This call is now closed and has been replaced by our new funding schemes:
The Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorship scheme was founded in 1976 from a bequest from the estate of businessman Benjamin Meaker. To date it has brought over 450 Distinguished Visiting Professors to the University of Bristol (UoB), representing a wide range of disciplinary, theoretical and methodological approaches. The scheme is open to applications from any school or faculty within the University; the purpose of these awards is to bring distinguished researchers from overseas to Bristol in order to enhance the research activity of the University in any field.
Awardees can expect a carefully planned and hosted visit lasting between one and three months, during which they will undertake world-leading, curiosity-driven research in partnership with UoB academics. The scheme offers ideal conditions in which to stretch the boundaries of the academic field in question, with generous and peaceful space for work and life provided, along with monies set aside for travel to Bristol and subsistence during the stay. Our recently refurbished bespoke building for academic visitors, Principal’s House at 1 University Walk, is a haven right in the heart of the university’s central precinct. It provides self-catering accommodation with generous living areas, as well as communal and office space which can be used for meetings. Visitors will also have use of the Verdon-Smith Room, Royal Fort House for workshops or seminars.
A visit to the University of Bristol will encourage long-lasting international research partnerships, developing research through co-authored publications and collaborative research funding bids. In addition to working with their host and host department colleagues, Visiting Professors will have opportunities to work with research-active UoB members at all levels, from postgraduate to emeriti, and they will have the chance to schedule a suite of internal and public-facing activities, from consultations and masterclasses to workshops, public lectures and performances. The Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorship scheme therefore offers fantastic mutual benefits for both the visitor and the host, and over time the cumulative effect of these international research collaborations will produce a truly global community of scholars and advancement across a range of research fields.
