Postdoctoral Research Fellowships 2018, Imperial College London, UK

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The next Imperial College Research Fellowship call is for fellowships starting in 2018.

It is anticipated that this call will be launched in June 2017. The deadline for applications is expected to be Tuesday 29 August 2017.  

Scope

  • Fellowships are intended for early career postdoctoral researchers of demonstrated ability and high potential.
  • Applications will be invited from candidates from Imperial College London, the UK and worldwide in all subject areas that have a strong research base at Imperial College London within the Faculties of Engineering, Medicine and Natural Sciences and the Business School.
  • Fellowships must be based at Imperial College London at any of its campuses.
  • To allow fellows to focus on establishing their research, there are no obligatory teaching or administrative duties associated with these fellowships. However, if desired, such duties can be negotiated with the host department.
  • Fellows are encouraged to apply for additional sources of funding to allow them to build further their research programme. Fellows are also provided with career development and cohort activities.
  • Where appropriate, necessary licences and regulatory approval should be obtained prior to the start of the fellowship.
  • Fellows may spend up to 12 months in total visiting other research institutions and/or in industry including overseas; the maximum time spent at any one institution being 6 months. Where this is requested, evidence must be provided to reflect the partner’s willingness to host the fellow.
  • Salary will be provided within the Imperial College Academic and Research Level B pay scales of 29 to 34 (2017/18 pay scales are yet to be released; however for reference, the 2016/17 pay scales for this range were £35,640 to £40,620 per annum). Incremental progression through the salary scale will be determined in accordance with procedures governing the Research Staff group.
  • A contribution toward research and travel costs of £30,000 may be requested, increasing to £45,000 if fully justified by the nature of the research.

Eligibility

  • There are no restrictions on nationality; however applicants will be required to provide evidence of thier eligibility to work in the UK before commencing any fellowship offered.
  • Applicants should have a PhD and will normally have no more than four years postdoctoral research experience in an academic environment (calculated from the PhD viva to the application deadline) - exceptions to this can include discipline hopping, where there must still be less than four years postdoctoral research experience in the discipline of the proposed fellowship; career breaks and career changes, where time spent out of the academic research environment will not be counted in the four years.
  • In exceptional cases, applicants applying to the Faculty of Engineering and Imperial College Business School are permitted to apply before the submission of the PhD but any offer of funding will be dependent on the PhD being awarded before the start of the fellowship.
  • For applications to the Faculties of Natural Sciences and Medicine, a PhD must have been submitted before an application is made and the PhD must be awarded before the start of the fellowship.

Sponsorship

  • Each application must be supported by a sponsor who is a senior, permanent member of staff within the Academic and Research Family at Imperial College, most likely a Principal Investigator.
  • Sponsors will be limited to support a single fellowship application in each competition and may sponsor one Imperial College Research Fellow or Junior Research Fellowship at any one time.
  • Sponsors are not obliged to accept a request for support. If they choose not to support a potential applicant it is at the sponsor’s discretion if they choose to give feedback.
  • Sponsors will be required to commit to and fulfil the following obligations with the support of their host Department:
    • Provide relevant equipment and laboratory space for the applicant’s research proposal and ensure that there is no additional cost burden on the College.
    • Recognise that the fellowship is to promote the growth and independence of the applicant. This includes mentorship activities and contributions to career development as well as appropriate assignation of authorship.
    • Understand the funding provided to fellows does not fund the full economic cost of research, only the directly incurred costs of the research project will be covered. These are costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from the conduct of the project, are charged at cash spend and supported by audit records.
    • Ensure that, before any research funded by the fellowship commences and during the full award period, all the necessary legal and regulatory requirements in order to conduct the research are met, and all the necessary licences and approvals have been obtained.
    • Undertake the statutory obligations of ending a fixed term contract which include support with redeployment or the funding of any redundancy costs.
  • Applicants are required to move from their existing sponsor to a new one, to increase both their independence and their breadth of experience.
  • Where an interdisciplinary project is proposed it is possible to include additional sponsors but there is a requirement for a lead sponsor.
  • Applicants may also be co-sponsored by staff of the Francis Crick Institute. In these cases an Imperial Sponsor will still be required and such co-sponsors will need to commit to fulfil the following obligations:
    • Recognise that the fellowship is to promote the growth and independence of the applicant. This includes mentorship activities and contributions to career development as well as appropriate assignation of authorship.
    • Understand the funding provided to fellows does not fund the full economic cost of research, only the directly incurred costs of the research project will be covered. These are costs that are explicitly identifiable as arising from th e conduct of the project, are charged at cash spend and supported by audit records.
    • Provide access to relevant equipment and laboratory space as appropriate for the applicant’s research proposal.

Please note: as with Imperial sponsors, Crick co-sponsors will be limited to support a single fellowship application in each competition and may co-sponsor one Research Fellow at any one time. 

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by a three stage process:

  1. Faculty Review Panel: Once received, applications that fit the eligibility criteria and contain all the necessary signatures will be reviewed by one of four Review Panels (Faculty of Engineering; Faculty of Natural Sciences; Faculty of Medicine; and the Business School) depending on the host department of the named Sponsor. The Review Panel will select candidates for interview based on the following: standing of the applicant, scientific merit of the proposed research and the appropriateness of the Sponsor and host laboratory.
    Due to the expected volume of applications, Imperial College London is unable to provide feedback for the applications that are not selected for interview.
  2. Faculty Interview Committee: Applicants who are selected by the Faculty Review Panels will be invited to present their proposal to the Faculty Interview Committee where they will be ranked in order of competitiveness. At this stage host departments reserve the right to request up to two additional external references of their choice in support of the application.
  3. Imperial College Research Fellowship Selection Committee: The final selection of Fellows will take place at the Imperial College Selection Committee based on Faculty ranking and availability of funds.

Consideration of the application by Imperial College London does not guarantee that support will be offered.

Feedback will be provided to all applicants who reach stages 2 and 3 of the process following the final selection panel meeting.

Anticapted timeline for 2018 start dates

Closing date for applications11.59pm Tuesday 29 August 2017
Shortlisting October 2017
Interviews Nomember 2017
Results of Selection Committee December 2017
Start date for Fellowships Between 1 August and 1 December 2018

How to Apply

Information on How to Apply for the next round (yet to be launched) will be available when the call opens in June 2017.  For instructions from the previous call, please see below.  It is expected that only minimal, if any, changes will be made to this process. 

Candidates who are interested in applying for an Imperial College Research Fellowship must contact their proposed sponsor and proposed sponsoring department as soon as possible, to discuss thier intentions to apply. 

  • Applicants should submit a completed application form (see top of page) by 11.59pm (GMT) 12 September 2016.
  • The application form has six sections. Applicants need to complete Sections 1-2, 5-6, which covers personal details, funding request, research proposal and CV.
  • The agreed Imperial sponsor needs to complete Section 3.
  • If appropriate, the Francis Crick Insitute co-sponsor should complete Section 4.
  • Please provide answers in English within the text boxes, keep within the dedicated margins, and do not exceed the word limit and page restrictions as indicated on the form.
  • Please refer to monetary values in £ pounds sterling.
  • Please complete the form using Arial 11pt.
  • Applications without the required signatures will not be accepted.
  • Once sections have been filled, the application should be reviewed and signed by the relevant Imperial College Head of Department as confirmation that the department is willing to host the fellow.
  • Each application must be accompanied by a confidential letter of support / reference, usually from the applicant’s current institution. Where the current institution is Imperial, the letter of support must be provided by someone other than the proposed sponsor or host Head of Department.

Once the application form is complete, applicants must:

  • Send one electronic copy of the application form in PDF format to researchfellowships@imperial.ac.uk by 11.59pm (GMT) 29 August 2017.
  • Send one electronic copy of the Recruitment Monitoring Form to researchfellowships@imperial.ac.uk by 11.59pm (GMT) 29 August 2017.
  • Ensure that one electronic copy of the confidential letter of support / reference from the applicant’s current institution is sent to researchfellowships@imperial.ac.uk by 11.59pm (GMT) 29 August 2017.

For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.

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