Early Career Researcher Noticeboard

Supporting students with disabilities

We are pleased to invite applications from Doctoral students for a paid developmental opportunity to work in partnership with the Early Career Researcher Institute (ECRI) and colleagues from Imperial’s Disability Advisory Service (DAS). Two positions are available.

This role will contribute to the development of enhanced support for PhD students with disabilities and inform ongoing efforts to improve research culture and inclusivity across our community.

The Role 

This exciting developmental opportunity will give you the chance to conduct a desk-based review of the support available across Faculties and departments, working closely with colleagues from DAS and ECRI.

Following the review, you will synthesise findings into clear, practical guidance and produce a report detailing the work and outcomes. The outputs will be published on the ECRI website and disseminated through ECRI communication channels, including newsletters, the PGR bulletin, targeted emails to Directors of Postgraduate Studies and PGR administrative teams, and inclusion in the PGR handbook and induction materials.

Key Focus Areas

While not limited to the points below, the project will aim to:

• Raise awareness of the spectrum of support available to disabled PGR students at Imperial
• Improve communication between supervisors, line managers, principal investigators (PIs), and early career researchers to promote disability-affirming practice
• Identify practical approaches to improving the experience of disabled Doctoral students at Imperial
• Improve the visibility, dissemination, and awareness of available support among both students and staff
• To explore whether establishing a Disabled PGR Network would offer meaningful value to the Doctoral postgraduate community P

Appointment Details

• Duration: 8 weeks (excluding Easter university closure days)
  • Start date: 23 March 2026
  • End date: 29 May 2026

• Hours: Approximately 4 hours per week
• Pay: £22.44 per hour (standard rate)
• Working pattern: Flexible, with discretion over when, where, and how work is completed.
• Supervision: Bethan Ritchie, Manager of ECRI Administration
• Additional support: Guidance available from members of EDIC and the Disability Advisory Service as required. Further support from Dr Paul Seldon, Senior Teaching Fellow, ECRI.

How to Apply 

To apply, please complete the online application form.

We welcome applications from all Doctoral students at Imperial and particularly encourage applications from those with lived or first-hand experience of disability.

• Application deadline: Friday 6 March 2026

For any additional queries, please contact Bethan Ritchie, Manager of ECRI Administration.

 

Read Development Opportunity with ECRI – Student Programme Partner supporting students with disabilities (deadline: 06 March) in full

The Research Computing and Data Science team are in the process of commissioning and collating a series of exemplar programming projects known as ReCoDE. These projects are designed to demonstrate good programming practice in research to help other students learn by example and include extensive annotation to explain their function and the design choices made.

We generally welcome any submission, but we are looking to commission a particular submission in the form of a LaTeX template for an Imperial doctoral thesis. This template should match all of Imperial’s thesis requirements and should not be overly complicated, such that a relatively inexperienced LaTeX user would have the background to understand it. The basic skeleton of the thesis and the formatting required to meet Imperial’s requirements should be the focus, but other useful pieces of LaTeX may also be demonstrated.  This template does not need extensive research content, but could include some if it helps to demonstrate the formatting tools used.

If you are interested in working on this exemplar, more information on contributing can be found here. Click on the “Pitch an exemplar here” button at the bottom of that page to submit a proposal. The next round of exemplars will be selected in the autumn, and we will review all proposals before reaching out to selected applicants to complete the exemplar over three months in the autumn term.

Authors of exemplar are paid as GTAs (or Casual Workers) for 45 hours of work at a rate of £35.78/hour, including holiday pay.

Read GTA Opportunity – Paid LaTeX development opportunity in full