Professor of Rehabilitation

A bit about the School of Health & Society…

The University of Salford has a 55 year history of changing lives and making a difference, and the School of Health & Society is at the forefront of this.

Innovative, dynamic and bold, our ethos is to ensure our students have the best possible experience based on evidence-based practice and research-informed teaching. In the recent REF (the UK’s system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions), the University of Salford has moved up 10 places to 88th in The Times/The Sunday Times League table 2023 and up 5 places to 89th in The Guardian League table 2023. We are particularly proud of the real-world impact of our research and 88% of the submitted impact case studies were rated as outstanding or very considerable in terms of reach and significance, placing us 51st in the UK for impact.

Our School of Health and Society currently organises its research through Research Centres. To give an idea of our research profile we hold ~ £7.3M in current research awards spanning ~30 current research contracts from prestigious funders including EPSRC, MRC, NIHR and major industry partners. We also lead and host the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics. Our rapid growth in recent years is reflected in the REF UoA3 results, where we were placed 20th (out of 91 institutions) in the UK for research power (from 28th in 2014), 49th on GPA (from 74th), 45th on impact (from 71st), 29th on environment (from 59th) and on market share.

The growth of our research in the area of Human Movement and Rehabilitation is being recognised  by the university through investments in new positions and in the re-shaping of the research in the school into 3 centres, including a new Centre for Human Movement and Rehabilitation. The new Centre has already benefited from a recent appointment to strengthen our health economics capabilities. We will shortly be advertising for statisticians and data scientists to support an innovative new Public, Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) programme, which will harness the voices and experiences of patients and the public to guide our research. The two new professorial level appointments being advertised here will sit in the new Centre and will be,

• Coles Medlock Professor of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology
• Professor of Rehabilitation

You can read more about our research here

https://hub.salford.ac.uk/health-and-society-research/home-page/health-sciences-research-centre/human-movement-and-rehabilitation/

Role Purpose

The School of Health and Society is looking to appoint an exceptional candidate to Professor of Rehabilitation. For this role we are seeking a candidate with strong academic, collaborative and engaging leadership ability. We welcome candidates with a background in allied health with a focus on physical rehabilitation.  

You will join a vibrant multidisciplinary community focused on a wide range of topics, including, outcome measurement, clinical trials, digital technologies to support better health behaviours and outcomes, and prosthetic and orthotic design. We adopt different research methodologies as our research priorities evolve and pride ourselves in being adaptable partners to external stakeholders.  In addition to multiple grants from NIHR, EPSRC, MRC, industry (e.g. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships) and charities, the School hosts the £5.5 million EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics and Orthotics with its partners Imperial College, University of Strathclyde and the University of Southampton. The strength of our research community was reflected in the score for our UoA3 REF 2021 environment statement (100% either world leading or internationally excellent).

In a rapidly changing world, our School is keen to leave a productive legacy of supporting people at all stages of their lives, improving physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Our School is proud of the impact of its work, including the first sector-wide open standard for motion analysis, new ways to support people with arthritis remain in the workplace, a spin-out producing neurostimulation devices, and footwear and orthotic products for clinical and retail markets. You can read more about our world leading impact here. The School is also anchored to a deep understanding of user and stakeholder needs and encourages real-world relevance. Partnerships with health care providers, industry, the voluntary sector, and other Universities, both in the UK and internationally, is a central feature of our activity.

Our research is integrated with undergraduate and postgraduate study, providing a dynamic environment for allied health and other professionals to start, grow, and excel in their careers. The University is one of the UK’s largest providers of allied health undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including prosthetics and orthotics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, and promotes research-informed teaching at all levels. 

Enterprise forms a strong part of our School portfolio and we are looking for a candidate who can support and contribute to this activity. Our work in this area focuses on several aspects including: delivery of continuous professional development, consultancy work., and turning research into innovative products and services.

With over 200 languages spoken across Greater Manchester, we want to create an inspirational, inclusive learning and working environment, celebrating the diversity of our University community in our everyday conversations.  Our student population is already incredibly diverse and we want to ensure this is reflected across our colleague profile as well.  It is important to us that we can provide a high-quality learning experience and an environment in which our students can see themselves and thrive.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for job applicants who declare they have a disability and meet the essential criteria of the job they are applying for.

We put our students first in everything we do, our colleagues help create a community and sense of belonging by having a vibrant campus and campus life that is more than just a workplace. We use agile working principles to enable colleagues to do their best work, from the right location, at the right time to meet our business needs. We are open to your ideas about how you can deliver the outputs of your role in a creative way.

However you identify, whatever your pathway has been to get here, come and join us at the University of Salford where we are all proud to belong -  watch us in action here!

Informal enquires can be made to Professor Penny Cook, Associate Dean – Research and Innovation: P.A.Cook@salford.ac.uk