Post-Doctoral Fellowships and Research: Application Guidelines
The Classics Faculty welcomes enquiries from potential applicants for a range of post-doctoral programmes including: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships; ERC Starter Grants; Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships; Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships; and Wellcome Trust Research Fellowships. We are keen to support high quality applications that intersect with research already being undertaken or developed in the Faculty.
The basic process to be followed is similar in all cases, though details and deadlines vary.
1. Applicants should be in touch with an academic in the Faculty who works in their area of research to discuss their application as soon as possible (academic staff and their research interests are listed HERE).
2. With the support of their sponsor, a draft application, or at least an outline research proposal should then be submitted to the Faculty Research Officer (research.officer@classics.cam.ac.uk) by a minimum of four weeks before the relevant deadline (details below). The sponsor should also submit a short statement of their support for the proposal.
3. Applications that are received less than five working days before the funder deadline will not be submitted by the University, irrespective of support from the sponsor or the Faculty.
4. The Faculty will assess all the proposals thus submitted. For the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships and Leverhulme ECFs there is an internal competition, and we can only support very few applications; otherwise we hope to support all quality applications which intersect with research already being undertaken or developed in the Faculty.
5. We will then let you know whether we are able to support your application in good time for the final submission deadline. We will provide feedback on both those applications we are, and are not, able to support, working with you to make applications as strong as possible before final submission.
Links to the relevant website, current, and past deadlines are listed below. Past deadlines show roughly when the next deadline for the programme is likely to be, but do check the website for details.
Newton International Fellowships
The Scheme aims to attract the most promising early career postdoctoral researchers from overseas in the fields of natural sciences, physical sciences, medical sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Newton International Fellowships last for two years. Funding consists of £24,000 per annum for subsistence costs, and up to £8,000 per annum research expenses.
Applicant deadline: Not currently open for applications
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme
The Faculty of Classics invites expressions of interest for applications for the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme for entry in 2021. The Faculty (and the University) is limited on the number of applications it may put forward for this competition. The Faculty will submit its ranked supported cases by 4th September 2020.
The scheme funds three years of research on a topic of the applicant’s choice, and applications have to be hosted by a UK higher education institution. You should check the latest eligibility details on the British Academy website.
If you would like to apply through the University of Cambridge, you need to submit a draft application to the Faculty of Classics by 31 July 2020. Before then you may wish to contact an appropriate member of the Faculty who might act as mentor (for a staff list see here).
The documentation we require falls into two parts, the first of which is for the University's evaluation process, while the second is the basis of the application to the British Academy.
(i) the internal selection form
(ii) a draft British Academy application consisting of the following:
- an academic CV
- a summary of your doctoral or other previous research in about 500 words
- a research proposal of about 1500 words. This should be structured following the headings in the BA Scheme notes for 2019-20, which are still available on line.
These documents should be supplied as Microsoft Word documents (not PDFs) emailed to administrator@classics.cam.ac.uk. You can also use this address for any queries you may have.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships
The Faculty invites expressions of interest for postdoctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF).
Potential applicants are invited to submit an outline proposal, of no more than two sides of A4, for initial consideration by 1st August . A list of host academics may be found here. For more information about registering an expression of interest and submitting a proposal please be in touch with the Faculty Administrator.
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Scheme
The Faculty invites applications from researchers to the above fellowship. Information for the 2021 scheme is available from the INT’s website.
Please note that applicants must not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK institution, nor may Fellows hold such a post concurrently with the Early Career Fellowship.
An application for the internal competition consists of:
- a cover sheet
- a brief c.v. (not exceeding two sides), and
- a draft of the three items required for the Leverhulme application:
- a list of your major publications (maximum one side)
- a statement of your current research (maximum 250 words) and
- a detailed statement of your proposed research (maximum two sides).
- two letters of reference (one should come from outside Cambridge). Note that the national stage of the Leverhulme competition requires a third reference as well, but this is not necessary for the internal INT competition.
Applicants should submit their documentation to the Research Officer by Monday 21 December 2020. Please check eligibility on the Leverhulme Trust website.
Contacts
Faculty Research Officer: research.officer@classics.cam.ac.uk
School Research Office: http://www.ahssresearch.group.cam.ac.uk/