What is the expected time commitment for a Fellow?

Most Fellows volunteer for between 1-2 Learning Circles, which typically meet on a termly basis for 1–1.5 hours. Some consideration of documentation in advance of the learning circle will be required. Fellows will also be asked to communicate Institute activities and requests more widely within their departments and faculties, and support other colleagues in their department to find WIE resources. Depending on how many learning circles you volunteer for we'd therefore expect the time commitment to be between 2-4 hours per month.

In addition, Fellows will be asked (on a voluntary basis) to chair learning circles and help in the preparation of strategic recommendations, as well as participate in Public Engagement events organised by the Institute. Typically these Fellows volunteer more time and have additional meetings to attend with WIE, adding a further 2-3 hours per month.

What does a Fellow do?

Fellows are asked to support the institute in a number of ways. We recognise people are busy at different times of year and everyone brings different skills, so we have a range of different opportunities available. We normally suggest Fellows contribute to three activities from the following list each year - with the caveat that we understand some of these are more time consuming (e.g. being a Learning Circle chair may be your only commitment), and some people may only work part time so may be able to volunteer for only one or two opportunities.

• Take an active role in your Learning Circle
• Chair or Co-chair a Learning Circle
• Support WIE as a panel judge for schemes like our Collaboration and Co-Production Fund, Public Engagement URSS Projects, Warwick Awards for Public and Community Engagement (WAPCE) etc.
• Provide advice for others putting together funding bids/ research grant applications as part of our Advisory Hub
• Supporting training activity, or teaching activity led by WIE or our Learning Circle’s (contact wie@warwick.ac.uk for more information on this)
• Write up a case study of your engagement work for our Skills Festival
• Participate in training and an event through the Warwick Award (UG and PGT students)
• Take part in our Resonate programme, or let us know when you’re doing your own public engagement events
• Assist with an event – e.g. help with demonstrations, practical planning such as room bookings, be an extra pair of hands!
• Run a session as part of the WIE Network Conference
• Take part in our Networking Cafes
• Become a WIE Mentor
• Be a departmental contact for WIE and helping new people access training / membership / fellowship (help us get the word out about key calls and opportunities!)
• Be a URSS supervisor for a public engagement project
• Do a really nice public engagement component for a URSS project! (UG students)
• Support our taught IATL Public Engagement modules (or someone else’s public engagement module) as a guest speaker. We have an UG module in Term 1, and an intensive PG module over the Easter break. Contact wie@warwick.ac.uk for more information on this.
• Embed public/ community engagement into your teaching, e.g. with support from the module fund

Benefits of Fellowship

• Academic colleagues are able to use Fellowship as evidence of their Impact/ Outreach/ Engagement work as part of their promotions application. (Visit the WIE Skills FestivalLink opens in a new window for more information on this)
• Excellent addition to your CV for student applicants
• The chance to contribute strategically to Warwick’s vision for Engagement
• A great networking opportunity to meet colleagues from around the university from a variety of backgrounds

Fellowship is a chance to contribute to the development of a growing Institute, which seeks to make a real difference to the way engagement is supported and recognised at Warwick. Your work will be fundamental in shaping the way the Institute works for years to come. You will help to shape strategic policy and influence the pedagogy of engagement, creating a welcoming and supportive inter-disciplinary community of Warwick Engagers. And you will have the chance to take part in a number of WIE led Engagement events.

What level of experience are we after?

The Institute is very keen to receive applications from staff and students across the full range of roles at Warwick, including but not limited to undergraduates, postgraduates, academics, technicians, professional services staff. Previous engagement experience is of course an asset, but by no means a requirement for applying. We are interested to hear why you want to work with the Institute and what you think you can bring to the work of the Fellows.

Can you get advice on your application before submission?

Yes, if you would like to discuss your application, please do get in touch.

What happens if you aren't successful in your application?

If you are not successful, we will provide feedback on how you can improve and invite you to apply the following year. We'll also direct you towards out mentoring scheme if we think this may benefit you.

What if your contract / studies finish before the end of the 2 year appointment?

We would encourage you still to apply and to make your current end date clear on your application. We will then be in touch to discuss how you might best contribute to the work of the Institute – and we would be happy in these circumstances to vary the length of your Fellowship.

What is involved in applying to be a fellow?

Before you apply, you will need to make sure you have received line manager/ personal tutor confirmation they are happy for you to apply to be a WIE Fellow.

The application itself is made online and has 2 simple steps. The first step involves providing some details about you and how we deal with your information and the second stage will be the detail of your application.

The application is not onerous (sample questions below) and we welcome creative applications (such as videos, podcasts, drawings) as well as written applications, in answer to question 3.