Demystifying post-doctoral research fellowship applications

Chen Qu

On 22 April 2022, at Christ’s College and via Zoom, Christ’s MCR member and Cambridge Digital Humanities Fellow, Chen Qu convened a Researcher-Led Event on research fellowship application for early career researchers, which was kindly supported by the first-rate guest speakers:

  • Christ’s alumnus, Dr Ryo Mizuta (NanoDTC Translational Prize Fellow at Department of Engineering & Co-founder at ALMA),

  • Dr Thomas J. Aubry (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Department of Geography & Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College) and

  • Dr Olga Petri (Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow at Department of Geography & Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College)

With four talks by the guests and convenor sharing their experience on post-doctoral research fellowship applications in Social Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Engineering at the University of Cambridge, a Q&A and lunch boosted the peer mingling. This event received positive oral and written feedback from our attendees:

“It helped me to be more aware of the type of research outputs and networks that I need to build in order to be a competitive post doc applicant”

“Some important questions were ignored by me before this event, but other audiences' questions remind me”

“Great to have an in-person event. It made the follow-up conversations more natural and friendlier”

 We also collected the most popular questions on the applications and tips from our guests and convenor, given as follows.

Q&A - Q1: How far in advance to the call to reach out to professors/researchers with whom to work. Also, what is the best way to approach (email directly)?
Thomas: You can't be too far in advance. I started creating connection with my host years before applying although I didn't know I would apply with her at the time. Network as much as possible. Re concretely notifying your intent to apply with them as a host, I would recommend at least 6 months before funder's deadline: you want plenty of time to discuss your project, get feedback on proposal, and buffer in case there is internal selection by the host institution with deadlines before the funder's. 6 months might be too short for some calls, use your best judgement. But you can't be too early especially as when you ask a potential mentor about a call they might suggest other calls with different deadlines. Best way to approach: in person is ideal if you have that opportunity, otherwise email fine. They are busy people, it's ok to give a nudge if you don't receive a reply within 2-3 weeks!

Q2: Tips for CV building/ best types of experience to put in post-doc applications. Competitiveness and what panels are looking for?
Ryo: For academic postdoc applications:

  • Publications including papers, book, book chapters

  • Accepted abstracts for conferences, particularly oral presentations

  • Any awards received, such as best poster or best presentation awards at conferences

  • Any previous pots of grant funding you have received. This could be scholarships for your PhD, small amounts of funding to conduct specific fieldwork, etc

  • If applicable, any journals you might have peer reviewed for

For technology commercialisation applications:

  • Any business-relevant experience, including internships in industry, attending business training programmes, etc

  • If you are applying with a specific idea, demonstrating any relevant collaborations (both academic and industrial partners), and/or having a business team

Q3: How do I apply abroad (outside the UK)?
Chen: You can apply for the fellowships abroad as long as you can access the funders’ websites and email services. For interviews, you might hope to contact them to check if online ones are possible.

 Q4: What makes a research proposal stand out?
Thomas: If only we knew... no secret recipe I think, get plenty of feedbacks from experienced mentors and people recently successful at the call. If your project can have some level of interdisciplinarity, and if there is a clear knowledge exchange between the host and you it is generally helpful. Also, be sure that the main aim, motivation, and outcome are always clear to non-experts even if you get expert reviews.

Q5: How to successfully obtain a post-doc fellowship in Social Science, especially researchers who conduct qualitative research?
Chen: Whether qualitative or not seems not the core but whether your proposal and CV can pursue the reviewers and founders. If you are in Social Science, you could consider other fields or transdisciplinary research, and some fellowships including various fields.  

Q6: What is the most challenging part for the post doc scholarship application?
Ryo: For technology commercialisation applications: Demonstrating that you are the correct applicant to take an idea all the way to market. You need to show not only strong research competence in the relevant field but also a basic grasp of business concepts (which is not part of standard academic postgraduate training). You will be asked to demonstrate the latter through questions about the market size, competitive companies, how to generate revenue, etc. 

 Q7: How much do fellowships within the same field vary in structure at different universities (e.g. in terms of time commitment, workload, academic freedom, etc)?
Thomas: In theory very little but that's where you want to be sure that in particular your host mentor will truly support you as an independent researcher, not as a postdoc working for them. Time commitment/workload I cannot imagine this varying too much from institution to institution. JRFs: benefit vary a lot from one college to another. 

Q8: What is the preparation that can be done for the first year PhD students?
Ryo: For academic postdoc applications: Not much specifically. Although, you could

  • Read broadly to see if there are areas of research that you might want to pursue further as an independent researcher. Although, be prepared for any ideas you have in your first year to change during your studies;

  • Take every opportunity to start networking early and meet researchers, PIs, big names in your field. You might eventually end up writing a proposal with them.

Q9: What aspects or experience during the fellowship(s) is important to securing a lectureship? And how can we work for these in advance for the lectureship?
Thomas: Use your fellowship to expand your network, launch new projects and collaboration, create diversity in your research portfolio. Obviously publish, and if you can do outreach activities. Guest lectures are nice to demonstrate basic teaching experience, but make sure to prioritize research. Also, you want to use the end of your fellowship to prepare further funding applications: 5-year fellowship, ERC, etc... The world is ruled by money, and you need to be pro-active on the funding side to be attractive to university.

 Q10: What are the success rates of the fellowships?
Chen: Some fellowships indeed officially publicise the success rates, such as the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship on its website.

 

AWAKENING - MCR Photography Competition

The days have gotten longer, it has gotten warmer and spring is on our doorstep! For this year's International Students Photo Competition we asked our MCR community to send us photos inspired by the theme "AWAKENING ". In society, nature or architecture, or any other aspect of life, they were asked to capture AWAKENING in one photography and share it with us. Here are our top three entries!

  1. Fred Goodyer, PhD in Engineering, “Double Doors”

  2. Aris Mornto, MPhil in Energy Technologies, “Underwater Dream”

  3. Sydney Conroy, PhD in Education, “The Summer of Anti-Racism”

 

Legacies of Enslavement Initiative, 2022

In the summer of 2021, four Christ's students worked for a month as paid interns, researching the complex connections of College members with the transatlantic slave trade, the legacies of enslavement and the movement for abolition. Their work, facilitated by the College Archivist Dr Genny Silvanus, was intended to complement the Vice-Chancellor's initiative at the University level. The four students presented their work to an open meeting in the Lloyd Room on 21 October and also through an exhibition in the Old Library for two weeks from 28 October.

College Council has approved a follow-up project for 2022, building on last year. Up to four students will be awarded grants to work for up to four weeks (11 July - 5 August). The project will be coordinated by Prof. David Reynolds and Dr Harriet Lyon. Dr Silvanus will offer advice on databases, archives etc.

Reports from 2021

The Project

The initial task this year will be to construct the fullest possible database of College members involved in the slave trade, slave plantations and the anti-slavery movement. This will exploit the substantial electronic resources available, e.g. the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery and a Cambridge Alumni Database. It will also identify links with particular Caribbean islands and British port cities, of which the most significant were Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow. The research will plug into many lively community projects now developing across Britain, e.g. Lancaster Slavery Family Trees.

Depending on progress with the database, in the later phase of this summer's project there should be time to research more closely at some key individuals identified last summer (see note below). This is likely to entail some research in archives elsewhere in Britain, especially Bristol and London.

The students' research will result in various public outputs, depending on the nature of their work. As well as the database and individual reports, these could include blogs, websites, articles for Pieces/ College magazine - and another exhibition, if there were sufficient visual content of quality.

There will be a Zoom meeting on Friday 29 April, 5pm, to outline the project and answer questions.

Legacies of Enslavement Zoom Meeting
Time: Apr 29, 2022 05:00 PM London

https://christs-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/95371303035?pwd=TWk3UHpDZURqY0dvL21WQ2ZkQXlqdz09

Meeting ID: 953 7130 3035
Passcode: 599841

The Process

  • Friday 13 May, 12 noon: Closing date for applications from undergrads and grad students (excluding those appointed for this project in 2021). Submit CV + statement of interest (up 500 words), showing awareness of the material in this document and indicating possible outputs (written, visual, etc). Send submissions to tutorial@christs.cam.ac.uk.

  • Applications will be considered by the appointment committee. Notification by 18 May. There will be an orientation meeting at a mutually convenient date during May Week.

  • The research will take place in the period Monday 11 July to Fri 5 August. Members of the committee will be on hand to provide advice and there will be provision for some more formal supervision on written work and other outputs in August and early September. Submission of reports and other outputs by Friday 16 September.

The Practicalities

  • Each of the students appointed will receive a stipend of £1,500 to cover the four weeks of research including food over the whole period and costs of lodging when in College.

  • In addition, they will be able to claim expenses for research (e.g. copying) and for costs of research travel and lodging when away from Cambridge (but not food). Trips to be approved in advance by David Reynolds and reimbursed on submission of receipts.

Key Individuals

Here are some key individuals for possible further research:

  • Azariah Pinney (1775-1803): from a significant slave-owning family on the island of Nevis [papers in University of Bristol Special Collections].

  • John Scandrett Harford (1787-1866): also from a slave-owning family but he became a prominent abolitionist [Bristol City Archive]. The richness of both these Bristol archives was identified by Clemmie Butler Brown's research in 2021.

  • Jonathan Blenman (1753-1807): From a wealthy slave-owning family in Barbados where he became Solicitor General. To follow up the 2021 work of Georgie Moore in an effort to find out more about his property (Duke's Farm) and the people enslaved there.

  • Thomas Thompson (1708-1773): became a missionary in Africa and authored a pamphlet offering biblical support for the slave trade: The African trade for Negro slaves: Shewn to be consistent with principles of humanity, and with the laws of revealed religion. By Tho. Thompson, M.A. Sometime fellow of C.C.C. (1772)

  • Bishop Beilby Porteus (1731-1809): Descendant of a major Virginian slave-owning family; Bishop of Chester (1776-87) and of London (1787-1809). A leading Anglican opponent of the slave trade. Donor of College Reading Prize [Lambeth Palace Library].

Inclusion and Nature - Christ's MCR Photography Competition 2021

Receiving fantastic images taken in Christ’s, the Botanical Gardens and other amazing places from our MCR member last month, we are thrilled to announce the champions of Christ’s MCR Photography Competition 2021!

Despite the lockdown and limited mobility of many this year, it still fills us with hope and positivity to witness our wonderful world, the inclusion of diverse groups and the prosperity of nature – we do hope you enjoy the photography artwork exhibited here as well as the lovely season with cheerfulness and liveliness wherever you are!

We would like to thank all the participants for their contributions to this event and special thanks to our judges, Savannah and Louise, and Dan and Harry for their logistic support!

Christ’s College MCR
International Officer
Chen Qu

Please contact interntional@christsmcr.co.uk if you have any questions.

Statement of solidarity with the black community

[This message was sent out as an email to all current MCR members on Thursday, 6 June 2020.]
[The statement by the Christ’s College Council can be found here. The statement by the University can be found here. The statement by the Christ’s College JCR can be found here.]

The Christ’s MCR stands in solidarity with black members of our community both within the College and globally. We recognise your pain and anger, we are listening, and we will stand by you in your fight for justice.

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police last week, as well as the murders of countless others - including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade - and the continued violent response by police against protesters, have once again highlighted the issues of racism, violence and injustice in society against black people. These issues are systemic and perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. These issues should not be dismissed as “American”, but prevail around the world, including in the UK.

We know that the MCR is not known for putting out political statements beyond openness and complete acceptance to all. But to remain silent in the face of violence and oppression is to be complicit, and there is no excuse for our silence until now. As an MCR committee, we believe that it is a social obligation of everyone to help dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy. We want to encourage everyone in college to interrogate their own biases and engage in open conversations about race in a way that doesn’t invalidate the experiences of others, especially within a Cambridge context. These topics can be uncomfortable, but discomfort is never an excuse for silence or inaction. We need to acknowledge our own faults within this. One such fault is that this MCR committee still does not have BME representation in the form of a BME Officer; clearly, we are doing something wrong and we need to do better.

We want to share some resources (see below) which you may find useful. This list is obviously only a starting point. We invite you to join us in educating and informing ourselves and in actively working towards a better future for us all. We greatly encourage active participation and engagement through all of the means listed below.

Cambridge-specific:

General resources:

Educational resources:

Donating and petitions:
These links are specifically related to the American and British contexts, but we urge you to find similar initiatives in your own communities, wherever this may be.

Resources for Protestors:
We want to urge protestors to stay safe and keep others safe as much as possible by abiding by social distancing guidelines as provided by the organisers of the protests they are attending.

Start conversations:
One of the most important ways to contribute to anti-racism is by starting conversations with family and friends both on and offline about how racial prejudice manifests and what you can do to combat it. If you feel uncomfortable, or even guilty, interrogate why you feel this way, and in what ways your comfort before now has come at the cost of others.

As a student body, we must stand together to make college as inclusive a space as possible. We want Christ’s to be a place where everyone can be met with complete acceptance and love, and that is something we need to work for. Please reach out to any of us in the committee for support if you wish to do so; we are here for you.


The MCR Committee
Lieske Huits (president), Savannah Pine (secretary), Dan Zhao (treasurer), Tim Birkle, Callum Fairbairn, Felix Opolka, Tyler Rhinesmith, Petra Sikic, Sandra Strahlendorf, Louise Wells.

[edit 13/6/2020: removed UK Charity “Stand Up To Racism” to align with the CUSU BME campaign’s policy of non-engagement with the group]