Ad Astra Fellow - Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Children’s Digital Futures

Applications are sought for Ad Astra Fellow - Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Children’s Digital Futures within the College of Social Sciences and Law.

The UCD School of Education is seeking to appoint an Ad Astra Assistant Professor, with expertise relevant to Children’s Digital Futures, and invites applications from early career academics who can contribute significantly to developing this area within the school and broader university, through research and teaching excellence.

This role will contribute to advancing UCD’s leadership in understanding how digital technologies will shape the lives, opportunities, challenges, and societal roles of children as they grow up in increasingly interconnected, digitised environments. The position is closely aligned with the School’s leading role as a centre of excellence in research, policy and practice with children and young people, with international reach. This includes longitudinal studies of scale such as Children’s School Lives (www.cslstudy.ie) and the Growing Up in Digital Europe (GUIDE) research infrastructure, Europe’s first comparative cohort study focused on children’s wellbeing.

This post will contribute to UCD’s reputation as a leader in AI, digital technologies, and research-led teaching in the area, addressing critical interdisciplinary challenges, such as:

• Wellbeing and development of children: impact of screen time, mental health, addiction, online risks, children’s competency as ‘digital natives’;
• Education and learning: critical digital literacy, attainment, communication skills, preparedness for future digital economy and society;
• Equity and Inclusion: digital divide and inequalities based on SES, gender, ethnicity, geography etc.;
• Rights and ethics: balancing children’s participation, agency and empowerment in digital spaces;
• Sustainability: promoting sustainable digital practices.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the School of Education and Centre for the Advancement of Wellbeing in Education, and identify how their own research and teaching will complement or align with these.

95 Lecturer/Asst Professor Above the Bar (7943) Salary Scale: €62,855 - €99,533 Per Annum

Appointment will be made on scale and in accordance with the Department of Finance guidelines.

Closing date: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on the 21st February 2025. 

Applications must be submitted (via the ‘Apply’ button above) by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 12:00 noon (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.

Please note: the eRecruitment system only requests the names of two referees. The full list of 3 referees should be included in the text of your application.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CVs submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

Note: Hours of work for academic staff are those as prescribed under Public Service Agreements. For further information please follow the link; https://www.ucd.ie/hr/t4media/Academic%20Contract.pdf