Guidance for Applicants – Stem Cell
Research Initiative CBAR Phase II
General Notes
The purpose of these notes is to provide some guidance on issues which may arise in completing
your application for a Fellowship under this Call. However, individuals wishing to apply for PostDoctoral Fellowships are strongly recommended to read the Guidance Notes for Post-Doctoral
Fellowships in Social Sciences, and individuals wishing to apply for Mid-Career, Senior Fellowships
are strongly recommended to read the details of the Research Fellowship Scheme and the Research
Funding Guide 2005.
Most of the issues covered below are technical and administrative, however, it is worth repeating at
the beginning that, to be eligible for this Call, applications must be drawn from across the fields of
research traditionally supported by ESRC. Additionally, applicants must be from researchers based
at a UK Higher Education Institutions and other Research Institutes eligible for ESRC funding.
Please read the ESRC Research Funding Guide
Objectives of the Early Career/Post-Doctoral Fellowships (PDF) Awards
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To produce publications in order to help establish a track record in their chosen
specialisation and secure opportunities for long term employment in the HEI sector
To disseminate their research findings that have come out of previous doctoral work to
both academics and non-academic audiences
To further improve their research and related skills through additional specialised training
To allow them to carry out further limited research based on their PhD work and related
work through developing proposals for further funding. Applicants should note that
whilst additional research linked to the PhD can be undertaken during a PDF, new
unrelated research may not. Should applicants wish to conduct research, an ESRC
research fellowship may be more appropriate.
Doctorate Criteria
Only applicant who have less than 12 months post-doctoral experience at the point of
commencing their PDF award will be considered. Applicants should anticipate that they will have
completed their doctorate at the time of the commencement of the award. Any offer of an award
will be conditional until ESRC has received documentary evidence of the successful completion of
the doctorate from the applicant’s institution. However, awards may commence once the thesis
has been submitted.
Evaluation
At the end of the award fellows will be required to submit an end of award report within two
weeks of the end of the award. Please see PDF Guidance Notes for further detail.
Objectives of the Mid-Career/Senior Fellowships Awards
The objectives of a Mid-Career/Senior Fellowship Awards are to
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Specify a programme of work rather than a single project. Therefore, any application for a
single research project will be ineligible for treatment as a Fellowship proposal. The
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programme of work must be related to the Stem Cell Initiative themes of translational
processes or international dynamics
Each award will be focused on developing the careers of selected outstanding researchers,
through funding a full-salaried period from 3 months to 2 years for this Initiative
Some of the time depending on the term of the award may be used to develop skills, such
as undertaking training in advanced research methods, research management and teaching
A minimum of extra responsibilities will be expected of the Fellow to contribute to the
development of the research field and appropriate dissemination to non-academic
audiences, such as teaching, supervision, dissemination or networking seminars
Fellowships may be used to consolidate previous research as long as this is strongly related
to the Stem Cell Initiative themes. Additionally, Fellowships are intended to assist
theoretical and methodological development through journal articles and to provide time
to write books
Each award is made for a known person based on their research potential or their track
record of excellence in research, rather than for a team of whom only the Principal
Investigator may be known. Exceptionally, however, under this Initiative Heads of
Departments or similar may apply on condition that the Fellowship post will be filled by 1
January 2007
A Fellow with less than ten years’ Post-Doctoral research experience will have a mentor
within the institution who will support and appraise the Fellow’s progress annually and
submit a report to the ESRC
Note: Only researchers with a background strongly related to the Stem Cell Initiative CBAR’s
two themes – translational processes and international dynamics – will be considered.
How To Submit
Full applications under this Call should be submitted to ESRC by 4pm on 28 June 2005. Je-S is a
new electronic submission system which has been out across the Research Councils to provide a
common electronic system that supports research administration. The ESRC have adopted the
Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) process from 1 September 2005. This replaces the Electronic
Forms System and must be used for all applications to this Initiative. In particular applicants
should note the registration requirements to make a Je-S submission (see below).
Applications may only be made on Research Councils Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) Forms.
Manual submissions will not be accepted.
Please also note that your application will actually be submitted through the despatcher facility at
your institution. In other words, there is a further layer of administration between you submitting
the application and the application being submitted to the ESRC via Je-S. This layer of
administration is at your institution and the ESRC cannot accept responsibility for any delay which
may occur as a consequence. We strongly advise applicants to secure confirmation from their
relevant administrator that the application has been successfully submitted to Je-S and to allow
time for the process to take place when preparing your submission.
Je-S forms are only accessible to Je-S registered individuals, and only Je-S registered individuals
may be named as principal or co-investigators. If you are in any doubt as to your registration
status, you are strongly advised to seek timely confirmation from your institution’s administration.
Je-S registered users must be at registered institutions. All main UK HEIs and UK Independent
Research Institutions are already registered. If you are in any doubt, you are strongly advised to
seek timely confirmation of your institution’s registration status from your institution’s
administration.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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Organisations needing to register for Je-S should contact the Je-S Helpdesk (01793 444164). Users
wishing to access the Je-S system for the first time are asked to check with their central
administration on the status of the organisation’s Je-S registration before pursuing the option of
creating an account through the JeS system. Unregistered users may create an account and register
at the Je-S log in site. Confirmation of registration typically takes about 48 hours. We strongly
advise potential applicants to apply to register, if necessary, as early as possible.
Non-UK institutions and non-UK-based individuals may not register for Je-S for the purposes of
this Call. ESRC awards are held by the institution of the Principal Investigator. Neither non-UK
institutions, nor UK institutions that are not formally taken by ESRC as research institutions, are
eligible to hold ESRC awards. Non-UK nationals are perfectly eligible to be Principal or Coinvestigators on ESRC awards, and to register for JeS, provided they are supported by a registered
UK institution.
Please note that requests for ESRC to approve a currently ineligible institution must be backed
with evidence that the institution’s primary purpose is research and are thoroughly reviewed, a
process that typically takes several weeks; applications involving co-investigators whose eligibility
relies on a positive outcome from such a request would therefore be very high risk.
In the event of technical problems with Je-S registration, accessing and/or submitting the Je-S
form, please contact the Je-S Helpdesk at 01793 444164 or email JeSHelp@rcuk.ac.uk (open
9.00am to 5.00, except holidays). Out of hours you can leave a Voice Mail message.
We strongly advise applicants not to wait until the deadline day before submitting their applications
and suggest that at least a 48 hour lead time should be planned. In the event of technical
problems in submitting the Je-S form before the deadline, please contact the Je-S Helpdesk as a
matter of urgency. Please note that post-deadline submissions will not be sanctioned if required
on grounds of delayed registration or failure of personal IT equipment.
Please find below guidance for navigating through JeS.
All queries should be addressed to the JeS Helpdesk in the first instance (Telephone: 01793
444164 or email: JeSHelp@rcuk.ac.uk).
The JeS form does contain helptext (top right hand corner).
As part of the implementation of the Je-S process, forms and terminology have had to be
harmonised, therefore, wherever possible, I have provided information to assist selection.
I hope you find the following notes useful.
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How To Complete Your Application Form:Once logged in to JeS, select add new document
Add new document menu
Select Council:
Select ESRC
Select Document: Select FEC Fellowships
Select Scheme:
Select Post Doctoral Fellowships (for early career/post docs) or
Research Fellowships (for Mid-Career/Senior Researchers)
Applicants will then be presented with a document menu screen and it's from here that they
complete the detail of the application. Please note that this is for illustration purposes only, where
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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it says Research Grants it should say Research Fellowships. There are various validations (checks)
against the fields to prevent essential information being omitted when the application is saved:
Edit project details:
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Complete all fields.
Select your institution or organisation from the list.
Select department from list. If not listed consult the institution’s research grant
administration department, they will then contact the Je-S helpdesk.
Specify a reference to use to identify this application – this is a unique identifier for this
application only and is used to distinguish between different proposals i.e. in the Current
Documents lists. Please do not use abc123.
Project Title:
Try to be as informative as possible but no more than 150 characters. This is mandatory
Type of Fellowship:
Stem Cells Initiative CBAR Phase II
Start Date and Duration:
Enter in number of months. This is mandatory. Post-Doctoral fellowships please take into
account the length of time to process the application – the earliest start date will be 1 October
2006. Start date should always be on 1st of month.
Years of Post-Doctoral Experience:
For applicants with less than 10 years of Post-Doctoral research, a mentor will be required within
the department in which the award will be held. Details of the mentor and the mentoring
arrangements should be submitted as an attachment type ‘Other’
Higher Degree Registration:
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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Applicants must state the date of their PhD submission or its expected date if they have not
submitted by the time of making the application. Post Doctoral Fellowship applicants must have
no more than 2 years post-doctoral experience.
Date of PhD Award:
Post- Doctoral Fellowship applicants should anticipate that they would have completed their
doctorate at the time of the commencement of the award.
Related Proposals:
If your application is related to another application previously submitted to ESRC select the
appropriate relationship from the list and enter the ESRC reference number.
You must declare if the new application relates to a previously submitted outline application or is a
resubmission of a previous application. You will need a cover letter explaining the difference to be
attached under ‘cover letter’.
Previous Proposals:
You must enter the reference numbers of any support sought or received from ESRC in the past 5
years.
Your application will not be considered if there is an overdue end-of-award report on an ESRC
award held by you as the applicant, if the award is current a progress report will be required.
Disciplines:
Research Fellowships need to indicate what is considered to be the primary and other disciplines
contributing to your research from the following list. The disciplines cited may influence the
selection of peer reviewers who will be invited to comment on your application.
Post Doctoral Fellowships need to indicate the appropriate discipline for the proposed Fellowship
in question.
Please note the following cannot be selected as primary disciplines
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Arts and Humanities
Biological Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Medical Sciences
Summary of Resources Required for Project:
This is dynamically created from entries made in other sections of the form.
Investigators:
Self explanatory but note we now talk about Principal and Co-investigators (not applicants)
Objectives:
List the objectives in order of priority and make sure they are those that you want the ESRC to use
as the basis for evaluation of the work upon completion. Please also indicate here which of the
Initiative themes your proposal relates to – translational processes or international dynamics.
Objectives for Early/Post-Doctoral Fellowships:
Please specify concisely the aims and objectives that should be achieved by the end of the
Fellowships. These could include:-
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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Intended contribution to Career development
Publications Plans
Dissemination and Networking Activities
Skill Development and Networking Activities
The Development of Research Proposals
Research Activities
Timetable
The aim of the Fellowship is to allow Fellows to carry out further limited research based
on their PhD work and related work through developing proposals for further funding.
Additional research linked to the PhD can be undertaken but new unrelated research may
not.
When the project comes to be evaluated, the ESRC will seek to assess how far the stated
aims and objectives have been achieved.
Objectives of the Mid-Career/Senior Research Fellowships
These are broadly the same with emphasis on
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How this award will develop your career
Proposed programme of work, including research projects, plans for writing,
organisation of seminars and so forth
Proposed extra activities such as teaching and supervision
Proposed training opportunities
Proposed mentoring from the institution
Summary:
This should be written in a style that is accessible to a variety of readers, including the general
public and cover
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The principal subject of the research
The key aims
Where and how the research would be undertaken
Who else would be involved
Please note that if you should be successful this summary may be used for dissemination to the
general public or press releases. This should be no more than 4000 characters this includes the
spaces.
Beneficiaries:
Those who are likely to be interested in or to benefit from the proposed research, this should
include both academic and non-academic audiences, and be no more than 4000 characters
including spaces.
Staff Duties:
Post Doctoral Fellowships – extra teaching or academic leadership duties of up to 120 hours per
year which includes not more than 30 hours teaching is permissible. Please see funding guidance
for more details.
Mid-Career/Senior Research Fellowships - The ESRC considers that some teaching experience or
contribution to academic leadership would be beneficial. In this case, this should be strongly
related to one of the Initiative topics. Extra duties (up to 120 hours per year, including not more
than 30 hours teaching) may be undertaken by the Fellow. These could involve e.g. organising
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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seminars to discuss research issues or disseminate findings at different stages of the research,
developing a discussion network based around the research issue, teaching (preferably at
postgraduate level), or supervision. Details of planned extra duties should be specified here.
Examples of user communities for ESRC research: industry, charities, universities, local authorities
and other public bodies, government departments and independent policy bodies.
No more than 4000 characters including spaces
Communication Plan
 How you plan to engage with potential non-academic users in your programme of work
 How you plan to communicate the results of your research to potential non-academic
users
 The potential value of your research to users outside the research community
Timetable:
Add your workplan for the proposed term of the Fellowship
Provide a clear timetable of the project and the intended progress of the Fellowship through
different stages of work. This helps referees assess the proposed approach, and facilitates
monitoring.
You may present the timetable in your own way. Please include all research activities to be
undertaken, e.g. theoretical work, preparation and design work, fieldwork, analysis, writing and
publication, research seminars, research training.
The timetable should demonstrate that the research has been properly planned and the time
needed to complete it, including dissemination activities, has been carefully estimated.
For Post-Doctoral Fellows, this is the section where applicants should lay out their work plan for
the fellowship year. Applicants should summarise the key milestones within the Je-S application, as
well as providing a more detailed timetable as an attachment, categorised as "Other".
Ethical information:
You are strongly recommended to consider any ethical implications connected to your proposed
work and how you will address them. Please refer to our Research Ethics Framework. This
section should comply with that guidance.
Resources Required For The Project
Fellowship applications submitted to the 2006 Fellowship round will be costed on the basis of full
economic costs (fEC). If a Fellowship is awarded, ESRC will provide funding at 80% of the fEC
costs requested. The organisation must agree to find the balance of fEC for the proposal from
other Resources.
All costs that contribute to the full economic cost fEC) of the proposal should be included for
allowable cost categories. The Je-S help text sets out in more detail the costs allowable under each
heading. Given the purpose of PDF’s, the main cost attributable to the Fellowship will be the
Fellow’s salary plus other directly incurred support costs or directly allocated costs (for example,
the costs of the mentor) that the institution will incur as a direct result of hosting the Fellow.
Given that Fellows are not expected to undertake a significant amount of new research, the ESRC
would not expect to support these costs. All costs should be fully justified in the case for support.
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The case for support must also contain a full justification of the resources requested
All of the Directly Incurred elements of your proposal must be justified
The effort, but not the cost, of the Principal Investigator must be justified
The Estates and Indirect Cost elements of the proposal do not need to be justified
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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Where you do not provide an explanation for an item that requires justification, it will be
cut from any award made
For items that are Directly Incurred and less than £1000, no more than one line of text is
required
Where survey costs are expected to exceed £20,000, the basis of this estimate should be
explained i.e. estimated cost per interview
Other Directly Incurred Costs:
List any other Directly Incurred costs in this section, with a brief description of each item, or
group of items.
Items should be specified as far as possible in the case for support and justified in terms of
requirement for the research proposed.
Examples of items that may be included under this heading are:
 consumables (including glass house consumables) – please specify;
 publication costs;
 specialist publications (not expected to be in institutional libraries)
 consultancy fees;
 field work fees/subjects/informants;
 computing – include recurrent costs of computing dedicated to each project only, e.g.
software licenses, but not costs associated with use of the host organisation’s central
computing facilities;
 equipment – only items costing less than £3,000 (including VAT);
 equipment-related items (if not included as part of the Research Organisation’s estates
costs), e.g. external maintenance contracts/agreements, relocation, rental/access charges
(specify equipment or service being used and basis of charging);
 recruitment and advertising costs for any staff directly employed on the project
 purchase/hire/running costs of vehicles if necessary for the project.
Other Directly Allocated Costs
This section may include, for example:
 The salary costs of support staff working on the project, full or part-time, whose activity is
not supported by an auditable record.
 A share of the costs of departmental support staff whose work supports a range of
projects and activities, such as health and safety.
 The costs of access to major research facilities attributed on the basis of charge-out rates.
 A share of the costs for use of existing equipment, including central and distributed
computing. Charges for use by the project of existing equipment must not include any
element of depreciation if the equipment was purchased from Research Council funding.
 Select from the list of items given.
Facilities:
Select from list, please check with your institution that these will be available and be met before
submitting proposal
Other Support:
Please enter details of any support sought or received from any other source
You must state if this application has been submitted to any other organisation and provide details
Project Partners:
A project partner is normally defined as an organisation providing specific contributions (either
direct or indirect) to the research project. Non-contributing beneficiaries or HEIs eligible to
receive grant support from the council should not be entered as project partners. Ordinarily,
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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project partner contributions in cash or in-kind should be seen as additional to the Research
Councils’ contribution and are not considered part of the FEC of the project. Note that ESRC
will pay award costs to the award-holding institution only. Arrangements for meeting the costs of
all associated institutions are between the award-holding institution and any other party might need
to take account of this.
Data Collection:
Self explanatory but with slight amended questions (at request of ESDS):
Referees:
Provide details of referees whom the Council may approach for assessment of the research
proposal.
Nominated referees should be experts in the research field and/or be able to provide an expert
view on the value and benefits to users of the research proposal. International referees may be
included, but applicants should avoid nominating more than one referee from the same
organisation.
Full contact details must be given for each referee, including at least one of telephone or e-mail
(the Councils prefer to correspond by e-mail whenever possible).
Should you have less than 10 years post-doctoral experience you can nominate someone at your
own institution as referee.
Classification:
Self-explanatory, please identify any international dimensions including overseas collaborations
Declaration:
In submitting a fellowship proposal to the Research Councils, the Administrative Authority of a
Research Organisation is confirming that:
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They have read and understood the requirements of the Research Council to which they
are applying.
 If awarded the grant, they will accept the terms and conditions of the awarding Research
Council.
 They have not entered into any obligations that may conflict with the Research Councils
terms and conditions.
 They have verified the identity of the applicant.
Some fellowships require a Head of Department/Institutional Statement. We will assume that this
has been filled in by the appropriate person; it is the Research Organisation’s responsibility to
ensure that this is the case. For PDF’s you will need a reference, please see below.
Attachments:
The JeS form includes a number of attachments, whilst the list is common across the RCs their
relevance varies. Please see the summary below:
Case for support
Mandatory
CV
Mandatory
See below for areas that need to be covered
within a Post-Doctoral Fellowship application see
Annex 1
A CV for each applicant and any named research
staff should be included with the application
(maximum of 500 words, minimum font 12, per
person). Each CV should give full name, date of
birth, degrees and postgraduate qualifications
(including the class and subject of the award),
academic and professional posts held since
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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graduation, a list of the most relevant and recent
publications, and a record of research funded by
the ESRC and other bodies.
Letters of support that are essential to the
successful conduct of the research (e.g. access to
datasets, or organisations) can be submitted with
an application but general letters of support
should not be included with the application.
All resubmitted applications must be
accompanied by a covering letter summarising
the major revisions. Resubmissions without
covering letters will not be accepted for
processing.
Applicants wishing to use national
supercomputing facilities located at either the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory or at the
Manchester Computing Centre should first obtain
a copy of the relevant application form: either
NS1 or NP1. This form should be completed in
full and submitted with the application.
All current award holders must submit a progress
report on their current awards with any new
application which should match the output
records maintained by the applicant of ESRC
Society Today. The progress reports should not
exceed 1000 words (minimum font 12) per
project.
List bibliographic information
Letter of Support
Not mandatory
Cover letter
Not mandatory
Facility Form
Not mandatory
Final/Interim Report
Not mandatory
List of publications
Not mandatory
Reference
Please print off and use the PDF reference forms
in annex to this document, Annex 2
Head of Department
Statement
Mandatory for
Post-Doctoral
Fellowships only
Mandatory on
fellowships
Other
Not mandatory
If the scheme-specific guidance requires the
submission of additional material not covered by
other attachments, please
Validation and Submission
When all sections are completed and saved, select Validate Document in the Document Menu.
It is possible that a list of issues for rectification will result. Please address these and re-validate.
Once the application is satisfactorily completed, select Submit Document in the Document
Menu.
To reiterate – please note that your application will actually be submitted through the despatcher
facility at your institution. In other words, there is a further layer of administration between you
submitting the application and the application being submitted to the ESRC via Je-S. This layer of
administration is at your institution and the ESRC cannot accept responsibility for any delay which
may occur as a consequence. We strongly advise applicants to secure confirmation from their
relevant administrator that the application has been successfully submitted to Je-S by the
cut-off time and date.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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Please note that the JeS form will go to your institution’s administration system after
electronic submission of the JeS form by yourself. This means there may be some delay
between the submission on your terminal and the receipt of the JeS form by ESRC.
Please make sure that submission is made with enough time for these processes to be
completed before the final cut-off time.
Please note that no submissions can be accepted after the final cut-off time and date.
If there is anything that is not clear on these guidance notes please contact
isie.macintyre@esrc.ac.uk 01793 413068.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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ANNEX 1:
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Applications will only be accepted when they are made on the Postdoctoral Fellowships
Form and if they are accompanied by:
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Supervisor Reference
The applicants PhD supervisor will provide a reference on the form at Annex 2. A
checklist for supervisor comments on applications is at Annex 3. This must be enclosed
with the application form at the time of the application. Therefore, it is important
that you give the form and notes for guidance to your supervisor in good time. The
supervisor may wish to enclose the comments in a sealed envelope to the ESRC. We
regret that if the supervisor’s assessment is not received, the application will not be
accepted by ESRC and we will not process it any further.
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Case of support
The case of support should be a maximum of 3500 words and consist of
Abstract/Summary
As well as asking for information about plans for the year, we require all applicants
provide either a brief summary or abstract of the in-progress or completed thesis. This
should include its main claims to originality and excellence, methodology used, and
significant findings.
Research and Related Achievements
Provide a brief summary of ‘where you are now’ in your training and personal
development. This will help referees and the assessment panel assess whether an applicant
is at a stage in their career development where a PDF will have an important and lasting
impact on their ability to work as a professional academic.
The Impact of Your Research
This section should describe the impacts an applicant’s research has had or that they
expect it to have. Impacts include the impact of completed research and any planned new
research, the diffusion of its results and the building up of a publication track record, the
development of the research field and the behaviour or understanding of users and policy
makers. We are also interested in the impact the applicant’s training to date has had on
their skills development and on their prospects for a successful academic career.
Proposed Programme of Work
This is where applicants should lay out their work plan for the fellowship year using the
following headings:
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Intended contribution to career development
Publication plans
Dissemination and networking activities
Skill development and advanced training
The development of research proposals
Research activities (see notes for guidance)
Other
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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o
Timetable
PDFs are not expected to undertake new research during an award. However, limited
additional research directly linked to the PhD can be undertaken. The work programme
should provide the PDFs with time to develop their research skills through further
advanced training, to learn the skills of writing for publication and to prepare new research
proposals for submission to funding bodies. PDFs must not however be funded from any
other source during the lifetime of the award except for the activities detailed below.
It is accepted that during the period of award a limited amount of teaching and other nonresearch activities could be beneficial to the professional development of the PDF. Award
holders will therefore be permitted to put aside a maximum of 120 hours to other duties,
including not more than 30 contact hours of teaching, pro rata for part time award
holders. Other activities included in this provision include organising and running
seminars to explore research topics and issues or developing discussion networks based
around the award holders particular research interest. The details of any planned extra
duties should be specified in this section. To summarise, applicants should clearly
demonstrate they are ready to take the next step toward an academic career, explain how
an award would improve their research career prospects; and, outline plans for writing and
other publication activities. Applicants should also detail any proposed extra activities
including teaching that might be carried out during the year and describe the planned
training that will take place.
Ethical Considerations
The ESRC expects that the research it supports will be carried out to a high ethical
standard. Applicants must outline what ethical considerations have arisen as a result of
the proposal within the case of support. Applicants should explain how, if relevant, these
considerations and other ethical questions will be dealt with and specify which
professional code of conduct will be referred to in addressing ethical questions during the
course of the research.
Relevant to the Initiative
The proposed programme of work should fit well with the aims and objectives of the call.
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Head of Department Statement
PDF host institutions must demonstrate their strong support for the application. In doing so
the institution will guarantee as a minimum that the named mentor will be available and that
appropriate support facilities, including office space and appropriate computing facilities, will
be made available to the PDF during the period of the award.
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CV
The CV needs to provide brief details of education to date, any awards received for
work or training, previous employment history and any conference papers or
publications.
Mentor Details
Fellows will be required to have a mentor throughout the period of the award and they should be
identified at the time of applying. The mentor will need to be a senior colleague within the host
institution. The mentor should not be the PhD supervisor unless a full justification can be
provided. This will only be acceptable in extreme circumstances and no alternative is available.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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The assessment panel and referees take the role of the mentor seriously. They will look for a well
thought out action plan when they assess each application. Referees and the panel members are
advised that an Alpha applicants mentor will have demonstrated they have considered the
individual applicants needs carefully and tailored their programme of support to the individual
needs of the student. An excellent mentor will ensure the PDF is kept properly active and
focussed throughout the year. They will also keep the PDFs long term career prospects clearly in
mind. ESRC will not fund the mentor’s contribution to the PDF nor fund more than two awards
per mentor.
The form editor can be accessed from the ESRC website: Form Editor
The eligibility criteria and terms of award are the same as for the generic ESRC postdoctoral
fellowship scheme, details of which can be found at: Fellowships. Please note that if you navigate
to this page via the home page it will be through Home: Funding Opportunities: Postdoctoral
Fellowships.
We expect these Fellowships to commence at the earliest on 1 October 2005 and must end by 31
August 2006 (please refer to summary of key dates in the Call Specification document). Applicants
must have completed their doctorate no more than two years prior to the beginning of the award
or expect to do so by 1 October 2006. Those returning to work after a career break will also be
eligible. Applications must be made through institutions recognised by ESRC for research funding
and should come with the full support of the institution and a nominated mentor who will guide
the fellow.
All fellows will normally be appointed on spine point 6 of the RA 1A scale (currently £21,640) or
the nearest equivalent. For all Fellows, ESRC will, in addition to the salary, meet estate and
indirect costs. In addition, a sum of £4,000 will be available to support the Fellow in carrying out
their proposed programme of work, for travel and subsistence, equipment and other costs.
Additional Note:
Applicants should also email a copy of their proposal to isie.macintyre@esrc.ac.uk by the closing
date. Whilst receipt of this copy will not constitute a formal submission, it will be of great help to
officers at ESRC.
Applications will be subject to peer and merit review and then considered by a Commissioning
Panel.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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ANNEX 2:
REFERENCE ON POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION
PLEASE RETURN YOUR REFERENCE TO ESRC REGISTRY ALONG WITH THE
APPLICATION
Applicant Name:
Department:
Institution:
Supervisors Name:
Department:
Institution:
1. THE APPLICANT:
Based on the application how would you rate the potential intellectual ability of the applicant? Do
you believe a Postdoctoral Fellowship will have a significant and lasting impact on the applicant’s
future in the higher education sector?
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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REFERENCE:
2.
APPLICANT’S NAME:
Please tick the boxes below to indicate your assessment of the application’s priority based
on your written comments.
PRIORITY FOR FUNDING
LOW
MODERATE
HIGH
Intellectual ability/potential of applicant
Quality of programme specified in the
proposal
Potential impact of publication plans
Strength of institutional commitment
Probable impact of an award
3. OVERALL GRADING (Please tick to indicate you advice. Please see checklist for definitions)
Alpha+
Alpha
Alpha –
Beta
Reject
4. SIGNATURE: ____________________________
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
5. DATE:_____________
16
REFERENCE
APPLICANT’S NAME:
Please provide any additional comments or views about the application or candidate. Where an
applicant has successfully completed their PhD it would be useful for the assessment panel to
know whether the degree was recommended following minor corrections or major revision and
resubmission.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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ANNEX 3:
CHECKLIST
FOR
APPLICATIONS
COMMENTS
ON
POSTDOCTORAL
FELLOWSHIP
You are asked to indicate your overall judgement of the PDF application using the following
guidance with respect to grades. You are reminded that any application which receives a combined
grade of below Alpha- from the supervisor and referees will automatically be rejected in the office.
ALPHA
An alpha grade should be awarded to an application from an individual of high intellectual ability
or potential that would benefit substantially from a PDF in terms of the time it would allow for
them to develop their skills and profile. The proposed programme of work should fit well with the
objectives of the scheme and there should be a clear coherent programme of activities laid out in
the proposal. There should also be strong evidence of the host institution’s commitment to the
training and promotion
of younger or new academics. Finally the chosen mentor will have demonstrated that they have
considered the individual applicants needs carefully and tailored their programme of support to
meet these needs. An excellent mentor will insure the PDF is kept properly active throughout the
year with their long term career prospects clearly in mind.
Alpha + First class applications which promise a great deal. These individuals will demonstrate
outstanding intellectual ability/potential and a very strong commitment to a career in the academy.
Their proposal should convincingly answer the objectives of the scheme and lay out a rigorous,
challenging programme of activities. The potential scientific merit of the candidate’s work should
be without question and the probable impact of an award apparent. The institution should be fully
behind the applicants and their work.
Alpha Excellent applications which demonstrate high intellectual ability/potential and a strong
commitment to pursuing an academic career. They will come with good institutional support and
the merit of the candidate’s work should be obvious.
Alpha- Applications which fall into this category are not likely to be of a consistently high quality
throughout the proposal although they will reflect some excellent ideas. Whilst the candidates will
be strong in themselves they may not demonstrate a real commitment to pursuing an academic
career in the long term. Evidence of institutional support may not be strong in an Alpha –
proposal.
BETA
Beta applications come from individuals who might derive some benefit from a PDF. However,
their proposals will be unconvincing, they will not demonstrate evidence of a strong institutional
commitment and will not make a significant contribution to the applicant’s publishing record or
research skills.
REJECT
Poor proposals which will not make a contribution to the applicant’s knowledge, skills or track
record. Applications graded Reject will not meet the objectives of the scheme and there will be
little or no evidence of a thought through programme of activities.
JeS Guidance Notes for Applicants – Stem Cell Initiative CBAR Phase II
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