© imperial college londonpage 1 applying for fellowships physics ras june 2009

© Imperial College London

Applying for Fellowships

Physics RAs

June 2009


Applying for Fellowships

• Planning your career

• Success rates

• Application and submission process– Departmental prioritisation– InfoEd, J-eS and e-Gap– Referees– Assessment by Sponsors

• Other sources of information and assistance


Planning your Career – Fellowship?

consider……

• Timeliness of Fellowship at this point in your career

• Independent Researcher

– Current standing within the national / international community

– Referees & their comments

• Quality, originality and potential impact of proposed research

• Broader context surrounding the research

• Ability to plan and manage resources

• Ability to communicate to a generalist audience


Types of Fellowship

Annual Calls from most Research Sponsors e.g. EPSRC, STFC, Royal Society, NERC for:

Postdoctoral Fellowships (3 years funding)

• Early career development awards to provide further post-doctoral experience and to support outstanding scientists as they become independent investigators.

Advanced / Career Acceleration Fellowships (5 years funding)• Awarded to enable outstanding early/mid career researchers to develop

into team leaders of international standing.

Royal Society University Research Fellowships (5 years funding, with possible renewals )

Other Fellowship schemes (e.g. Dorothy Hodgkin, Imperial Junior Research Fellowships)


Number Awarded Annually

EPSRC~ 10 PDF Mathematical Sciences~ 5 PDF Theoretical Physics ~ 10 PDF Cross-Disciplinary Interfaces (with Life Sci. or Social Sci.) ~ 50 Career Acceleration (and Leadership) *

STFC~ 12 PDF and ~ 12 AF

NERC ~ 30 PDF and AF

RS~ 30 URF *

* Based on 2008/09 schemes


Success Rates

Physics DepartmentNo. of Applications

(Awards)Success Rate

PDF AF PDF AF

2007/08 EPSRC 12 (4) 7 (1) 33% 14%

2007/08 STFC 10 (2) 12 (1) 20% 8%

2007/08 RS URF 11 (0) 0%

2008/09 EPSRC 9 (2)9

(5 to inter-view stage)

22%

2008/09 STFC 8 (1) 15 (2) 12.5% 13%

2008/09 RS URF 18 (1 to interview stage)


STFC National Success Rates

Advanced Postdoc

Financial Year

No applied

No Awarded

Success Rate

No applied

No Awarded

Success Rate

00/01 88 13 14.80% 85 14 16.50%

01/02 90 13 14.40% 101 14 13.90%

02/03 114 13 11.40% 129 14 10.90%

03/04 121 13 10.70% 142 14 9.90%

04/05 155 13 8.40% 175 14 8.00%

05/06 150 11 7.30% 162 12 7.40%

06/07 169 12 7.10% 117 12 10.30%


Application and Submission Process

• Departmental prioritisation– Quotas (some set externally)– Applications to be relevant to Group strategy– Departmental panels review applications– (Prioritisation at Faculty level also for some

schemes i.e. Imperial JRFs )

• Departmental internal deadlines a lot earlier than Sponsor deadlines– Full paperwork not required: CV, publication

list plus one-page research proposal


Departmental Quotas

• EPSRC PDF – 7

• EPSRC CAF – 15

• STFC PDF & AF – 22

• NERC – no quota

• Royal Society – (tbc)


Deadlines – EPSRC PDF (CAF dates n/a)

Deadline for candidates to contact Groups

22nd July 2009

Decision made on approvals by 31st July 2009

Internal deadline for InfoEd/Jes to be completed and submitted

19th August 2009

EPSRC deadline 26th August 2009


Deadlines – STFC PDF & AF


4th Sept 2009

Decision made on approval 16th Sept 2009


7th October 2009

STFC deadline 15th October 2009


Deadlines – NERC PDF & AF


Decision made on approval


23rd October 2009

NERC deadline 3rd November 2009


Sponsor Referee RequirementsEPSRC PDF

One personal academic e.g. PhD / postdoctoral supervisor Host Head of Department statement of support.

EPSRC CAFNone at initial outline stageHost Head of Department statement of support if short listed.

NERC PDF and AF Three or more scientific referees (not collaborators or based at current or

proposed institution)PDF can include one personal referee (not at the host institution).

STFC PDF and AFTwo personal referees (For PDF one can be from the Host Institution, for AF neither can)No Host Head of Department statement.

RS URFHost Head of Department statement of support. No other referees.


InfoEd, J-eS and e-Gap

• InfoEd: College’s internal proposal development tool- host Group takes lead- calculates costs for fellowship application- also attach proposal, CV & publications etc- HoD statement of support- justification of resources

• In parallel to InfoEd the candidate prepares application on- J-eS (for Research Councils) - e-Gap (for Royal Society) - details of how to register for J-eS and e-Gap available on

the respective websites

• NB Timely submission essential


Sponsor Assessment Process: EPSRC PDF

• EPSRC will endeavour to obtain at least two more reviewers' reports from expert members of the EPSRC College.

• Sifting panel, drawn from the EPSRC College, draws up an interview list.

• Interview:

10 minute presentation on proposed research

20 minute question and answer session.

The interview panel consists of 4-5 members who might not be expert in your particular field of research.

• Interviews will be held around January 2010 and results announced February – April 2010


Sponsor Assessment Process: EPSRC AF

(based on 2008/09 scheme)

• Application considered by an outline panel. Successful applicants invited to submit a full proposal.

• Full proposals sent to reviewers for main expert assessment. If reviewers’ comments are sufficiently supportive then candidates invited for interview.

• Following interview applications are be ranked in priority order and if above a cut-off will be sent to the Final Allocation Panel.

• The Final Allocation Panel Meeting comprises a representative (usually the Chair) of each of the interview panels, chaired by EPSRC’s CEO.

• Results this year will be known in July.


Sponsor Assessment Process: STFC PDF & AF

• Application considered by a Panel, covering all of STFC's scientific areas. Successful applicants called for interview.

• In considering the applications the Panel will use the following criteria: – the excellence of the applicant, including the ability to communicate their

science effectively;

– the timeliness and quality of the research proposal;

– the potential of the individual, including the capability to perform the wider role and responsibilities of an academic career;

– in the case of 'returners', the applicant’s track record in research before the break;

– the appropriateness of the group with whom the individual intends to work

• In finalising the awards to be made, the Panel may take account of the distribution in terms of subject and Institution.

• Results this year were known - PDF in February and AF in April.


Sponsor Assessment Process: RS URF

(based on 2008/09 scheme)

• All proposals reviewed and assessed by two members of the Selection Panel who have the most appropriate scientific expertise. A shortlist is drawn up.

• Shortlisted proposals reviewed by three independent referees who have been suggested by the two Panel members.

• The Selection Panel considers each shortlisted application, together with its nominated and independent references and draws up a second short list.

• Applicants that pass this stage are invited for interview in April.

• Final results are expected in May.


Other sources of information and assistance

EPSRC http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/ResearchFunding/Opportunities/Fellowships/default.htm

STFC http://www.scitech.ac.uk/Grants/Fells/Contents.aspx

Royal Society http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/funding.asp?id=1121

NERC http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/fellowships/

Faculty Research Information System http://www5.imperial.ac.uk/naturalsciences/researchinfo/


Other sources of information and assistance

Assistance available from:Physics Head of Department’s Office

Faculty Research Services Team

Postdoc Development Centre

Also talk to current fellowship holders in the department


Postdoc Development Centre Fellowship Event

Thursday 19th June 2.00 - 5.00pm

Lecture Theatre G16 SAF Building

Representatives from:

EPSRC, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering


Top Tips

• Plan well ahead – Timing in your career– Discuss well in advance with host institution– Allow plenty of time for internal deadlines

• Research– Importance of topic / issue– What can you contribute to it– Host institution – Support from potential collaborators / project partners

• Presenting yourself at interview- Panel may not be experts in your field- Justification of host institution and integration with scientific

community- Expect to be nervous !- Be prepared, be confident and be on time

© imperial college londonpage 1 applying for fellowships physics ras june 2009

Documents

imperial college londonpage

stage slide

career fellowship

assistance slide

departmental quotas

stfc pdf af

page research proposal

awarded success rate