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Job opportunity: Part-time Research Assistant, Universities sending Languages Ambassadors to schools project

Research Assistant

Project: Universities sending Languages Ambassadors to schools

Closing date: 17:00 on Tuesday 6 October 2026

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Thanks to generous support from the Council for the Defence of British Universities (CDBU), The Languages Gateway is seeking to appoint a part-time Research Assistant for its ‘Universities sending Languages Ambassadors to schools’ project.

The Research Assistant will be hosted by The Languages Gateway (TLG) and supervised by the chair of the TLG working group on ambassadors (Prof. Neil Kenny) and the chair of the TLG editorial group (Dr Charlotte Ryland). Neil Kenny is a Fellow of the British Academy and former Lead Fellow for Languages at the BA. Charlotte Ryland is Founding Director of the Translation Exchange, based at the University of Oxford.

The Research Assistant will also liaise with the TLG project manager (Philip Harding-Esch), the Research Assistant on the TLG Collaborating for Change project (Dr Liam Johnston-McCondach), and a web developer.

Background

University education in modern languages is becoming less accessible to prospective applicants in general, and to disadvantaged ones in particular, because of the closure of numerous UK university modern languages departments and programmes, which has created regional cold spots in provision.

A major cause is the longstanding downturn in the uptake of languages in schools. Universities themselves have the potential to help increase the uptake of languages in schools, by sending trained ambassadors or mentors (especially undergraduates) to schools to advocate for languages, either in person or online. Some universities already do this. However, the overall languages outreach and advocacy capacity of universities has itself shrunk because of cuts. And schools in cold spots, where there is little or no HEI (Higher Education Institution) languages provision, are now deprived of languages outreach from local universities. There is untapped potential for universities to do more effective advocacy by joining forces. With this new project, The Languages Gateway is working to help realise that potential.

Aim

The aim of this project is to establish a UK-wide network of universities collaborating with each other to send student ambassadors to schools, in order to advocate for pupils to (a) choose languages at school; (b) consider applying to study languages at university.

The Research Assistant will play a key role in researching and implementing Phase 2 of this project. Phase 1, which has been completed, consisted of preparatory work conducted by volunteers: the preparation of a draft toolkit of curated resources for languages ambassadors to use, so that HEIs do not have to reinvent the wheel; and a survey questionnaire that has identified interested HEIs.

Post

The post is available from 2 November 2026, and will continue until 30 June 2027. It will be paid in the form of an honorarium totalling £7,500, in four instalments (after two, four, six, and eight months). We suggest that the postholder works

  • 4 days (i.e. 30 hours) per month for the first 2 months, and then
  • 6.5 days (i.e. 48.75 hours) per month for the next 6 months

But alternative working patterns might be possible to fit with existing commitments. Interested candidates are invited to consult Dr Charlotte Ryland and/or Prof. Neil Kenny (charlotte.ryland@queens.ox.ac.uk; neil.kenny@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk).

Detailed aims and outcomes

The project will

i. bring together a group of universities that want to initiate or improve languages ambassador schemes;

ii. facilitate specific collaborations between groups of universities, so they can pool their ambassador-scheme efforts and target them better, with a focus on cold spots and disadvantaged pupils;

iii. provide training to those universities in how to initiate and run an effective languages ambassador scheme;

iv. provide a toolkit of curated resources for languages ambassadors to use, so that HEIs do not have to contemplate reinventing the wheel;

v. collaborate with a web developer to upload that toolkit to the TLG website;

vi. help the HEIs align their languages-ambassador offer with demand in schools (locally in the case of in-person schemes, nationally in the case of online ones);

vii. produce a data-rich report on the role of university-led ambassador schemes in the UK languages advocacy landscape.

Post’s duties

The post’s duties will include

  • preparing a list of languages outreach contacts in all UK HEIs (using partial lists that already exist), and putting the list in an easily updatable and customisable form;
  • doing research from publicly available sources to align the existing expressions of interest from HEIs (cf. survey above) with other HEIs and with cold spots;
  • convening and facilitating online meetings and training sessions for interested HEIs. The sessions themselves will be led by volunteers;
  • providing to the relevant HEIs information that will help them align their offer with interested schools;
  • getting the existing draft languages ambassador toolkit (see above) finalised; liaising with others (including the ‘Collaborating for Change’ project) to upload it to a WordPress website connected to TLG (currently in development);
  • liaising with others to set up a core action on the TLG portal, ie. ‘Click here if you want an ambassador to come to your school’;
  • preparing a final data-rich report for the funder.

The post is suitable for a graduate student or postdoc who would be able to conduct this work alongside teaching, research or other administrative type roles. This will provide a very good opportunity for an Early Career Academic to learn more about HE languages outreach and advocacy, and about the project’s partner organisations.

Applicants should have a strong interest in advocacy and outreach for languages, and ideally expertise and experience in languages; fluent English, with good drafting skills; strong interpersonal skills; and the ability to respond quickly and efficiently to queries. Technical skills related to website content management would be an advantage, though support will be provided.

Research Assistant Application form

Please send your application on the form below to Neil Kenny (neil.kenny@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk) by 17:00 on Tuesday 6 October 2026. Please also attach a one-page CV detailing your qualifications and relevant experience (if any).

  1. Your name: ................................................................
  2. Your current university affiliation (if any): ................................................
  3. Your email address: ................................................................
  4. Name & email address of one referee: ................................................................

Below please give your reasons for applying for this post and show how you match the role requirements, including any relevant experience (max. 500 words)

About The Languages Gateway

The Languages Gateway (TLG) is the UK’s new portal for languages, launched with funding from the British Academy and now supported by organisations across the sector. It is a portal for, and on behalf of, everyone engaged in the sector; a collaborative venture through which we can facilitate access to information, and communicate a clear narrative to prospective and future linguists. It is a gateway to opportunities, resources and information about the wider field of languages, and how they link to an understanding and appreciation of cultures and societies. The Languages Gateway is a key element in a new strategic approach for languages, in both educational and professional contexts, formal and informal.