Junior Fellowships Event
16.05.14
What are sponsors looking for in
research fellows?
Melissa Bateson
Professor of Ethology, Institute of Neuroscience
Melissa.Bateson@ncl.ac.uk
Aims:
1. To present an insider’s view of how a
fellowship selection panel works
2. To summarise the main considerations of a
panel in assessing fellowship applications
Royal Society Dorothy
Hodgkin Fellowships
“This scheme is for outstanding scientists in the
UK at an early stage of their research career
(within 6 years of their PhD) who require a
flexible working pattern due to personal
circumstances such as parenting or caring
responsibilities or health issues. Female
candidates are particularly invited to apply. ”
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin
Fellowships selection process 2013
• 72 eligible applications across all sciences received by Royal Society
• Selection panel comprised of about 14 senior academics spanning all
disciplines from psychology of particle physics
– I covered neuroscience, psychology and behavioural ecology
• Each application scored (1-7) by 2 panel members
– Each panel member gets about 20 applications
– Many will be well outside their area of direct expertise
– First short list based on mean of 2 panel members’ scores
• First short list of 25 applications sent out to external referees
– External referees are selected by the panel members
– External referees are experts in the area of the application
• Second short list of 14 chosen using panel and referee scores
• Second short list interviewed by the panel
– Applicants invited to present a short (5 min) talk on their work at the start
– Most appropriate panel member chosen to lead the questioning for each
applicant
• 5 fellowships awarded = 7% success rate (8% in 2014).
Take home messages:
• Most fellowship schemes are hugely competitive;
you must be prepared for failure
• A triage step will often be applied; panels will
often use crude criteria to do this; if your CV is
not competitive for your career stage, it doesn’t
matter how good your project is…
• Your project needs to be accessible to non-expert
scientists
• Your project needs to stand up to scrutiny by
experts in your field
• You need to come across strongly in interview
So what are panels looking for?
• Ultimately, they want to give fellowships to
those applicants that they think will be future
research leaders in their fields.
• Therefore, your job is to convince the panel
that you have the makings of a future
principal investigator.
Traits that panels want to identify:
•
•
•
•
•
Ambition to answer big questions
Productivity
Creativity – novelty of approach
Clarity in both thought and writing
Scholarship – knowing your field and where you
fit
• Independence – how much of your track record is
yours versus that of your current supervisor?
What they actually look at:
1. Publications
2. Other evidence of achievement (degree results,
prizes, scholarships, grant awards etc.)
3. Where you have worked and with whom
4. The appropriateness of your chosen host
institution and lab.
5. Your proposed project
6. Referees’ letters
7. Budget
Publications
• These are the most important factor, and are often used in triage stages.
• You must have sufficient first/senior author primary research papers to be
competitive.
• Reviews, commentaries and sole-author papers help demonstrate
independence.
• Having publications with people other than your supervisor/research group
shows initiative and independence.
• Impact factors and citations matter.
Take home messages:
• Publication is the most important thing you can do to increase your
competitiveness for fellowships.
• Seek advice on your publication list before applying. There is no point in
applying if you don’t have sufficient quality or quantity of papers.
• Include journal impact factors and citation information in your publication list
to help panels understand the impact of your work.
Other evidence of achievement
• Excellent degree results, prizes, scholarships etc. all help to
demonstrate your achievements
• Any grant income that you have won is also very impressive
and demonstrates ambition and independence
• Invited talks at other institutions look impressive
Take home messages:
• Investigate applying for external money; even small grants
look good (e.g. travel grants, vacation scholarships for
undergraduates etc.)
• Take advantage of any invitations to present your work either
at conferences or at other institutions.
• Make sure any awards are prominently listed in your CV
and/or personal statement.
Where you have been and plan to be
• Scientists usually benefit from periods working in different labs.
• Leaving the lab where you did your PhD is usually vital for achieving
and demonstrating independence.
• Panels will require a strong justification from someone wanting to
stay in the same place for a fellowship.
• Panels will assess the quality of your chosen host institution and lab
in assessing your fellowship application.
Take home messages:
• Consider carefully whether you should move labs or institutions.
• If you are planning to stay where you did your PhD, is this really the
best place to be? How can you develop and demonstrate
independence from your supervisor?
– Consider short-term visits to other labs if you have to stay.
Your project
• Panels will look for the following qualities:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
A clearly articulated and important research question
Hypotheses and predictions that you will test
Novelty of the work
Appropriate, well-justified methodology
Feasibility and contingency planning for risky projects
Potential impact of the work both in your field and beyond
Clarity of writing
Take home messages:
• Seek advice and input on your project ideas at an early stage (before you
start writing).
– Consider giving a talk about your proposed project to your research
group/institute/post-doc association to get feedback
• Have your project read by several other people including non-experts .
Referees
• Letters from referees are important in helping to create the impression
that you are a future research leader.
• Panels will be impressed by referees from other institutions and
especially from abroad, since this demonstrates the reach of your work.
• Panels will be impressed by referees that they know or have heard of.
Take home messages:
• Choose your referees carefully: the most important thing is that they say
positive things about you!
• If prominent people in your field know your work well and like it, then
ask them if they will be a referee for you.
• Be strategic: if you are applying for a Royal Society fellowship and you
know an FRS, then ask them if they would be a referee for you.
Costs
• Most fellowships require you to cost your project.
• Sponsors will typically set limits on what costs can be
requested.
• Most sponsors are interested in getting good value for
money.
• The panel I was on never discussed costs…
Take home messages:
• Make sure your project is appropriately costed
– Your institute research support officers can help with this.
• Make sure all your requested costs are eligible.
• Carefully justify any large costs.
A final note on eligibility
• Most fellowship schemes have requirements
– E.g. number of years since PhD
• Check you meet these
• Make sure that the date of your PhD and the
number of years full-time equivalent you have
worked in research since your PhD are clearly
stated on your CV/application.
Any questions?
Melissa.Bateson@ncl.ac.uk