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FIREBio 2008

How to get a research fellowship


Introduction
(Mick Tuite)

Research fellowships: the other side of the table


(Mike Geeves)

Personal perspectives: what it takes


Dan Mulvihill: BBSRC Sir David Phillips Fellowship
Tobias von der Haar: Wellcome Trust RCDF
Campbell Gourlay: MRC Career Development Fellowship
Nerissa Marziano: Daphne Jackson Trust

Q&A Session
(All)

Introduction
(Mick Tuite)
M.F.Tuite@kent.ac.uk

Academic Career Track

Research*
Fellow

PhD

Lectureship

Postdoc
Research
Fellow

* Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowships

FIREBio 2008

Research Fellowship vs Postdoc


Enhanced career prospects
Your research project
Focus on research

Independence
build a research group
publish as senior author
define direction of research

Research fellowships:
the other side of
the table
(Mike Geeves)
M.A.Geeves@kent.ac.uk

Fellowship selection procedure


Remember this is a competitive process throughout

Application checked & validated by office staff


Presift/pre-application assessment. CV
dominates.
Object is to reduce 100-120 applications to 40-50

Application sent to external reviewers


Min 2 reviews needed can be 5-6

Detailed review by 2 or 3 board members


After discussion select ~20 applicants for interview

Interview by panel of ~ 8 board members


Rank applications 1-20 funding decides cut off point

Pre sift
Consistent publication record (and other
achievements). Normally 3-7 years PDoc
Worked in good labs
Interesting project not a detailed evaluation
Feasibility - Good fit between planned
project, skills developed and location of
sponsoring lab.

External reviewers
Helps if the reviewers knows you and knows
your work. Most common comment I dont
know the candidate personally but heard
them present at a conference.
One bad review does not eliminate a
proposal. Several neutral reviews do not help
the case

What are reviewers looking for?

Asked to evaluate the candidate & project


Achievement and potential of the candidate
Feasibility and timeliness of project
Suitability of location
Fit to BBSRC (etc) priorities
Wow factor!!

Interview
Max 10 min presentation do not run over
10 min of questions on

details of project - clarification


feasibility
cost effectiveness
has the whole program been thought through and is
there a plan b
is it too ambitious or not ambitious enough

Have you convinced the panel that you are in the


top 1/3rd or of todays candidates

Personal perspectives I

BBSRC- Sir David Philips


Fellowship
Dan Mulvihill

A first-hand account
My C. V.

PhD in Cell Biology in 1999.


(Dundee & Manchester)

4 year postdoc (1999-2003)


(University College London)

12 publications during my Ph.D. and Postdoc.

BBSRC David Phillips Fellow (2003-2008)


(University of Kent)

Kinetics of molecular motors.


UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Thinks to think about

Think about a project which is cutting edge, novel, will


address important biological questions and will fit into a
niche. What's the hypothesis? Also preferably will
involve you learning a new set of skills.

Why is this the best place to do your research.

Preliminary data.

Time since obtaining your PhD.

The competition - several of my cohort had multiple


Nature papers from their last post.

What next?
UNIVERSITY OF KENT

My experiences
BBSRC fellowship is for 5 years - not extendable.
From day 1 - think about what next? - Fellowship / Job.
Make sure youre lab is equipped for your work.
- In my case, invested in a dedicated imaging system.
Learning to focus.
Collaborations - extremely productive.
Papers started coming during year 3.
Making a commitment to the department.
2 offers of permanent positions half way through my
fellowship.
An independent fellow within my lab.
Further funding.
UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Becoming Independent
Why apply for a fellowship?
- Independence to do own research.
- Youre your own boss! - This is a Good & Bad thing.
- No compulsory teaching.
- Supervise own PhD students / technicians / postdocs.

Learn new skills


- Supervising labs projects & Personnel Management.
- Dealing with your department as a lab head.
- Budgeting.
- Paper writing
- Grant writing
UNIVERSITY OF KENT

Personal perspectives II

Wellcome Trust Research


Career Development
Fellowship (RCDF)
Tobias von der Haar

Brilliant CV
J. Mol. Biol.

1998
1999

Postdoc s(Oxford)

2000
2001

2002
2003
2004

BBSRC David Phillips Appl. II


Royal Soc Univ. Appl.

Royal Soc University Fellowship


2005

J. Mol. Biol.

Cell
J. Mol. Biol.
Immunity
Biophys. J.
J. Biol. Chem.
Int. J. Med. Microbiol.
J. Biol. Chem.
Biophys. J.
Immunity
EMBO J.
J. Biol. Chem.
Mol. Cell.

First author Publications

PhD (Leicester)

My CV
1998

EMBO J.

Postdoc s (Manchester)

J. Biol. Chem.
EMBO J.

1999
2000

J. Biol. Chem.
2001

Nucleic Acids Res.


2002
2003
2004
2005

BBSRC David Phillips Appl. I


MRC Discipline Hopping Appl.
BBSRC David Phillips Appl. II
Royal Soc Univ. Appl.
Wellcome RCDF Application
Postdoc (Kent, with Mick)
Wellcome RCD Fellowship started

2006

Mol. Microbiol.

Mol. Cell. Biol.


Cell

First author Publications

PhD (Manchester)

April Start

April Prelim. Appl.


May Full Appl.
2005

2004
November Panel Meeting
December Interview

Fellowship application top tip


Find someone who does not like you
Get this person to read your
application
Re-write your application until this
person thinks it is good

Personal perspectives III

Medical Research
Council: Career
Development Fellowship
Campbell Gourlay

MRC Career Development Award


Up to five years' support for outstanding post-doctoral researchers who
wish to consolidate their research skills and make the transition from postdoctoral research trainee to independent investigator.
Who can apply?
Applicants should have a PhD or Dphil plus three to six years post-doctoral
experience at the time of application, although applications with over six
years' post-doctoral experience will also be considered.
Applicants who hold a research-oriented MSc degree and have undertaken
at least four years' appropriate postgraduate research work - such as in
medical statistics - may be considered.

There are no age limits for any of our schemes and all Fellowships may be
held part-time to fit in with domestic responsibilities.

Funding provided
The Fellowship provides a competitive salary, research support
staff, research consumables expenses, travel costs and capital
equipment appropriate for the research project under full economic
costs.
Tenure of award
An MRC Career Development Award may be awarded for any period
up to five years.
Runs once a year:
Closing date: 16 January 2009
Short listing: May 2009
Interviews: 23 24 June 2009
Take up dates: July-December 2009

My Experiences..
Started thinking about fellowships after first postdoc position
Started to think about area I would like to pursue
Area should lie within an area in which you have some expertise but
which has the capacity to allow you to develop, i.e. a new area or new
techniques that identify you as an independent researcher.

THIS IS NOT A POSTDOC POSITION.


YOU MUST BE SEEN TO BY REVIEW PANELS AS MOVING
TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE.

My Experiences..
How can I persuade a review panel that I am becoming independent?
Move Institution identify an institution that has a suitable research
base, relevant expertise and which fulfils your career requirements.

Obtain letters of collaboration/support from leading scientists in the


field that you are to carry out your research. This verifies that your
ideas and methodology are sound, as well as the obvious advantages
gained by name dropping.

Make it obvious that you research plans are not simply an extension of
your current post doc work.

My Experiences..
What else do I need to do?
Talk to people who have undergone the process
Write, write, write..... this is the first grant application you will
have written and so you need to practice the art.

Publications
In my experience everything seems to happen when you reach the
magic four FIRST author paper mark!!!!!

My first applications were not successful, but when I reached the magic
four mark I was offered interviews with MRC, the Wellcome Trust and
offered a Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust Co-incidence????

Personal perspectives IV

Daphne Jackson
Research Fellowship
Nerissa Marziano

Professor Daphne Jackson OBE (1936-1991)


First female Professor of
Physics in Britain
Worked to promote a career
in SET to women
Devised the women
returners scheme in 1985
Daphne Jackson Trust set up
in 1992

Daphne Jackson Trust


Deals solely with returning
people to SET careers
Arranges and administers
research fellowships
throughout UK
Enable men and women to
return to careers in SET

Fellowships
Normally 2 years part-time
Supervised research project
and retraining programme
Fellows can compete for
jobs on a level playing field

Eligibility
Career break of at least 2
years from a SET related
career
Have attained at least a first
degree
Resident in the UK

Host and Sponsor


Find suitable host
university or research
centre
Find supervisor
Sponsor located by Trust

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