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[Anony]

I just came across a posting for a job in my field at Sussex, and I am considering applying.  I am American.  I know a little about Sussex (I actually visited the campus once when I was a grad student), and my impression is that it is a very good university, equal to a R1 in the U.S.  The job is for a "lecturer" to "teach and conduct research" which I translate to mean an Assistant Prof. tenure-track level job.  

I lived abroad one year in London, and I enjoyed it a lot.  I was often homesick for some aspects of American culture (baseball was particuarly missed) but I think I would get over that.  Can anyone give me advice on any of the following issues:

1)  Is Sussex a good job?
2)  Is Brighton a good place to live?
3)  I know what it's like to be an American living in London, but am I wrong to presume from that experience that  I could be happy in Brighton?
4)  If you were an American teaching a heavy load at a small unprestigious school with bad students, and wanted to move to a R1-type environment, would you make this move?

[yedis]

yes, better than where you are

however, Brighton is very expensive

[science expat]

I might make the move but I'd research the university carefully. They're in the process of closing one of the top ranked chemistry departments in the country. It does makes you wonder....

[ExPat in UK]

You need to be very realistic about cost of living in the UK. What are your expectations about living and material goods? Brighton is extremely expensive and you might not be able to afford a house or an apartment on a Lecturer's salary unless you have property that you're selling in the US and will have some money to use as a down payment.

To research house prices you can go to:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk

As for closing the Chemistry department I thought that they were doing it because of the RAE and the number of students enrolled in the field.

[science expat]

It wasn't the RAE - it was a 5* department last time.

Here are a couple of links; I don't know what's happened since.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1741399,00.html

http://www.aut.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1570

[chocky]

I would love to live in Brighton -- it's one of my top 3 places in the UK. But it is expensive. I think if you ejoyed London you should enjoy Brighton -- basically it's full of Londoners who have moved out. In fact, Brighton is often referred to as "London by the Sea". Expensive yes, but an hour's train ride to the capital, great night life, and bracing sea air makes it a place with a high quality of life. You should check out the dept in your field to find out its RAE rating. If it's 5 or thereabouts you will probably get a very nice low teaching load. The job will no doubt be competitive so you will need to write a very good application, and publications will be the main focus.

[Anonymity in the UK]

The Sussex chemistry was only a 5 in the last RAE, and that (as the chemistry panel admitted) was largely down to Kroto's nobel prize. They no longer have him, or many of the other high flyers, and are not expected to improve upon this score in the upcoming RAE.

The decision has been delayed until the 2nd week of term (i.e. the next couple of weeks).

Sussex is a good university (not sure about US comparisons), but it's one of the '94 group so it's a small research intensive place. It does have financial issues at the moment (which the chemistry closure was part of the solution to), but then so do a number of bigger/better universities in the UK (UCL for example).

Brighton is a good place to live, but property is as expensive as London....

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