Salary: Grade 7 (£35,333 - £42,155 p.a. depending on experience) 

This role will be based on the university campus, Horizons Institute / LEEDS 2023 Offices, with scope for it to be undertaken in a hybrid manner.   We are also open to discussing flexible working arrangements.

Are you a creative and inspirational individual with a passion for the intersection between research, co-production with local communities, and the arts? Are you an effective communicator with an ability to work collaboratively with others? Do you have highly developed research skills with experience of evaluating the impact of arts engagement with local communities, using both qualitative and quantitative methods?

The University of Leeds is one of the top 135 universities in the world.  We have a truly global community, with more than 39,000 students from 170 different countries and over 9,000 staff of 100 different nationalities.  Established in 1904, we have a strong tradition of academic excellence, reflected in first-class student education, along with world-leading research that has a real impact around the globe. 

Leeds is planning a transformational year for 2023. A ground-breaking, 12-month-long cultural celebration of this extraordinary city is being developed. Working alongside local, national, and international artists and communities, LEEDS 2023 will be for Leeds, with Leeds and inspired by Leeds. It’s an explosion of colour, noise and brilliance that will show the world in our city and our city in the world. 

LEEDS 2023 aims for 75% of Leeds households to be involved in the events, and its My Leeds 2023 programme of activity aims to empower local communities through partnership and community working. As part of My Leeds 2023, 33 Neighbourhood Hosts will undertake a 14-month training and development scheme. Through workshops and masterclasses, mentorship, and a live project, Neighbourhood Hosts will grow their skills and capacity to support their local community and produce hyper-local cultural activity. As part of the project, Neighbourhood Hosts will collaboratively design and implement a community grants scheme and produce cultural events that activate every ward in the city. 

My Leeds 2023 Neighbourhood Hosts scheme builds on activity, networks and learning developed through a previous LEEDS 2023 project My World, My City, My Neighbourhood, which commissioned 23 artists to explore ideas and ways of working post-COVID to enrich the creative voice within the heart of Leeds communities. Selected artists were based in and from different communities across the city and were representative of its cultural diversity and its 170 languages. 

University of Leeds’ Horizons Institute— a shared platform for tackling global challenges by connecting interdisciplinary research with communities, non-government agencies (NGOs) and charities, local authorities, policymakers, businesses and the public. — is working with LEEDS 2023 to bring researchers and research ideas into dialogue with the artists and the communities they are working with, with a particular focus on how co-production and participation works in these contexts, the challenges inherent to these methodologies and the impact they might have on future decision-making processes in the city, including policy making, beyond the year 2023. 

Following a Horizons Institute evaluation of the MWMCMN project, we are looking for a postdoctoral researcher, with experience of evaluating co-production and participative approaches in arts settings, to undertake a longitudinal evaluation of the My Leeds 2023 Neighbourhood Hosts scheme, and a portfolio of other core My Leeds 2023 activities focused on co-production with communities, over the course of a year. Working closely with the LEEDS 2023 team, you will interview Neighbourhood Hosts and other participants from the different communities engaged with LEEDS 2023 projects identified throughout the scheme, evaluate the different co-creation processes employed, and produce a report with case studies and recommendations, including on what these approaches might mean for LEEDS 2023 legacy in the city from 2024 onwards. In addition, you will advise and guide The Horizons Institute team on ‘what works’ in collaborations with local partners in order to help shape the Institute’s ongoing public engagement programme.

This fixed-term post will give you the opportunity to be part of an exciting collaboration with a large city-based arts organisation, working with local communities, and exploring the ways in which research can impact directly. Co-located with LEEDS 2023, you will gain experience of working closely with external partners focussed on delivering public engagement activities.

What we offer in return

•    26 days holiday plus 16 Bank Holidays/days that the University is closed by custom (including Christmas) – that’s 42 days a year!

•    Generous pension scheme plus life assurance– the University contributes 21.6% of salary

•    Health and Wellbeing: Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art Campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.

•    Personal Development: Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team, and self-development courses including languages, Creative Writing, Wellbeing Therapies and much more.

•    Access to on-site childcare, shopping discounts and travel schemes are also available.

And much more!  

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Professor Stuart Taberner, Director, Horizons Institute.  

Email: [email protected]