Research Fellowships in Humanities and Social Science 2016, United Kingdom

Scheme at a glance

Who can apply

You can apply for a Research Fellowship if you're:

• a postdoctoral researcher who wants to carry out an extended period of enquiry on your own project
• not in a tenured or long-term established post (including a rolling contract)
• based (or plan to be based) in the UK, Republic of Ireland or a low- or middle-income country.

You must have sponsorship from an eligible host organisation.

In most cases, applicants should have been awarded a PhD before they apply.

What we're looking for

Our reviewers will assess:

• the significance of your proposed research
• the strength of your approach
• your track record
• the suitability of the host environment for your research and for the development of your independent career.

Most successful applicants will be pursuing university research careers. But we also encourage researchers who want to follow health-related research careers elsewhere. 

What's expected of your host organisation

You must have an eligible sponsoring organisation that will administer your fellowship for the full duration of the award. You should give careful thought to your choice of sponsor and supervisor/research mentor; they should have strong track records in research, training and mentorship.

Your sponsor should be based at an eligible sponsoring organisation that will administer your fellowship for the full duration of the award. The sponsor should hold an established post and be in a position to guarantee you space and facilities for the full period of the fellowship.

Your supervisor or research mentor should:

• provide support and advice during the application process and the period of the award
• be committed to helping you achieve your career aspirations.

Your sponsor can also be your research sponsor or mentor.

What We Offer

Seeds Awards are usually in the range of £25,000 to £50,000. Most Seed Awards are for six to twelve months. Support can include:

• research or teaching buy-out leave

If you don’t hold an established academic post, we’ll pay your salary.

If you do, we’ll provide up to 40% of your teaching buy-out costs to pay for a temporary lecturer. This would usually be for someone more junior than you.

• research expenses , including costs for a researcher or conssultant
• conference and meeting costs

You can ask us to cover the costs of attending relevant scientific and academic meetings. Costs can include registration fees and travel expenses.

You can also ask for a contribution towards the cost of hosting a conference (or a session within a conference), symposia or seminar series, if it’s for research purposes (eg data gathering) or to disseminate the findings from your research. The meeting should normally be based in the UK or Republic of Ireland and can include:

• travel and accommodation for keynote speakers
• room hire and catering
• event publicity
• conference pack publication, including name badges
• any reasonably justified associated expenses.

What we don’t offer

Seed Awards cannot be used to: 

• top up existing grants
• fund part of a PhD or Master’s course
• write up publications from previous awards and qualifications. 

We don't fund on a proportion of full economic costs in UK universities.

How to Apply

Stages of application

1. Submit your full application

   View a sample full application form for Seed Awards in Humanities and Social Science.

2. Review and decision

   We’ll determine the suitability and competitiveness of all eligible proposals, and give you a decision within 12 to 14 weeks of the application deadline. There are no interviews. In general, we don’t provide detailed written feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

Dates

We consider applications three times a year. We don't accept late applications.

• Full application deadline

  27 September 2016 (was 5 August 2016)

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

https://wellcome.ac.uk/funding/research-fellowships-humanities-and-social-science