Over the two weeks of 3 - 13 May 2022, the University will be holding its second 'Fellowship Fortnight' to celebrate the work enabled through our community of Fellows. Fellowship Fortnight will showcase the work of current Fellows, provide training for prospective Fellowship applicants and bring together academic staff to share ideas and practice to support Fellows. The full programme can be viewed here. If you have any questions please contact Taryn Bell at fellowships@york.ac.uk
For Prospective Fellows: Preparing for Fellowship Success (5, 9 and 10 May 2022 - Online)
Deadline for applications: 5pm BST, Thursday 28 April
The Preparing for Fellowship Success programme, now in its fourth year, provides the space, time and support for exceptional early career researchers to develop a Fellowship application. It is aimed at internal and external high calibre postdocs and early career researchers who intend to submit a Fellowship application within 9-12 months.
Owing to the intensive nature of this programme, candidates should at least be at a stage where they:
Understand the key features of a fellowship (for example, how these differ from a standard research grant).
Have identified a suitable fellowship scheme that they are both eligible for and fit well to.
Have an outline research project.
All applicants must have the full support of the appropriate Chair of the Departmental Research Committee.
Each aspect of the Fellowship process will be covered and candidates will be fully supported by professional support staff, existing Fellowship holders, external speakers and Fellowship Mentors. The retreat is provided free of charge and is part of the University’s commitment to providing support for postdocs/research staff with the skills and capabilities to develop independent research and is aligned to the institutional commitment to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.
To maximise the chances of fellowship success all applicants are required to identify an individual (who may or may not be their PI) to become a ‘Fellowship Mentor’ and support their application.
*A mentor is an academic member of staff who can provide specialist insight into the proposal.
Objectives
By the end of the retreat participants will have:
Confirmed their choice of Fellowship scheme
Received feedback on and refined their research vision and pitch
Produced an action plan and timescale for further work endorsed by their Fellowship Mentor
This year the PfFS training will be held online on 5, 9 and 10 May 2022. Participants will also need to build in time between 5 and 9 May to work with their mentor on their application and develop a pitch to be delivered on 10 May. The first step for prospective PfFS participants to identify a suitable mentor in the host department, who will be an academic member of staff who is willing and able to support them with the development of their fellowship application during this two week period and ongoing prior to submission.
Participants are expected to be:
either internal or external to the University
have a strong vision for their Fellowship
preparing to submit an early career fellowship to an external funder within the coming 9-12 months
have identified one specific fellowship scheme (or a small number) that are eligible for and fit well to (if you have a University of York email address/login, you can find a list of commons schemes here; if you are not currently a member of the University of York, you can find some common schemes here.)
have the full support of the prospective host department in pursuing the fellowship application
have a mentor within the prospective host department, who is able to work with them on developing their proposal (and ideally at times during the programme - 5-10 May 2022)
available to participate in sessions and dedicate time to their fellowship application during 5-10 May 2022
We are committed to valuing and celebrating diversity, and to advancing equality and inclusive practice. We encourage interest from people with a variety of backgrounds and experience; for example, people from sections of the community that are currently underrepresented in the University, those with commitments that would benefit from flexible working, and people wishing to return to research after a career break.
Information for Applicants
If you’re interested in applying for the Preparing for Fellowship Success 2022 programme please first identify which Fellowship scheme you wish to apply for (listed on the University’s Fellowship page).
Please discuss your intention to attend the training and to submit a Fellowship application with your line manager, and identify a Fellowship Mentor (someone who will support you through the application stage)
Block out in your diary the Preparing for Fellowship Success Programme delivery dates - 5, 9 and 10 May and time between 5 and 10 May to revise their application with their mentor and prepare to pitch.
The University’s Fellowships Coordination Committee will ratify all applications and decisions communicated by Thursday 28 April 2022.
This programme is aimed at early career researchers (within 6 years of submitting their PhD, not including career breaks)
Applicants do not need to be current staff or students of the University of York. However, they must be planning to submit a Fellowship application to one of the Departments, Centres or Schools at York within the next 9-12 months
Departments must ensure that all applications are supported by a mentor from the host department
There are no limits on the number of submissions that can be made from any one Department. However, we do ask Departments to ensure that mentors are willing and able to help successful applicants during the programme (5-10 May), on developing and refining their application and pitch
All applications will go through a selection process run by the Fellowship Coordination Committee, after the deadline of 25 April, and the outcome of applications will be communicated to applicants, mentors and CDRCs by 28 April.
If you have any questions regarding an applicant's eligibility, or if you want to know more, please email Taryn Bell, the Fellowship Coordinator (fellowships@york.ac.uk).