Oxford University is looking for a new professor of poetry to follow in the footsteps of such luminaries as Matthew Arnold, WH Auden and Seamus Heaney.

Nominations have now opened for a successor to Paul Muldoon, who will step down in September after five years in the post.

The duties of the professor include giving a public lecture each term and the Creweian Oration at the university's honorary degree ceremony every other year.

The successful candidate will also set the theme for and judge the Newdigate Prize and the Chancellor's English Essay Prize, judge the prize for an English poem on a sacred subject and encourage the art of poetry in the university.

The professor, who must come from an academic background and cannot be re-elected, will be paid £4,695 plus £40 for each Creweian Oration.

A university spokesman said: "We're looking for academics or published poets, someone who is steeped in the history of poetry who can encourage the art of poetry in the university."

Candidates, who must give written consent, have to be nominated by at least 12 members of the University's graduate body - Convocation.

Nominations close at 4pm on Wednesday, April 28. If more than one eligible candidate comes forward, members of Convocation - the body which last year voted for the University's new Chancellor Chris Patten - will again be able to exercise their right to vote in person.

The election, if required, will take place at the Convocation House on Saturday, May 15.