Job Reference : S&E-12931
Location : Sackville Street, Manchester
Closing Date : 23/11/2018
Salary : £40,792 to £50,132 per annum (according to relevant experience)
Employment Type : Permanent
Faculty / Organisational Unit : Science & Engineering
Division : Sci & Eng Faculty Office – Dean
Hours Per week : Full Time
Contract Duration : Initial 5 year period, leading to full academic tenure on completion, subject to performance and probation. 

Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellowships

BACKGROUND

The flagship Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellowships are aimed at outstanding scientists and engineers at an early stage in their academic careers. Fellows should show a high level of creativity and ambition in their ideas and want to develop potentially transformative research.  We anticipate up to 12 of these prestigious Fellowships to be offered annually. Each Fellowship is for an initial 5 year period, leading to full academic tenure on completion, subject to performance and probation.   

ELIGIBILITY TO APPLY

The Fellowship is for Early Career Researchers (ECR). Applicants are expected to hold a PhD by the start date of the Fellowship or have equivalent research experience. There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience or whether the applicant holds a permanent academic position. The ethos of the Early Career Researcher scheme is to support candidates who have a track record of outstanding research and in delivering impact. Consideration will be given to applicants who have taken a non-standard career path after their primary degree and circumstances such as maternity, paternity, long term illness, caring responsibilities or career breaks. Applications are also welcome from candidates who wish to re-establish themselves after a career break or other period of absence from active research.  There are no nationality restrictions.

The University reserves the right to reject, at any stage, applications that do not fit the remit, and ethos of this scheme.

You must  have the written support of a Head of School within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at The University of Manchester.

APPOINTMENT DETAILS AND CONDITIONS

The scheme provides funding for 5 years.  It covers:

• The applicant’s salary costs, estate costs and indirect costs for 5 years. 
• Support by a senior mentor and participation in the New Academics Programme.

Successful Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellows who are about to start their first year are eligible to apply for a research grant of up to £20k, subject to a business case. The expectation is that holders of these prestigious Fellowships will have identified a substantial and significant research challenge, and that this will lead to significant research funding and highly cited publications in subsequent years. In the Academic Impact Statement (see below) the applicant should detail how their research will be viewed by a broader community as having the necessary degree of novelty, importance and usefulness. Successful candidates will undertake a limited amount of teaching (up to 6 hours per week).

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

In the first instance the potential applicant must  contact the Head of School of the host School to discuss the background and strategy for any application. In the absence of explicit Head of School support an application will be rejected automatically. The current Heads of Schools participating in the current round are:

HOW TO APPLY

The Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellowships are awarded through a two stage application  process. While the full suite of documentation is required for the submission to the Faculty Panel, the first stage and pre-selection is carried out at host School level.

The Schools participating in the current round are:

School
Head of School

Contact

Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science
Professor Christopher Hardacre
[email protected]

Chemistry
Professor Nik Kaltsoyannis
[email protected]

Computer Science
Professor Robert Stevens
[email protected]

Earth & Environmental Science
Professor Kevin Taylor
[email protected]

Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Professor Simon Rowland
[email protected]

Mathematics
Professor Oliver Jensen
[email protected]

Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering
Professor Alice Larkin
[email protected]

Physics & Astronomy
Professor Sean Freeman
[email protected]

In the first stage applicants need to submit five  documents (application form, research proposal, a draft statement of strategic fit, impact statement and equal opportunities monitoring form) and names and contact details of TWO academic referees to the host School by the 23rd  November 2018.

In the second stage, each School will submit the finalised application documents plus the Head of School support letter and referees for their selected candidates to the Faculty by 23.59 (UK time) on 23rd  December 2018.

SELECTION CRITERIA

• The scientific excellence of the individual: past achievements, research career to date, publication record, likely contribution to research field, future potential.
• Additionally, for engineering we are looking for fellowship applicants who undertake high quality, innovative engineering research and have plans to establish and leverage strong links with industry and other research stakeholders.
• The Host School: strategic alignment and research environment.
• The proposed research project: quality and originality of proposed project, definition of research plan, likelihood of achieving goals.
• Independent assessment by the two expert referees

SELECTION PROCESS

• Your application will be reviewed by the host School and if successful will progress through to a Faculty Panel.

Applications are particularly welcomed from women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic applicants who are currently under-represented at this level. Appointments will be made on merit. Applicants should consider how they might implement an outreach plan into one of these under-represented groups.  The Faculty will support requests to hold the award part-time over a proportionately longer period for childcare commitments.

Research excellence is the main criterion on the basis of which Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellowships are awarded. However, career breaks as well as unconventional research career paths will be taken into account. Evaluations will be monitored to identify potential biases e.g. in terms of gender and race to guarantee transparency, fairness and impartiality in the treatment of proposals.

Full details relating to eligibility; appointment details/conditions; and application procedure are outlined in the Guidance Notes that accompany this scheme.

KEY DATES AND DEADLINES

Key Dates

Dates

Call issued
19th  October 2018

Deadline for (i) applications to the relevant host School (School where you would like to hold the DKO Fellowship) and the (ii) Equal Opportunities Monitoring form to be submitted by the applicant
23rd  November 2018

Deadline for those applicants selected by each School to be submitted to the Faculty (by the School)
23rd  December 2018

Faculty shortlisting completed and invitations to interview issued
Week of the 14th  January 2019

Interviews
6th  February 2019

Successful and unsuccessful applicants informed of outcome
Week of the 11th  February 2019

Fellowship Start date
As soon as possible after announcement of success.