Senate, as the Governing Body of "The Queen's University of Belfast" carries overall responsibility for the mission, strategic vision, performance and governance of the University. The Queen's University of Belfast is a registered charity and, as such, members of the governing body are also charity trustees. Senate consists of 26 members, six of whom are elected by the staff across three separate constituencies, as set out below:

• Academic Council - two members, elected by members of Academic Council.
• Academic Staff - two members, elected by the academic staff of the University.
• Professional Services Staff - two members, elected by the support staff of the University.

Under the Statutes of the University, Senate is seeking to appoint two members from each constituency with effect from 1 August 2026. The nomination and election process for Academic Staff and Professional Services Staff representatives is now underway and further details are available by clicking on the appropriate link below:   

• Academic Staff
• Professional Services Staff

Those elected will hold office for up to four years and may be eligible for re-election for one further period of up to four years.

For the purposes of these elections:

“Professional Services Staff” is defined as “the members of the staff of the University, who are not academic staff, and includes academic-related, clerical, operational and technical staff”.

“Academic Staff” includes Professors, Lecturers, Research Staff, persons holding joint appointments of the University and such other classes of persons as Senate may, from time to time, determine. A ‘Lecturer’ includes Readers, Lecturers, Senior Lecturer, Teaching Fellows and their clinical equivalents. The term ‘Research Staff’ includes Research Fellows, Senior Research Fellows and Research Assistants and their clinical equivalents.