William Guy Lectureship appointment process

The call for applications for the William Guy Lectureship 2026-27 is now closed. The call for 2027-28 lecturers will open in early 2027.  

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 primarily be delivered online, to enable us to reach as many schoolchildren as possible, from a broad range of schools.  
 
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, as well as underrepresented groups. Past lecturers have been drawn from industry, education and academia.  

Lecturers are selected following an open call and competitive selection process. Details about this process will be shared here when the application window opens in early 2027. 

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 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 aim to facilitate an event to celebrate the scheme, bring the lecturers together, and thank them. 

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.