We advise getting in touch with potential academic staff mentors early on (at least 4 months before the relevant scheme deadline) to develop your ideas. This will help you understand how your research and that going on in the Dept could complement each other, which is often a key component of a successful proposal. Allow enough time to iterate your ideas with staff members to help you develop your scientific case: we are always happy to work with applicants over extended periods to develop high-quality proposals.
Think about what ideas and questions excite you, what might excite the broader community and how you can make the case that you are right person at the right time and in the right place to take this science further. Also think of ways in which a fellowship could help your future career: you can use a potential fellowship scheme to broaden your expertise (e.g., building on your existing research tools or past experience) as well as learn completely new skills or research areas.
Read the scheme guidance published on potential funder websites. Make sure you have checked whether your idea fits with what they wish to fund – ask staff members in related subject areas what their experience is with funding success in these schemes. Be open to applying to multiple schemes and preparing draft proposals
Think about what your proposed research might cost (especially if you need access to specific equipment or facilities) and make sure you understand what can be accomplished with the funding on offer so that your proposal is realistic. Ask if you are not sure! We can offer advice on all costs that will need to be included in your proposal.
Many fellowship applications need letters of support from Heads of Department, or sometimes Pro Vice-Chancellors. These can usually only be requested once the application is nearly complete and it is in your interest to allow sufficient time for these to be written well. Your academic mentor will be very involved in developing your letter and liaising with other Department members to secure these letters of support, but do make sure you allow enough time for this.
If you want to apply for a fellowship that isn’t listed on our pages, please send details of the program you are interested to the academic staff member that you think would be the most suitable for you to collaborate and they can make further enquiries on your behalf.
Useful information about holding a fellowship in the Department of Earth Sciences. In all cases the Department will provide you with appropriate office and laboratory space, and we have many shared research facilities that you can to make use of in your research (some of which you should include access costs in your application):
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Shorter fellowships including Marie Skłodowska Curie, UKRI Stephen Hawking, EPSRC Postdoctoral fellowships and Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs) associated with Cambridge Colleges are ideally suited to applicants close to their finishing their PhDs or with just a few years of postdoctoral experience.
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Stipendiary (salaried) JRFs associated with Cambridge colleges are advertised at intervals in the University Reporter throughout the year. They are also advertised on College websites. Typically, salaries associated with these college JRFs are lower than grant-funded postdoctoral salaries or those associated with major research schemes although other benefits (typically food and accommodation) apply. College JRFs do not usually come with large allowances for research funding. Start dates are typically in October, with deadlines from August the year before to February.
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Longer fellowships (such as those offered by NERC and the Royal Society, STFC Ernest Rutherford) allow candidates to work in manner similar to permanent academics. Successful candidates manage their own research funds, are expected to develop their own independent research programme, can co-supervise graduate students and PDRAs, and can apply for limited internal seed funding and in some (funder permitted) cases other external funding, where they full have the full support of the Department (including administrative help).
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Fellows are not expected to shoulder a large teaching or administration load (and usually funder rules prohibit spending more than a few hours per week on non-research activities) but there will be opportunities to teach and become involved in departmental matters if you wish to.
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You will be assigned a mentor (often your sponsor) to provide advice on all aspects of your career during your fellowship. Almost all of our fellows go on to be appointed to permanent posts, often at extremely prestigious departments/institutions worldwide.