The BPA invites applicants for the following, part-time post. Deadline: Friday 30th October 2026.
Category: Uncategorized
The BPA is delighted to launch a set of resources for early career philosophers – these include custom-made tip sheets, recorded panel discussions, and sample job and postdoc application materials, as well as other guidance and resources. We hope these are helpful to those considering or pursuing careers in academic philosophy. Do share them widely!
We offer specific guidance on grants and fellowships, academic writing and publishing, hitting the job market, interviews and presentations, starting your first permanent job, mental health challenges in academic philosophy. For each, we offer a tip sheet and a recorded panel discussion with leading philosophers.
We also include some sample job and postdoc application materials to offer examples for those writing their own.
The British Philosophical Association promotes the study and teaching of philosophy in the UK. We’d like to encourage colleagues to join as individual members.
Our current activities include:
- A new campaign, #PhilosophyMatters, on the role and importance of philosophy. British Philosophy Fortnight will launch in Parliament in March next year.
- Creating resources to support early career philosophers.
- Research to understand how we can improve equality, diversity and inclusion in philosophy, coordinated and jointly funded with 16 other philosophy societies in the UK.
- Supporting and advocating for philosophy departments under threat of closure or redundancies.
The BPA focuses mainly on higher education, and our membership is open to everyone who is competent to teach or pursue research in philosophy. We also work with many other organisations, including:
- SAPERE, the national charity for Philosophy for Children.
- The Association of Philosophy Teachers, who focus on philosophy in schools. With the APT, we are working to develop offerings for A-level and possibly GCSE philosophy.
- The British Postgraduate Philosophy Association.
- The Royal Institute of Philosophy, which focuses on broader public understanding of philosophy.
- The British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Alliance, to campaign for the broader importance of the humanities.
In case you are not already an individual member, please consider joining, even if your department is already an institutional member of the BPA. Membership helps to fund the activities above, crucial for the health of UK philosophy. In return, individual members receive:
- direct emails about matters of importance to UK philosophy,
- voting rights in BPA elections and annual meetings.
During 2023 and 2024 the BPA commissioned a report on EDI issues in Philosophy (in Universities and Schools). This was prepared by The Eleanor Glanville Institute at the University of Lincoln and was funded by the academic community. The full report and supporting materials are now available:
- Report: EGI-BPA final report Oct24
- Supplementary Materials: EGI-BPA Supplementary materials Oct24
- Mapping: EGI-BPA mapping review FINAL_Oc24
- Presentation of findings, December 2024: BPA philosophy launch 4Dec
The BPA is currently consulting with other philosophy societies which have supported this research, as well as with member departments and individuals. We would be very glad to receive views on the reports so far, including suggestions as to future research and practical activities to address the issues raised. To submit suggestions or to receive information about future developments, please email us at admin@bpa.ac.uk.
This research has been funded by a broad consortium of UK philosophy societies
We are very grateful to:
- Mind Association
- Royal Institute of Philosophy
- Society for Applied Philosophy
- Analysis Trust
- British Society of Aesthetics
- British Society for the History of Philosophy
- British Society for Phenomenology
- Scots Philosophical Association
- Aristotelian Society
- British Society for Ethical Theory
- Society for Women in Philosophy
- British Society for the Philosophy of Science
- Society for European Philosophy
- UK Kant Society
- British Logic Colloquium
- Hegel Society of Great Britain
- Marx and Philosophy Society
- British Society for the Philosophy of Religion
Thank you to everyone who voted in the recent BPA Exec election and to those who stood. We are pleased to announce that the following six people will serve on the BPA Exec. Committee for a three year term from 1st September:
Derek Brown (Glasgow)
Sophie-Grace Chappell (Open)
Josh Forstenzer (Sheffield)
Rosanna Keefe (Sheffield)
Ian Kidd (Nottingham)
Fiona Wollard (Southampton)
UKRI has recently been consulting about the REF2029 and specially about plans to make longer-form outputs, such as books, open access. In keeping with other learned societies, the BPA submitted its response. OA BPA response
The submission was the basis for a THES article that appeared on 28th June 2024.
We are delighted to announce that the Charity Commission has approved the BPA’s application to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
Following discussion with Charity Commission, the formal “object” of the BPA is now:
For the public benefit the advancement of education, specifically by the promotion of excellence in the teaching of, study of, and research in the academic discipline of Philosophy in the United Kingdom within higher education and also within the wider community.
With this move to charitable status, the draft constitution previously approved by members now comes into effect.
The BPA will shortly be publishing a set of resources for early career researchers – to include sample job application materials and advice sheets. We expect these to be published at the end of June!
The British Philosophical Association (BPA) is inviting tenders to conduct research into the provision and experience of Philosophy in Schools, FE and HE in the UK. The research will generate and analyse data on demographics and taught provision in Philosophy in the UK to assess the strengths and weaknesses in the promotion of EDI in the discipline.
The invitation to tender is addressed to experienced research teams with a good track record in qualitative and quantitative research. Experience of research in EDI is desirable.
The maximum budget is for the contract is £25,000.
The closing date for tenders is Thursday 6th April 2023, 5pm, BST.
Objectives and scope of the research:
- To determine the demographics (including gender, race, ethnicity, class and disability) of those studying philosophy A-level, Highers, and International Baccalaureate (i.e.
post-16), and undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students and staff (at all levels) in Philosophy in the UK. - To investigate the experience of and attitudes towards the study and teaching of philosophy in all the above groups using quantitative and qualitative research methods.
- To understand if and how post-16 and undergraduate and postgraduate syllabuses in Philosophy shape perceptions of the discipline concerning equality and diversity.
- To identify the potential barriers to study of philosophy for under-represented groups in the UK.
- To identify potential strategies for improving diversity and inclusion in the discipline in the UK.
- To make recommendations for further, more detailed research studies on particular EDI issues in Philosophy in the UK
The successful bidders will report to and liaise with the BPA EDI sub-committee throughout.
Applications should include:
- A tender document (no longer than 10 pages) with details on how the research will be undertaken within the budget; the proposed research methodologies, outlining timescales
and how any potential challenges will be addressed; and an ethics statement concerning the ensuring of anonymity and informed consent for use of qualitative data. - The CVs of all proposed researchers.
- A letter of support from the University or other employing organisation of the researchers, if applicable.
Informal enquiries can be made to Prof. Stella Sandford, S.Sandford@Kingston.ac.uk
Applications should be submitted to Prof. Stella Sandford, S.Sandford@Kingston.ac.uk, copied to admin@bpa.ac.uk, by Thursday 6th April, 5pm.
It is expected that the research will be completed and a report submitted by the end of June 2024. (Once appointed an early meeting with the successful tenderer will confirm final timeline for delivery.) Although the final report and data will be owned by the BPA all researchers will be acknowledged and data made available for public use.
[ Update: please see this news item – since 29 April 2024, the BPA is now a registered charity ]
At present the British Philosophical Association is an unincorporated association. The BPA’s Executive Committee has proposed that the BPA should become a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation). This was approved by our members at the Annual General Meeting held in September 2022. The application process has been quite lengthy and we hope will be completed in the first half of 2024.
If successful, recognition as a CIO would give the BPA formal status as a legal entity in its own right and recognition as a charity acting for the public benefit.
To obtain this status, we are currently seeking approval from the Charity Commission, including approval of the draft constitution previously approved by our membership.
The proposed constitution is based on the following “Model constitution for CIO with voting members other than its charity trustees (‘Association’ model). This is because the BPA is an association that is answerable to a wider membership, with officers elected by those members. With the change in status, the current “executive committee” would be renamed as the “board of trustees.” Their responsibilities and the rights of members would remain largely unchanged, except that the trustees would now have legal duties to report annually to the Charity Commission.
The proposed constitution names the current President, Director and Treasurer as the first officers of the CIO. It is also proposed that existing members of the Executive Committee should be asked to serve their remaining terms of office as trustees of the BPA, should its status as a CIO be approved by the members and the Charity Commission.
We hope that this will set the BPA on a more formal legal footing, provide recognition of its public and charitable role, and confirm its status as accountable to a wide membership.
