Fellowship Call 2017-2018 (CLOSED) - See the INEW Exchange Scheme
Applications are invited for the NEWS India-UK Research Fellowship held at one of the UK partner institutes: Centre or Ecology and Hydrology, the University of Edinburgh (School of GeoSciences) or the University of Aberdeen (The Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences). The fellowship is for a maximum of 3 months for the junior fellows and a maximum of 1 month for the senior fellows, and should be completed within 12 months after 1st of October of the year of the application period. The fellowship is intended to provide an opportunity for junior as well as senior researchers to come to the UK to develop and share skills in N-focused genetic or flux measurement techniques and specific modelling methods (see the offered research areas below) as well as to develop scientific cooperation.
Applicants must be Indian citizens, and resident and pursing their scientific research in India. Applicants for the Senior Fellowships must have a doctorate and at least 5 year post-doctoral experience. Applicants for the Junior Fellowship must be a PhD student or a researcher with less than 5 year post-doctoral experience.
The successful applicant will be expected to be in residence in the city of the hosting institute (Edinburgh or Aberdeen) for the duration of the Fellowship. The Fellowship provides a weekly allowance for living expenses in the UK of £325 for the junior fellows and £450 for the senior fellows, and a contribution of a maximum of £1200 to travel expenses and visa costs, payable after commencement of the fellowship in the UK.
The NEWS fellows are provided with desk space in the hosting institute and all the usual research facilities. The fellows are expected to play a full part in the activities of the hosting institute, and are encouraged to engage with the development of the NEWS India-UK Nitrogen MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).
Offered Research Areas
Applicants are encouraged to choose a research topic from the list proposed by the NEWS India-UK partner institutes. Proposals from applicants for other topics are also welcome; however, these must be in close relation to one of the research areas offered by the hosting institutes and must have been pre-agreed with the intended host institution and team.
The proposed research areas can be found here.
Application procedure
The application form can be downloaded from here.
When completed, it should to be e-mailed together with all the supplementary documents to the Secretary of the NEWS Fellowship Panel (Andrea.Moring@ed.ac.uk).
The NEWS Fellowship Panel members are:
- Prof. Altaf Ahmad
- Andrea Móring (Secretary)
- Prof. Himanshu Pathak
- Prof. N. Raghuram
- Prof. Dave Reay (Chair)
- Prof. Jo Smith
- Dr. Desiraju Subrahmanyam
- Prof. Mark Sutton
Application deadline: 30th June, 2017.
The Fellowship Panel selects and informs the awarded applicants by 31th August, 2017.
References
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A minimum of two and a maximum of three confidential references are required.
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At least one referee should come from one of the Indian partner institutes: Aligarh Muslim University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Indian Agricultural Research Institute or Indian Institute for Rice Research.
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A letter of support from the UK hosting institute is required.
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Applicants should ask their referees to email their reference to the Secretary of the Fellowship Panel (Andrea.Moring@ed.ac.uk).
Notes for guidance
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Candidates must be Indian citizens, resident and pursue their scientific research in India
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Candidates for the Senior Fellowships will hold a doctorate and have at least 5 year post-doctoral experience, for the Junior Fellowship will pursue PhD studies or have less than 5 year post-doctoral experience.
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Candidates are required to prove their English language competence. Applicants for the Junior Fellowship have to make sure that in their confidential reference the NEWS India-UK referee confirms the applicant’s high level of written and spoken English. Applicants for the Senior Fellowship should have a minimum of one year of working experience or studies in a native English speaking country or provide a list of peer reviewed publications written in English.
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Candidates will be expected to have been in communication with the researcher from the hosting institute with whom they intend to collaborate before applying, and to name the collaborator/mentor in their application. The collaborator must also provide a letter of support for the fellowship.
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Fellows are expected to be resident in the city of the UK hosting institute (Edinburgh or Aberdeen) throughout the tenure of their fellowship and to play a full part in the activities of the hosting institute. The hosting institute will be pleased to help with finding suitable accommodation in the city. The minimum tenure for a Fellowship is three weeks, the maximum is 6 months; applications for less than three weeks will not be considered. Fellows are expected to make their own travel and visa arrangements.
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Only fully completed applications will be considered. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that all documentation is complete, and that referees submit their reports to the NEWS Fellowship Panel. Applications may include a copy of any one article or publication that is thought to be especially relevant to the research proposal and fellowship submission.
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The fellowship period can occur between 1st of October of the year of the application period and 30th September of the following year, depending on the requirements of the applicant and the availability of the hosting institute.
Criteria for evaluation
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The research proposed by the candidate fits to the project, balancing with the different components of the NEWS India-UK.
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The Fellowship Panel places considerable importance on the academic record and the publications of all applicants, as well as the quality of the submitted research proposal and/or the motivation statement.
Reporting
The awarded fellows should provide a short report of their fellowship within 6 weeks after returning to their home country. This report will include:
- a summary of the research outcomes,
- plans for exploitation and publication of the results,
- a short popular description of their experience, suitable to include to the NEWS India-UK blog.
Further assistance
For further assistance, please contact Andrea Móring, e-mail: Andrea.Moring@ed.ac.uk
