Fellowship Applications: my experience Katherine Joy School of Earth Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences 1
My career path • Present: School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, UK – Oct 2015 – Present: Royal Society University Research Fellow – May 2015- Present: Senior Lecturer – May 2012 – April 2015: Leverhulme Trust Early-Career Postdoctoral Research Fellow • Dec 2011- April 2010: Career break for 6 months (kept my hand in publishing and went on a research trip to Antarctica) • Jan. 2010 - Nov. 2011: Center for Lunar Science and Exploration, Lunar and Planetary Institute (USRA) and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, USA – Postdoctoral Fellow funded by the NASA Lunar Science Institute • April 2007 - Dec. 2009: School of Earth Sciences, Birkbeck College London, UK – Postdoctoral Research Assistant funded by the Leverhulme Trust • Oct. 2003 - July 2007: Dept. of Earth Sciences , University College London, UK. – Ph.D. in Planetary Science 2
My Research • Geological evolution of planetary bodies – Sample analysis of terrestrial samples – Remote sensing measurements • Between April 2006 and Oct 2015 I have co-authored 44 publications and book chapters. I am the lead author of 11 of these publications, and have an H-index record of 13 in the Scopus citation database 3
4
5
6
Wider Portfolio Development Teaching and marking and exam prep • – First year course – Fieldtrip • New academics programme • Phd lead and co-supervisor and PhD advisor • MSci and BSE project supervisor • Lab responsibilities Co-organise school seminars • • Research council panel membership • Space mission science team membership – Active missions – Mission planning • Admin – write references, interviews, read other people’s grants/paper drafts, review papers, review grants, fight with egencia, emails etc etc… stuff that takes time and energy. • Need to find a balance – I find time management very hard. However, feel its critical to maintain time at weekends not working. You have to enjoy 7 what you do. Don’t get sick. Learn to say no.
Starting the process… • Applied for a fellowship at the end of my PhD which was not funded • Started developing my own independent research applications during my 2 nd PDRA – And reused it time and time again – refining it along the way • Think about career development – develop CV / portfolio – Publish with people other than PhD supervisor – helps to move institutes to demonstrate independence – Collaborations • Increased productivity – Important to do more than research – Seek out responsibility • Learn to recognise when you have made mistakes in taking on more than you anticipated 8
CV building: Apply for ‘small’ grants • Demonstrate earning income and independence • Practice art of selling an idea • Travel grants – Conference travel – Fieldtrip travel • Outreach grants • Student intern projects – also added supervisory experience • Equipment grants – I requested money for a safe to store samples during first PDRA – Success with internal university equipment funds 9
CV building: supervise PhD or MSc projects • Lot of hard work, but worth it • Good fun – students give you new ideas and kick you into understanding new topics • Good experience in research management – Highs and lows (learning what doesn’t work is also valuable experience to reflect on) • Research outputs - my publication list is ok as a lead author, but has very much been strengthened by work published through supervising students • Its great to see people you have helped do well in your career and you can work with in future… 10
Applying • For large grants >£10k I have previously applied to: – STFC advanced fellowship (5 years) – x2 – both failures – Royal Astronomical Society early career fellowship (3 years) – failure – Imperial College internal early career scheme (3 years) – failure – Leverhulme Trust early career – (3 years) success! – University of Manchester – deans research fund – x3 success – STFC – consolidated grant to be PI fund my own PDRA – (3 years) success! – Leverhulme Trust to fund my own PDRA – x2 failures as PI, x3 times success as a Co-I – Royal Society (5 years) – success! – Royal Society – RSURF startup grant- unknown outcome – Leverhulme Trust – Philip Leverhulme Prize – unknown outcome • Get used to writing applications… next one is always just around the corner. • Accept rejection will happen. 11
Applying for fellowships • What schemes are their for your field? • When are the deadlines? • All about you: – Are you independent enough to manage your own research project? – Are you at the right level of experience to apply? – Do you have good support from those around you? • Lab infrastructure • Mentorship – Don’t get defeated by imposter syndrome –talk to others to get their honest opinion about if they think you are at the right level, give it a go • And your good idea: – Is it timely? – Is it achievable? – Is it in the remit of the funding body? – What are the flaws? How can these be mitigated? 12
Applying for fellowships • Where do you want to apply? Do this at least 3-6 months before deadline. – Personal constraints – Labs you need – Is there any internal school / university pre-selection round – if so what do you need to do? – Find a champion in school to support you – someone who will have to coordinate. – Get good references lined up. Critical that they are going to support you and your project. • Do you need to get the university to financially support you? – Plan ahead to get confirmation of support • 50% contribution of your wages in case of Leverhulme Trust • No overheads for many schemes • Lab access 13
Watch out for time limits • Early careers vs more advanced scheme… – Don’t miss the boat • PhD award / viva date is critical • Think about your competition – Look up who has been awarded one before (its scary but at least you can compare and contrast) – Remember some disciplines it takes longer to publish a study than others – spell this out in your application if you know that what you do takes time and this is why your publication record may vary from a someone at a similar stage of their career from a different discipline (especially important for multi-subject schemes) 14
Watch out for odd eligibility rules • Country of present work, or where studied for PhD – Mobility (Marie Curie) – Leverhulme Trust is a good example of where this may be a problem • Host rules – Royal Astronomical Society scheme for example – cant be awarded if someone at your university already holds this type of grant • Means scheme is not biased towards particular uni… however … get this information before you apply 15
Stuff always goes wrong Accept that no matter how prepared you are – something will go wrong at the last • minute • Mitigate the risks – Get your finances sorted early – coordinate with the research office – go and meet the person you will work with and be nice to them (say thank you, understand they are human – they get sick, forget stuff like we all do) – Check that every box is filled on an application – easy to miss them requiring formatting – Check your font size and page margin and word limit requirements – stupid little things that might ding your application – Check referees have sent in their letters of support by the date (politely hassle them) – Check head of department letter has been signed (is the HoD on holiday? Make sure that your research coordinator has this in hand) • Try not to be away on the day / week of the deadline – I submitted by RS fellowship in Morocco at a conference, and my LT one in the middle of a conference in the US… flipping stressful – Let office know when you have submitted, so if they need to press a confirmation button then they can. Check that this has happened before deadline. 16
Applying • Everything I applied for has been a one stage application process – Case for support – 2-3 pages (more needed for NERC?) – Lay report – Pathways to impact (seems to mean different things to different people) – CV/publication list – Budget • Travel • Computing • Equipment and Consumables – will really vary scheme to scheme at what level you can apply for – if you have a lab based project then you may need university to agree to subsidise your research (which you hope they should do to enhance your career, and make them look good for bringing in research fellowships) • University costs – Justification of resources – Referees (critical to choose the right ones) – need to find yourself people who will champion you and will spend time to write an excellent reference. – Head of School support letter / university approval form • Sent out for peer review and sometimes (not always) chance to respond to the reviews • Lack of feedback – so frustrating • Interview 17
University Approval • Approval before you submit • Funding implications • Data management plan 18
Submission Systems 19
Recommend
More recommend
