External examiners research programmes

Information you need to know

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) deals with all personal information in a responsible manner that respects personal privacy. The University is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and is responsible under the applicable data protection laws referenced below, for the use of personal data you submit to us.

Liverpool John Moores University is the Data Controller.

Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at DPO@ljmu.ac.uk

LJMU takes your privacy very seriously.  This privacy notice explains how we use your personal information and your rights regarding that information. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use your data and to meeting our data protection obligations.

What information are we collecting?

Personal and contact details

For correspondence and in order to give you access to the University’s IT system, we require from you directly:

  • Title
  • Full name
  • Work address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Home address, for hard copy documents when necessary

For Fee Expenses claims we require:

  • Bank account
  • Sort code details
  • Date of birth
  • National insurance number

Your residency and or citizenship status

In order to confirm your right to work in the UK. This will be passport information, or other proof of eligibility to work in the UK. We request a scan of the main page of your passport (or other proof of eligibility documents), and you will be required to present the original documents to a member of university staff when you visit us.

Indirectly your main areas of research will be assessed, processed and a rationale will be provided on an LJMU examiner nomination form, which will be completed by the nominating Lead Supervisor to confirm your suitability for appointment. This can include details of your current place of work, your employment history, main areas of teaching/research, and your education/employment history.

From you directly

During the nomination process, information will be extracted from your CV and scanned documents to ascertain proof of eligibility to work in the UK. Once the appointment has taken place, information will be used to give you access to IT systems, when you present your original documents to verify your eligibility to work in the UK; when you claim fees or expenses; and from receipt of a scanned copy of the photograph page of your current passport which you will email to the Doctoral Academy.

Why are we collecting your data and what is the legal basis for this?

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

  • To consider your nomination to act as an external examiner
  • To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, requirements and guidance in respect of your right to work in the UK
  • To facilitate your fulfilment of your role and your ongoing engagement with the University, in order to comply with Institutional and National requirements (for example, the Research Regulations or the QAA UK Quality Code for Higher Education)
  • To facilitate the University’s compliance with Institutional and National requirements (for example, to comply with the requirements in the QAA UK Quality Code for Higher Education, such as checking for potential conflicts of interest, or maintaining appointment records)
  • To pay you the agreed fee and to reimburse reasonable expenses incurred as a result of your work with us

The lawful basis for using this data is Article 6(1)b performance of a contract.

Who has access to your data?

Your personal information will be used internally by authorised members of Liverpool John Moores University staff or departments, only where there is good reason. Such staff may include but are not limited to:

  • Nominating Supervisory Team
  • Nominating Head of Department/Director of School 
  • Doctoral Academy
  • Faculty Research Degrees Committees
  • University Research Degrees Committee
  • Faculty administrative offices
  • University Finance department
  • University IT Services

Your name, current post/place of work and contact email address will be available to all members participating in the examination (staff and students) via the University’s secure e-Doc system.

In the event of a student making direct contact with you, you are advised to refer the query to the Doctoral Academy.

Your examiner preliminary and final joint reports are stored in the University’s PGR Examinations inbox and in the Doctoral Academy’s secure repository/e-Doc. Preliminary reports are shared with other examiners and Independent Chairs, and by exceptional request with PGRs.  Final Joint Reports are shared with the other examiners, Independent Chairs, PGRs and Lead Supervisors.  They may be shared with other relevant University staff as required by our Quality Assurance processes.

In instances where an external examiner is appointed to examine a dual award, your personal and contact details (excluding your home address, bank account, sort code, national insurance and date of birth) may be shared with other institution involved with the dual award.

How do we record your personal information?

Data relating to nomination, appointment and administrative management of appointments

Your data is collected at the point of nomination by the nominating supervisory team on the examiner nomination form.  This is stored centrally and securely by the Doctoral Academy (in secure files). During the nomination process, it is also stored on the Faculty Research Degrees Committee website (in secure files designated to that committee). Following appointment, and during your period of engagement, your data is stored centrally and securely by the Doctoral Academy (in secure files), and within the secure database, e-Doc.

Data relating to Fee and Expenses Claims

Data relating to your fees/expenses (Fee/expense claim forms, including your name, home address, and bank details) is stored securely by the University’s e-Doc system the PGR Examinations email address and the University’s Oracle Finance system.

How does the University protect your data?

The University takes the security of your data very seriously, and has internal policies and controls in place to try and ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessible except by its employees in the performance of their duties. For more information, please see the University’s Data Protection Policy.

For how long does the University keep your data?

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. We will retain your personal information in line with our Retention of Records Schedule. Unless we explain otherwise to you, this will be according to the timeframes listed below.

Data relating to nomination, appointment and administrative management of active tenures

  • For individuals where a nomination is not approved, nomination data will be held for a period of one year (following the decision not to appoint you) by the Doctoral Academy, and it will then be deleted securely
  • For individuals where a nomination is approved, appointment/nomination data is held for the duration of the appointment by Doctoral Academy, and then for a further five years following the end of your period of engagement. It will then be deleted securely

Data relating to fee and expenses claims

This data is held by the University’s Finance Department, both in paper format (held securely), and in electronic format (held securely on the University’s Oracle Finance system). Paper and electronic documents will be retained for seven years following the date of submission. They will then be deleted securely.

In order to enable us to deal with enquiries, the Doctoral Academy also retains copies of fee/expenses claim forms. These are stored electronically in secure files, and are retained for one year following the date of submission. They will then be deleted securely.

Data relating to creating an LJMU staff IT account

Personal information (title, name, date of birth, email address, phone number, details of your employer, and postal address) will be sent to the IT Department. This data will be stored securely for the duration of your period of engagement and for a further seven years. It will then be deleted securely.

Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

  • Access and obtain a copy of your data on request
  • Ask the University to correct incorrect or incomplete data
  • Ask the University to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary or legally required for the purposes of processing
  • Request transfer of your data to another party

If your data has been provided by consent, you have a right to withdraw that consent at any time.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Data Protection Officer.

Transfers of data outside the UK

Generally, we do not send your personal data outside the UK. However, in some specific cases, we may transfer the personal data we collect to countries outside the UK in order to perform our contract with you/or a contract with another organisation that requires your personal data i.e. a collaboration agreement with a university based outside of the UK. Where we do this, we will ensure that your personal information is protected by way of an ‘adequacy regulation’ with the UK or by putting alternative appropriate measures in place to ensure that your personal information is treated by those third parties in a way that is consistent with and which respects the UK laws on data protection. For example model contractual clauses, data sharing/data processing agreement and binding corporate rules (where applicable).

Automated decision making

We will not make any decisions about you automatically using a computer, based on your personal data. All decisions affecting you will be taken by a human.

How to complain to the Information Commissioners Office

You have the right to complain to The Information Commissioner if you believe that our processing of your personal data does not meet our data protection obligations. The Information Commissioner can be contacted:

Post: Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK95AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: contact can be made by accessing the ICO website.