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As part of its commitment to providing opportunities for research students to gain teaching experience in the course of their doctoral studies...
As part of its commitment to providing opportunities for research students to gain teaching experience in the course of their doctoral studies, the History of Art Department offers a number of Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PGTA) positions each year, in various subject areas covered by the Department at undergraduate level. The Postgraduate Teaching Scheme is designed to enable research students to contribute to teaching and marking/assessment activities within the Department, within a structure that also offers training and support. The Scheme is convened by the Director of Studies.
Application procedure
Research students should apply for the Postgraduate Teaching Scheme via an application form, which will be made available in due course. You will be required to write a personal statement on your potential contribution to teaching in the Department and to obtain a recommendation from your supervisor. The annual deadline will be specified on the application form. You will need to ensure that all sections of the form (including the supervisor recommendation) are completed by this deadline. Please email the completed form to the Graduate Student and Events Administrator Lauren Sperring l.sperring@ucl.ac.uk by the deadline and also submit a hard, signed copy to the Departmental Office.
Eligibility criteria
• PGTA roles are normally only available to existing research students registered in the History of Art Department, in another UCL Department, or in another institution in London where History of Art is taught (Warburg, Courtauld etc.).
• Students entering into the final year of research or those in their ‘CRS’ year are eligible to apply, but priority will be given to students entering into the second year of full-time research (or the part-time equivalent) and/or those with no prior teaching experience in the Department.
• All UCL applicants must attend an initial training workshop on teaching opportunities in the Department before applying; current research students will be notified of the date for this workshop in advance by e-mail.
• If your application is successful, you will also be required to attend two additional training workshops in September (induction) and November (marking, assessment and feedback).
• You need to be on track with your doctoral research and to obtain your supervisor’s approval. Although the result of your upgrade may be pending at the time of application, your supervisor will be asked to comment on your progress toward the upgrade.
Contracts and pay
The contracted hours for each module are determined by the Departmental Teaching Committee as published in the job advertisement. Some modules have an examination component in the summer term, so availability for marking will be important. Payment is made at grade 6 point 21 (which in 2018/19 was £15.01 per hour) and PGTAs receive payment for their contracted hours split evenly over the months of the contract. If teaching at UCL is your second job or one of several jobs, you may be taxed at Basic Rate (especially if you take it on as a second job while already employed elsewhere).
Training and mentoring
Prospective PGTAs from UCL will need to enrol on the initial workshop at 1-2pm on Tuesday 12 March in Seminar Room 2 on teaching opportunities in the Department, prior to submitting an application. Successful applicants will also be expected to attend an induction session before they start teaching (normally late September each year), at which they will be issued with a comprehensive PGTA Handbook, as well as a session on marking, assessment and feedback (normally in November).
PGTAs will also have the opportunity to participate in UCL’s Peer Dialogue Scheme, which will normally take the form of a paired teaching observation with another PGTA. Each PGTA will be assigned a marking mentor (normally the module organiser) during the time they are employed by the Department.
Any questions?
If you have any queries about the Scheme or the application process, please direct them to the Director of Studies: Jacob Paskins in spring term 2019; Bob Mills in summer term 2019.