JRF: FURTHER PARTICULARS
The purpose of this note is to provide information about the nature and status of a Junior Research Fellow of Trinity College (a Fellow under Title A). Please read these Further Particulars carefully before proceeding to make an application.
A Research Fellowship provides an opportunity to spend up to four years in Cambridge undertaking post-doctoral research or scholarly work at an early stage of an academic career; this research may be on a topic essentially of the Fellow’s own choice however, for an experimental scientist suitable arrangements must be made with one of the laboratories in the University.
The College wishes to encourage applications from a wide range of candidates and the Fellowships are available in all branches of University studies. Nevertheless, those who contemplate applying for a Fellowship at Trinity should realise that candidates will be judged against the very highest academic criteria. In particular, the standard of research expected for election to a Fellowship is much higher than that which is merely adequate for a ‘good’ PhD. Potential candidates could usefully consult their research supervisor or some other knowledgeable person before deciding whether to apply.
The basic obligation of a Research Fellow is to engage full-time in research and its dissemination. Like all Fellows, Research Fellows are welcome – indeed encouraged – to participate fully in the life and activities of the College. Research Fellows are not required to contribute to teaching, although a Fellow who wishes to do so may undertake, for extra payment, some limited teaching within the College and University. The number of Research Fellows elected varies from year to year depending on the strength of competition; in recent years it has been between 5 and 8.
Emoluments, Rights and Privileges
Fellows under Title A who reside within the University precincts and devote themselves to study and research receive a stipend. For each year spent doing research in Cambridge, a Research Fellow receives a stipend from the College of £26,879.00 (reviewable in line with academic stipends). However, a Fellow who is registered for a further course of study in the United Kingdom (e.g. a PhD degree) will normally receive, instead of a stipend, a student maintenance grant at the rate of £19,716 per annum until completion of the course of study. A Fellow who is following a comparable course of study outside the United Kingdom will receive a stipend of £25,524 per annum. The stipend or maintenance grant will be reduced in respect of any emolument received from a source outside College. In addition, a Research Fellow enjoys all the other privileges of a Fellow – if single, a residential set of rooms in the College free of rent (if available and subject to certain conditions); otherwise, a housing allowance of £6,660 per annum and the opportunity to rent a College-owned flat; free meals at the High Table; access to funds for the support of research and attendance at conferences; and use of all the College’s facilities.
Taking up a Fellowship
The decisive meeting to choose the new Fellows will take place on 13 January 2020, and applicants will be informed of the results immediately afterwards. The formal election of new Title A Fellows will be on Monday 5 October 2020, followed by a ceremony in Chapel on Tuesday 6 October 2020 to mark the admission of all new Fellows to the College. It will however be possible for those who so choose to take up the emoluments and privileges of the position, without the status of Fellow, before then (a ‘preliminary benefit period’), in return for foregoing their entitlement to the stipend and privileges of a Fellow for an equivalent period at the end of their Fellowship. It is also possible, subject to the approval of the Council, to postpone or interrupt enjoyment of the stipend and privileges of a Fellow. Subject to detailed provisions in the College’s Ordinances, postponement or interruptions may amount to up to two years. Those studying for a PhD outside the UK might wish, if necessary, to apply for a deferral in order to complete their studies. They would then become eligible for the higher rate of stipend on arrival in Cambridge. Applicants from outside the European Economic Area who do not have an automatic right to work in the United Kingdom should note that, although they would still be elected to a Fellowship on 6 October 2020, employment and the payment of stipend cannot commence until a Certificate of Sponsorship has been issued by the College and appropriate leave to enter or remain has been granted by the Home Office. For further details see the note for applicants from outside the EEA.
Eligibility
Trinity Junior Research (‘Title A’) Fellowships are aimed at you if you are at the beginning of your academic career. In most cases, the fellowship will be your first substantial, paid academic teaching or research post. If you are from the UK, you will usually be at the end of your third or fourth (or, more rarely, second) year of PhD work. If you are from elsewhere, you may be completing a longer doctoral course.
Our formal eligibility rule is simply that the candidates must be on a PhD course or its equivalent, or have submitted a PhD thesis or its equivalent no more than one year before the deadline for submission of fellowship dissertations for those shortlisted (Tuesday 31 October 2019). By ‘or its equivalent’ we mean a course at the same level as a PhD, but we are also willing to accept as eligible candidates who are not taking a formal course, if they are at the same stage in their careers as if they were taking or had just finished a PhD.
Any candidate who wishes to claim that he or she is taking the equivalent of a PhD must obtain approval from the Secretary to the Electors before applying.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/applying/jrf/