The Institute of Advanced Studies: Internal Fellowship Programme

We invite applications from University of Birmingham researchers nominating an IAS Distinguished Visiting Fellow and proposing themselves as an IAS Fellow.

Up to £5,000 will be awarded to the successful applicants to fund teaching and administration relief and other activities to develop the collaboration. The IAS team will provide the appropriate administrative support. In addition to these funds, the IAS will support the travel and accommodation costs for the DVF, and resource and organise a relevant interdisciplinary workshop to facilitate DVF/IASF engagement and collaboration with others in the University of Birmingham Academy and beyond.

DVF and IASF proposals should include the following:

• Brief research proposal, possible outcomes from the collaboration and ideal timing for DVF visit (up to August 2017). Approximately half an A4 page (1 page maximum)
• Concise CVs of internal applicant and proposed DVF (1-2 pages each)
• An indication of a research budget for the project of up to £5,000 including ‘buy out’.
• Dissemination plan of specifics to be delivered during the DVF visit and the IAS Fellowship (e.g. seminar, workshop, public lecture).
• Confirmation from the DVF that if IAS were to offer a Fellowship they would accept.
• The application must be accompanied by a short statement of support from Head of School

Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Academic excellence and standing of the proposed DVF and IASF.
• The extent to which the visit will enhance existing collaborative research or has potential to explore new ideas leading to long-term, sustainable collaborations.
• The potential of the proposed research collaboration to develop a world-leading and transformative research programme.

Please contact Sue Gilligan for further information regarding upcoming application deadlines. 

• IAS fellows must be full members of academic staff. All career stages are eligible.
• While the norm is likely to be a full-time fellowship of one term, applications may propose other fellowship patterns if that is the most effective way of supporting the collaboration.
• IAS fellows will be supported by the IAS team to explore wider funding opportunities to create a package that facilitates an extension of the collaboration including School/College contributions, U21 and other international funding and external funding. For example, establishing a long-term collaboration beyond the DVF visit might involve a visit to the DVF’s home institution, exchanges of students, etc.
• We would normally expect DVFs to spend around one month on campus, although cases for longer and shorter visits will be considered.
• The current DVF scheme, that funds just a DVF visit, will continue alongside this new combined IASF-DVF programme. All applications under the combined IASF-DVF will also be considered for the DVF scheme unless the applicants indicate otherwise.
• The IAS welcomes DVF applications both from University academics and from scholars outside of the traditional University setting such as in research institutes, industries, charities, funders, museums, policy institutes and other organisations.
• The applications will be assessed against the criteria by the IAS Director and the five IAS Associate Directors in consultation with PVC Research: all are members of the University of Birmingham academy and all five Colleges are represented. Where necessary, external advice on applications may be sought.
• The IAS Deputy Director and Manager, Sue Gilligan (s.gilligan@bham.ac.uk) is available to discuss potential applications before submission and to advise on fit to this and other IAS programmes.
• Please visit the Institute of Advanced Studies website for more details on the University of Birmingham's IAS.