Fellowship opportunities
The School of Biological Sciences is seeking highly motivated individuals to join us as
Join us!
If you are interested in applying for a Fellowship to be based in the School of Biological Sciences, or would like to move here on an existing Fellowship, please contact the Head of School, Prof. Nick Roberts (headofschool-biology@bristol.ac.uk) to arrange a meeting.
We can support you in the following ways:
Your application
Writing
As with thesis chapters and journal papers, writing your first fellowship application can be daunting. Members of the School with a range of experience (e.g. successful applications, membership of research council selection panels) are happy to discuss your ideas in detail, and provide advice and feedback at the draft stage.
Independence
An important, but often overlooked, aspect of the application is how you will fit in to your new department. We will discuss with you possible collaborative opportunities with existing staff and how you will develop your own independent research group.
Interview
Early-career researchers often have little experience of interviews, which can make all the difference between success and failure. To enhance your chances, we will organise a mock interview and provide extensive feedback to help refine your performance.
Your arrival
Arriving at a new University department can be a confusing and frustrating experience. The School of Biological Sciences acknowledges that research fellows need to integrate in to the School and develop their research programmes as quickly as possible. We have therefore adopted a Research Fellow Code of Best Practice to ensure that suitable office and lab space is ready in advance of arrival, extensive help and mentorship is provided and specialist facilities are set up within an agreed time frame. All new research fellows are additionally encouraged to give an introductory departmental seminar within their first few months to meet colleagues and discuss future research directions.
Your development
Mentoring
Each fellow is assigned both a junior and a senior mentor. Senior mentors will provide guidance on research and career development (including publishing and grant applications). Junior mentors (usually other research fellows) will assist with integration in to the school and day to day issues.
Teaching
Although the focus of a fellowship should be research, opportunities to teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate level are available for interested individuals. Moreover, fellows can take advantage of the university-run Teaching and Learning programme, which provides invaluable training for future lecturers.
Skills
Fellows are encouraged to participate in career development training programmes run by the university and targeted at research staff.
Your future
Training
An annual review with your mentor will allow you to assess future options, identify training needs and capitalise on opportunities.
Progression
We aim to prepare all our research fellows for the next stage of their career. Fellows earlier on in their career (e.g. Marie Curie, Leverhulme, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin, BBSRC Discovery) will be assisted in their applications for more senior fellowships. More senior fellows (5 year NERC, Royal Society URF, ERC, UKRI FLF) will be helped in securing permanent positions at the end of their fellowship. Over 80% of our fellows have gone on to permanent academic position in the School and many of our current senior fellows are on proleptic positions.