on your old and new accounts if anything goes wrong.

Here’s how the switching service works:

• Once you’ve chosen a new account, the new bank or building society will ask you to fill in two forms: a current account switch agreement and an instruction to close your old account
• You pick a date when you want the switch to happen. This has to be at least seven working days after your new account is opened
• Your new bank will arrange for all your incoming and outgoing payments to be moved to your new account
• You can carry on using your old account up until the day of the switch. Your old account will then be closed
• Any payments accidentally made to your old account will be redirected to your new account for 36 months, so there’s no need to worry about missing payments

Closing your bank account

You can close most bank accounts whenever you like without being charged or paying a penalty – although, if you’re overdrawn you’ll have to pay off what you owe.

If your bank imposes a penalty for closing an account – such as a savings account before a specific date – it must have made this clear to you before you opened the account.

If you close your account, make sure Direct Debits or other payments are transferred properly to your new account. If you’re switching your current account to another provider, your new bank or building society will arrange for your payments to be transferred and the process will take seven working days.

If your bank decides to close your account

If your bank decides to close your current or instant access savings account, you will generally be given two months’ notice.

For other accounts, it must give you ‘reasonable notice’, so that you can make alternative arrangements. The bank can delay the closure if you have made payments that have not yet been taken from your account, for example a cheque or card payment.

Your bank or building society should not close your account just because you make a complaint or a claim for compensation against it.

If things go wrong

If you are unhappy about something your bank has done, the first thing to do is to talk to someone at the bank about it.

National Insurance (NI) number

For general information, including how to find your National Insurance (NI) number, please see the HM Revenue & Customs website (GOV.UK) on

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/your-national-insurance-number

or if you are new to the UK and need to apply for a NI number, please see

https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

Evidence of right to work

The University has a legal responsibility to ensure that all its employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, if you are made an offer of employment, this will be subject to the University verifying that you are eligible to work in the UK before you start work.

Your HR officer can advise you on right to work, or alternatively and for further information visit  the Staff Immigration Team's website on

http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/personnel/permits/

Retirement

Retirement is when an employee leaves work to take their pension.  Employees may choose to retire, in accordance with the Rules of the pension scheme to which they belong, or, in certain circumstances, the University may request them to retire, in accordance with university policy.

For more information see the UAS Personnel Services guidance.

Academic staff

Academic members of staff must write to the Secretary to the Medical Sciences Division and their Head of Department, to inform them of their intention to resign.

The appropriate period of notice (as specified in the contract of employment) must be followed.  For academic staff this would usually

(a) be at least three months and

(b) include one complete Full Term.

The conditions under which the University may in certain circumstances terminate an appointment are laid down in Statute XII of the Statutes of the University. Separate procedures are involved in respect of the college appointment. The college may make available to the University any relevant information arising from such college procedures.

Academic – Related and Support Staff

A member of staff may terminate his or her appointment (i.e. resign) at any time, subject to the agreed period of notice. 

Notice to terminate (resignation) should be given to the line manager and HR in writing.

The period of notice which the member of staff is obliged to give to terminate their appointment is laid down in their letter of appointment (contract).

The Oxon MA status is usually conferred to someone who is a member of a governing body in the University or Colleges. Or, if a person has an MA from Cambridge or Trinity, Dublin, then they can apply to have their MA incorporated into Oxford. There is some administration associated with this and college support (from the Oxford ‘sister college’) is needed. Please contact the University Card Office in the first instance.

Accommodation

If you are moving to Oxford and need to find somewhere to live, you can contact the accommodation office who have a list of private and university accommodation options (please note that university accommodations have a number of eligibility criteria) http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/accommodation/ .

If you are coming to the University as a student, your college will be able to help you.

You can also check the Daily Info website http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/oxford-accommodation and the University Gazette https://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/ .

Trade unions

There are three recognised trade unions at the University:

UCU (University and Colleges Union)

UCU is the largest trade union and professional association for academics, lecturers, trainers, researchers and academic-related staff working in further and higher education throughout the UK. it was formed in 2006 by the amalgamation of the Association of University Teachers and NATFHE - The University  and College Lecturers' Union.

• University of Oxford branch
• National website

Unite

Unite is Britain's biggest union, formed by a merger between the T&G and Amicus, and has two million members in every type of workplace. At Oxford it represents clerical and technical staff.

• University of Oxford branch
• National website

UNISON

UNISON is Britain and Europe's biggest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members. At Oxford it represents manual and ancillary staff and craft trades.

• University of Oxford branch
• National website