Uni Jobs in Scotland

Pathfinder Professional Narratives is an ongoing series illuminating the career journeys and experiences of Research Professional Staff. You can see all of the posts in the series here.

This post is written by Dila Aslan, Research Enhancement Adviser, University of Glasgow

Relevant academic and professional qualifications: MA in Gender, Media and Culture, Senior Fellowship Advance HE.

Approximate salary bracket for this type of role: £41,064 to £46,049

No one chooses to work in REF. Okay, that sounded harsh. For I did indeed apply to work in REF. However, I didn’t start off in REF. If you don’t know, the Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the UK’s system for assessing the excellence of research. The outcome provides the allocation of around £2 billion public funding per year across the sector, based on the university’s research quality. So yeah, it’s pretty important. I hope you enjoy reading about how I ended up in Glasgow, working towards the REF 2029 submission.

5 years ago

Rewinding, my career in Higher Education (HE) started off as a ‘Student Transitions’ intern in 2021. I supported the writing of digital courses for new starters transitioning from school to HE, with materials designed for a diverse body of students such as mature, carer, commuter and international. The aim was to create a sense of belonging for all students, ensuring a steady start to academia and high retention for the institution. The success of the project (outreach of over 6,000 students) led me to working as a Student Engagement Assistant (on basically a zero-hour contract) during quite a turbulent time within HE.

With severe cuts to the Arts, redundancies via emails which literally said, “your job is deleted” (which led to protests) and staff morale at an all-time low, I was still determined to continue. This determination blessed me in return, as the same restructuring process allowed me to continue working on similar projects, but on a higher grade, as ‘Student Success Officer,’ supporting initiatives such as ‘Welcome Week’ and student well-being, promoting peer-led learning through events and the creation of student communities across campus. 

I didn’t particularly enjoy this, our students were faced with multiple strike actions, constant uncertainty and never-ending anxiety with whether their course would be cancelled. So after a trip to Mexico, I decided that I would quit that following year, take a break and try out something way beyond HE.

I landed really far away…in primary education. That’s right, I attempted to become a primary school teacher. I quit after 5 weeks. This was the most liberating thing I had ever done. I was listening to a podcast at the time on the treadmill, which was based on interviewing people who quit ‘things’ in life and how this can empower us, bringing life changing results. I still wonder what it would have been like to teach 9-year-olds, but I am so glad I left teaching after such a short period, before the carrying of school notebooks in various bags caught up with Friday movie nights.

Uncertainty 

So, there I was left with no clear way forward. Having graduated with a distinction from an MA in Gender, Media and Culture, various community volunteer experiences on the CV and an enthusiastic heart, I couldn’t see what the future would hold for me. Until a new ‘Research Environment and REF Officer’ position came up at my, then, university. I quickly got in touch with the hiring manager to have a chat before applying, to get ahead of the game. Fast forward, I got the job, turned up in my new green dress, ready to start but was faced with uncertainty once again; the university was introducing redundancies. This meant that securing research income was at a high precedence. I wasn’t disheartened, I learnt everything I could about the research environment, read a million ‘Environment’ statements from REF2021, and took up ‘minute taking’ training. My role merged with the research culture and researcher development disciplines which opened an array of leadership opportunities. I became a Co-chair for the Women’s Network, the lead and host for the ECR community and a Research Environment expert. I was also awarded Senior Fellowship of Advance HE, for supporting teaching and learning within HE. My application contained a written exploration of community inclusion. 

Promised Land

I ended up in Glasgow, as one night I decided to type ‘jobs in Scotland’ into my laptop, with no expectation. I had undergone a lot of changes both on a personal and career level, and all I could hear was Scotland calling me. The move would require leaving the familiarity of my London home, but I knew there was a greater calling and reason for me to move to Glasgow (beyond the desk job). I got baptised in November 2025, and within the testimony speech I described Glasgow as my promised land.

So that’s how I ended up at my current position as ‘Research Enhancement Adviser.’ My daily tasks are focused on the development and submission of the Strategy, People and Research Environment (SPRE) component of REF2029 (weighting of 20% for overall institution quality), supporting the operational tasks for review processes such as timelines, thematic activities to support knowledge and understanding of the component and writing relevant communications for academic colleagues involved in the delivery of SPRE. 

The part I enjoy the most is the planning (I’m a super organiser, just ask my boyfriend) and evaluating potential courses of action, for when smaller tasks need to be completed, so project milestones can be met.

Resilient Leadership

I recently completed a programme called ‘Find Your Moxie’ at UofG, designed to develop resilient leadership. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has undergone a lot of changes in life and would like to discover their core values and self-worth in what makes them a great leader and part of a team, as it is easy to overlook our own qualities. Through Moxie, I discovered that I needed to learn to rest, learn to ask for help when struggling and for better decision-making – taking a step back and processing situations as a valuable skill in life rather than reacting with urgency. I discovered my own style of leadership; to use experience to continue facing forward and, to use a metaphor, the inner confidence to be a lighthouse; staying anchored in the midst of storms yet knowing when to signal for help to other lightkeepers to ensure all boats reach safety ashore. This June, I also completed an internship with Re:Hope Church; building me up to be a part of a fellowship and carrying core values which I apply to my work life; Hope in the fog, Faith in the unknown and Forgiveness for shortfalls. 

My story so far is based on taking the leap of faith and courage, knowing despite the uncertainty and mistakes, the journey is leading somewhere. I hope this encourages those reading who are seeking to move elsewhere, may bravery outshine your fears.