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Money and a room of one’s own:
funding, fellowships, and the transition from PhD to
Postdoc
Dr Charlotte MathiesonResearch Fellow
Institute of Advanced StudyUniversity of Warwick
“a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”
(Virginia Woolf)
…. Money and office space = the 2 essentials of postdoc life
Outline
Fellowships & Funding Fellowship schemes Other types of funding
Surviving the post-PhD years
Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Research-focused Full-time work on research project Minimal/no teaching component (often optional)
Distinct from PhD Topic: new project, not thesis-to-book
Academic career preparation Expected ambition towards permanent academic
position
Leverhulme: “Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position.”
British Academy: “opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research.”
Main schemes at a glance
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (3 years)
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship (3 years)
Wellcome Trust (Medical Humanities) Research Fellowship (3 years)
Institutional schemes (various – 2, 3, 5 years typical)
Postdoctoral fellowships
British Academy
within 3 yrs of doctorate (date of viva)
UK/ EEA national or PhD in UK HEI
apply through a UK host institution
Salary and research expenses
Full economic costing from BA
Success rate c. 5% ; reapplication
Deadline in October
Leverhulme
within 5 yrs & not had FT perm. post
PhD from UK HEI
apply through UK host institution
Salary and research expenses
NOT FEC: match-funded by HEI
Success rate similar; reapplication
Deadline in March
Postdoctoral fellowships
Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships
Medicine funder with medical humanities remit
3 years funding; expectation of leading to career in med hums
PhD awarded prior to application; no year limit, but must not have held permanent or established post
Salary and expenses; fully-funded by Wellcome
Apply through a UK HEI; preliminary followed by full application
2 rounds of applications a year (Jan/April; July/September)
Postdoctoral fellowships
Other postdoctoral fellowship schemes
Warwick Institute of Advanced Study
Nottingham Research Fellowships
Birmingham Research Fellowships
Sheffield Vice-Chancellor Fellowships
What are funders looking for?
Person – Place – Project
What are funders looking for?
Person Track record: publications, funding
Outstanding research ideas
Commitment to academic career
How the fellowship will develop you
What are funders looking for?
Place Suitability of research environment for you & project
research centres, resources (e.g. archive collections), skills training opportunities, colleagues & mentor
Mobility: not required but encouraged “the development of an academic career is best served by
gaining experience at different institutions” (Leverhulme)
What are funders looking for?
Project Distinct from previous work
“It is not advisable to base the research proposal for the three-year Fellowship simply on publishing the PhD thesis in book form. Rather, evidence of progression to a second project will be required” (BA)
Outstanding, original research contribution value to the field, significance, rigour
Fellowships: general advice
Time research options well in advance; check requirements/
eligibility
Plan Identify gaps in CV & what you need to work on Weigh-up applying early vs. building up track-record
More time Draft, redraft, redraft again. Get feedback from colleagues,
peers. Internal review & institutional sign-off
Other positions/schemes
Postdoc position on bigger project Individual research contributing to bigger project goal
Teaching fellowships Teaching contract, usually less about skills or research
development
AHRC early career scheme Grant scheme – not individual scholarship Up to 8 years post-PhD / 6 years of first academic
position £50k - £250k
Other funding
Small grants to support research – Victorian societies, archives
BAVS research funding scheme £500 for PGs/ECRs to support research activity
Gladstone library Scholarships & bursaries
RSVP Curran fellowships for travel and research in 19th c
William Morris Society Joseph R. Dunlap Memorial Fellowship and William Morris Society
Award
Public engagement schemes
AHRC/ BBC new generation thinkers
“a new generation of academics who can bring the best of university research and scholarly ideas to a broad audience – through BBC broadcasting”
University schemes for PE/Impact
Surviving the post-PhD years
My post-PhD: 1.5 years of hourly-paid teaching, marking, invigilation, academic writing classes and 1-1 tuition, private A-level tuition, research assistant on project bid, library projects on support for ECRs, freelance proofreading, etc etc…
= “HOW NOT TO DO IT”
Eventually: 0.6 FTE research project fellow at Institute of Advanced Study for 1 year; increased to FT with 40% research time for a further 2.5 years.
A few things I learned…
Be flexible Jobs that combine teaching/admin/research Benefits: skills development e.g. public engagement
Stay affiliated Associate Fellows – library card, affiliation title
Ask for more Office space, lockers, small travel bursaries Conference fees
A few things I learned…
Peer support is everything: talk to each other Networks, union groups.
Peer support is everything: help each other Applications, interview & presentation practice
Plan 5-10 years Best laid plans… be flexible, but keep long-term in view
Dr Charlotte MathiesonInstitute of Advanced StudyUniversity of Warwick
@cemathiesonhttp://[email protected]
