William Guy Lectureship appointment process

The call for applications for the RSS William Guy Lectureship 2024-25 has now closed​. For the next academic year, the theme will be Statistics in plain sight.  

We will be appointing lecturers who can inspire the next generation about the importance of statistics and data to our everyday lives. From new ‘hot topics’ and emerging trends to long-standing features of the world around us, statistics and data are integral to many aspects of our daily activities. However, their role may not always be immediately apparent.  

Relevant topics could include the role of statistics in, for example:  economics (eg the cost-of-living crisis and inflation); the digital world and big data (eg social media algorithms, AI, large language models); how we interpret and deal with uncertainty in the world around us; consumer behaviour and marketing; health; crime; equality, diversity and inclusion; education; finance; or sports analysis, among others. We are seeking talks that encourage young people to dig deeper and be curious about the building blocks behind their everyday activities. 

If you'd like to know more about the upoming theme, we have a blog on the subject and how it's relevant to young people.

The lectureship and application process

The RSS aims to appoint three lecturers every academic year, with each lecturer preparing a talk targeted towards a particular age range. Talks (approximately 20 minutes in length) will primary be delivered online, to enable us to reach as many schoolchildren as possible, from a broad range of schools. 

The RSS will assist with recording and editing the talks. They will be displayed on the RSS website and will be available for use by schools. In addition, local schools may approach William Guy Lecturers to request in-person talks or live webinars. Schools will be able to contact William Guy Lecturers via a booking form on the website. We will aim to appoint lecturers from different parts of the UK so that a greater number of schools have a Guy Lecturer who is local to them. 

The RSS will facilitate an event to celebrate the William Guy Lecturers and recognise their contributions. The RSS will additionally provide a small honorarium of £200 to thank each lecturer.  

We invite applications from fellows with passion and enthusiasm for inspiring school students about the role of statistics in real-world issues. We welcome applications from a range of career stages, locations across the UK, and sectors -- past lecturers have been drawn from industry, education and academia. 

Further details about the William Guy Lectureship scheme 

The role  

• The RSS William Guy Lecturer roles are voluntary. 
• The recipients will have the title 'Royal Statistical Society William Guy Lecturer'. 
• Three lecturers will be appointed for each academic year, for the period 1 August – 31 July the following year. 
• The lecturers will receive a small honorarium of £200, and may claim any relevant expenses (e.g. travel expenses for local school visits). Claim of expenses will be subject to complying with RSS travel expense guidelines.  
• The RSS will facilitate an event to celebrate the scheme, bring the lecturers together, and thank them. Each lecturer will receive a certificate in recognition of their appointment. 

Commitments  

• Each lecturer is expected to prepare an online lecture (~20 minutes) that will be made available to schools. The RSS will assist with recording and editing the talks.  
• The William Guy Lecturers should welcome approaches from RSS local groups and schools in the UK for school outreach activities, and should proactively seek to engage with schools so the talks can have a wide reach (both online and in-person). The RSS wishes to ensure that a wide and diverse range of schools can benefit from access to this scheme.  
• We ask each William Guy Lecturer to participate in one or more activities to share their expertise with other RSS fellows. Activities could include, for example, delivering a workshop for fellows on good practice in engaging with schools, or sharing materials produced for engaging with schools with fellows. 
• William Guy Lecturers must register as a STEM Ambassador, if they are not already registered. This process requires individuals to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) check or a Disclosure Scotland Protecting Vulnerable Groups check. Registration with the STEM Ambassador programme carries no extra cost or commitment over and above being a William Guy Lecturer. 
• The RSS publishes a list of previous William Guy Lecturers who are expected to be receptive to requests for participating in school outreach activities beyond the period of their appointment as that academic year’s lecturer: the RSS will add your name to this list so you may continue to receive requests to speak in schools even when your term as a Guy lecturer has ended.  

Selection process 

Selection will be made by a sub-group of the RSS Education Policy Advisory Group (EPAG) and additional volunteers with expertise in outreach activities. Applicants must: 

• be a fellow, graduate statistician (GradStat) or chartered statistician (CStat) of the RSS (e-student and e-teacher members are not eligible to apply) 
• be based in the United Kingdom 
• agree to undertake the role as set out here. 

Criteria used in the selection process will include: 

• the suitability and interest of the proposed lecture topic 
• ability to engage and inspire school children and teachers 
• a track record of proactivity and interest in public engagement and activities with schools 
• consideration to ensure that the selected lectures span the different age ranges  
• consideration of the range of topics covered across the three talks  
• consideration to promote geographical diversity.