Lecturers at Scottish universities will launch a 48-hour strike on Wednesday after talks failed to resolve a pay row.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) in Scotland will join colleagues across the UK in staging a two-day walkout.

UCU members will also refuse to work overtime, set additional work, or undertake any voluntary duties like covering timetabled classes for absent colleagues.

If the dispute is not resolved in the coming weeks, members have agreed to further strike action which could affect open days, graduation ceremonies and the clearing process.

The union is also beginning preparations for a boycott of the setting and marking of students' work to begin in the autumn.

The UCU has rejected a 1.1% pay offer from employers, arguing that universities could afford to pay more after the pay and benefits of university leaders went up by 5.1% last year.

This pay offer followed an initial proposed pay increase from the higher education employer body of 1%.

The union described the proposed pay rise as an "insult" that "does not begin to address the 14.5% real terms pay cut suffered by higher education staff since 2009".

UCU Scotland official Mary Senior said: "The last thing university staff want to do is take industrial action. Staff have, however, been forced into this by this derisory offer.

"For the employers to have come back to the table with only an additional 0.1% at the same time university principals are receiving inflation busting rises only means our members are more determined than ever to win a fair settlement."

Ms Senior added: "Our universities in Scotland are world class institutions because of the work carried out by staff who teach students and carry out research. It is only fair that the pay award should reflect this."

Union members will be staffing early morning picket-lines at Scottish universities on Wednesday while a rally will be held at midday in Glasgow venue Adelaides, on Bath Street.

UCU speakers will address the rally along with representatives from the National Union of Students (NUS) and the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC).

Protests are planned around the UK with rallies also taking place in Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "A 1.1% pay offer is an insult to hardworking staff, especially in light of the 5% pay rise vice-chancellors have enjoyed while holding down staff pay.

"Members have made it clear that they won't tolerate a continued squeeze on their income, pay inequality and the increasing job insecurity blighting the sector.

"It's time to invest properly in the teachers, researchers and administrators who are the backbone of our universities.

"Industrial action which impacts on students is never taken lightly, but members feel that they have been left with no alternative. If the employers wish to see a swift end to this dispute, and avoid further disruption, they need to come back to the table with a much-improved offer."

The Unite union, which has around 12,000 members in the higher education sector, said it was consulting on the possibility of joining the action. A ballot closes on June 6.

National officer Mike McCartney said: "We are calling on Unite members to reject the offer on the table. They have seen their pay slashed over recent years, while many university bosses are raking in more than the Prime Minister.

"Clearly there is unfairness in the pay system and that hurts our members who are mainly technicians, porters and cleaning staff without whom universities would not function. These are the workers who are the key to providing a good student experience.

"If the results of our consultative ballot are positive, as we expect they will be, then we will then move to a ballot for industrial action."

The UCU has also called on universities to commit to closing the gender pay gap and reducing the proportion of staff on casual and zero-hour contracts.