Fellowships

The School of Life Sciences provides guidance and support for postdoctoral candidates looking to take the next step in their independent research career. Awards of internal pump priming funds can be sought to collect preliminary data, and administrative support is provided for externally funded research fellowship applications.

External Fellowship Opportunities

The Research Strategy Development team keep a comprehensive list of all fellowships by deadline.

Major funders include:

UKRI
Wellcome Trust
European Research Council
Leverhume
Royal Society

Specialist funding includes

Internal Fellowship Opportunities

Institute of Advanced Study associate fellowship - A non-stipend fellowship that opens up a host of Warwick run activities and schemes.

Institute of Advanced Study early career fellowship - A transitional award for PhD students awaiting the award to become PostDocs, which covers 50% of their time.

EUTOPIA-sif - A 2 year stipend to develop an independent career.

EUTOPIA Young Leaders Academy - Open to research fellows with significant funding to provide career development to future leaders. A stipend will be provided to support activities.

Internal Funding Opportunities

SLS Pump Priming Fund - An award of up to £10,000 to support small projects to generate data underpinning future grant applications.

IAS Award - An award of £2,500 to develop new research ideas and collaborations, to create new funding streams and improve outputs.

Conference Support Award - An award of £200 to cover any additional care costs that are incurred whilst attending conference/workshop/training events.

Hustings

There are 4 hustings sessions per year for fellowships. Applicants will be considered for Hustings at the session at least 6 months before the call deadline.

Applicants present 5 slides in a 10-minute ‘elevator’ pitch of their proposed project. In addition to 3 slides covering the vision, purpose, importance and benefits, there are an additional 2 slides to cover the applicant, collaborators, uniqueness, and pathway to independence. A template is available.

Sessions are open to all staff, including the SLS internal review panel. Presentations are followed by a 10-minute discussion to provide feedback on the clarity and direction of their project ideas to support the development of the proposal.

Following the hustings, the applicants will be assigned a Research Support Officer to assist with the JeS form and costings, by the R&IS Grants and Contracts team.

Please inform, Kate Rathbone ( ) and RobHuckstepp ( ) if are planning to submit an application. You will need to send a copy of your slides and a 1 page summary ahead of the session.

Peer Review

Peer review is a vital component of grant writing to improve the quality of the application. Applicants should have their full application ready for peer-review 3 months before the funder’s submission deadline.

The applicant is responsible for identifying and approaching suitable reviewers for their proposal. All proposals should be reviewed by at least two academic colleagues, in addition to your current supervisor. One reviewer must have received a grant from the funder to which you are applying and one reviewer should not be from your discipline. External reviewers can be sort if necessary.

Applicants should inform Kate Rathbone and Rob Huckstepp of who they will be approaching for peer review.

Review forms

Internal Panel Review

The full application including budget, is considered taking into account the peer reviewers’ comments. The applicant will need to submit by the internal review deadline (3 weeks before the application deadline):

Full application, including any attachments. All sections in the application form must be complete.
A detailed budget.
Peer review forms.

There are two possible outcomes following assessment by the SLS Internal Review Panel:

Approved: proceed with, or without, changes.
Not approved: submission must be delayed to the next round.

Feedback from the meeting will be provided by Kate Rathbone within 1-2 days of the Panel Meeting. Following the Panel, you should work with your R&IS officer on updating your application.

Grant writing

SLS webpage for grant writing

ASHA webinar on grantsmanship

UKRI grantsmanship advice

Key Contacts

SLS Research Strategy Development Team:

Dr Kate Rathbone, Research Strategy Development Officer (K.Rathbone.1@warwick.ac.uk)

Research and Impact Services (RIS):

Grants and Contracts Team

Dr Andrea Howard, Research Support Manager (Andrea.Massiah@warwick.ac.uk)

Andina Andina, Research Support Officer (Andina.Andina@warwick.ac.uk)

Kathryn Hunter, Research Support Officer (Kathryn.Hunter@warwick.ac.uk)

Parminder Matharu, Research Support Officer (Parminder.Matharu@warwick.ac.uk)

Dr Hannah Stepto, Research Support Officer (Hannah.Stepto@warwick.ac.uk) (currently on maternity leave)

Impact team

Josh Cartwright, Research Impact Manager (Joshua.Cartwright@warwick.ac.uk)

Lauren Moore, Research Impact Coordinator (Lauren.R.Moore@warwick.ac.uk)