Associate Lecturer - Cognition

Birkbeck, University of London - School of Psychological Sciences

Birkbeck, University of London, is looking to recruit a part-time, fixed-term Associate Lecturer to teach this summer 2026.

Joining the School of Psychological Sciences, you would teach on the following module:

• SCPS179H5 Cognition, level 5.
• 30 hours of teaching.
• Wednesday afternoons 2-5pm and evenings 6-9pm, Term 2.

Your role will be to deliver teaching to Birkbeck students, in order to enable them to complete their studies successfully, and to undertake all related course administrative duties as required.

Your main responsibility will be preparation, teaching, administration and assessment of the Cognition module, which is a Level 5 Compulsory module offered as part of our BPS-accredited BSc Psychology programme.

The module provides a deeper introduction into the cognitive psychology of thinking and reasoning. More specifically, it introduces students to the conceptual tools required to understand the research literature on argument, judgment, and decision-making. This includes the formal tools of decision theory. It also includes the computational metaphor underpinning cognitive science, and how the history of cognitive science has shaped the development of current AI systems such as Chat GPT.

The module is delivered on Wednesday afternoons, 2-5pm and evenings, 6pm – 9pm in the Spring term (April to July). As an Associate Lecturer, you will be working closely with the module convenors to organise, deliver and assess the module (Assessment may take place after the teaching has ended).

Further to the person specification, essential requirements for this role are:

• Experience of lecturing to groups of up to 120 students.
• MSc in Psychology or a related area (required); PhD preferred.

Please refer to the person specification (available on the university's website, accessed by the 'Apply' button) for further selection criteria.

If you have knowledge in this area, and you are an excellent and innovative teacher with a track record of student engagement, and want to contribute to an impactful educational experience - apply with us at Birkbeck today.

Remuneration: Payment is based on an hourly rate depending on length of continuous service with the College (starting rate £69.68 per hour inclusive of pro-rata London allowance and holiday pay) for contact hours worked.

This hourly rate is based on the starting point of Grade 7 and is inclusive of a ‘Duties Related to Teaching Multiplier’ at 2.5, which covers preparation, teaching, administration, assessment marking and other examining duties in connection with the course.

Contract: Fixed-term, April to July 2026, part-time contract. Please submit a CV and statement for consideration. Closing date: Sunday, 15 February 2026, interview date: Tuesday, 3 March 2026.

Enquiries: If you would like to know more about the role, please contact Ulrike Hahn, module convenor at u.hahn@bbk.ac.uk.

If you have difficulty using the recruitment portal, please contact jobs@bbk.ac.uk providing your name and the job reference number of the position. While we are happy to respond to all informal enquiries, only formal applications through the online system will be considered.