Call for Expressions of Interest in Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships

Closes: 12:00, 15th November 2024

Call for Applications: The College of Social Sciences (CoSS) at the University of Birmingham invites expressions of interest from outstanding candidates who want to pursue significant and high-quality research through the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship scheme.

Our collegiate and dynamic environment within CoSS supports a thriving early career researcher community, many of whom are funded through external grants. We welcome applications to our four Schools – Education, Business, Government, and Social Policy – which undertake a range of exciting research and facilitate cross-disciplinary interactions. The University is committed to inclusivity and diversity, and we particularly encourage applicants from under-represented groups to consider collaborating with us through this scheme.

The deadline for receipt of Expressions of Interest is 12 noon on Friday 15th November 2024. Please see details below.

Scheme Overview: Fellowships are open to early career candidates with a research track record who hold either a degree from a UK higher education institution, or a non-permanent role at a UK HEI, to undertake a significant piece of publishable work. Awards are granted for three years in any area supported by the Trust, including the Fellow's salary and up to £6000 per annum in research expenses.

Eligibility: All candidates must have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination no more than four years prior to the Leverhulme ECF application final closing date on 20^th February 2025. Exceptionally, career breaks and other extenuating circumstances may be considered while assessing eligibility. Please see the scheme guidelines for complete information about eligibility - applicants are advised to read this carefully as strict conditions apply.

Scope: Leverhulme fund all areas except studies of disease, illness and disabilities in humans and animals, research that is intended to inform clinical practice, or the development of medical or commercial applications. Research where advocacy is an explicit component or policy-driven research where the principal objective is to assemble an evidence base for policy initiatives, is also ineligible.

Communication with Host School: Applicants should contact School academic leads to establish whether their research aligns with specific areas of expertise and to identify a mentor. A list of key contacts is provided below. Applicants need to clearly state the innovative aspects of their research and its relevance to the chosen department to be considered for this scheme.

Birmingham Business School

• Head of School: Edgar Myer (e.meyer.1@bham.ac.uk)
• Director of Research: William Green (w.green.1@bham.ac.uk)

School of Education

• Head of School: Karen Guldberg (K.K.Guldberg@bham.ac.uk)
• Director of Research: Karl Kitching (K.Kitching@bham.ac.uk)

School of Government

• Head of School: Rene Lindstaedt (R.Lindstaedt@bham.ac.uk)
• Director of Research: Martin Ottmann (m.ottmann@bham.ac.uk)

School of Social Policy

• Head of School: Nicola Gale (N.Gale@bham.ac.uk)
• Director of Research: Rana Jawad (r.jawad@bham.ac.uk)

How to Apply - Expression of Interest (EoI):

Following discussions with School leads please request a copy of the EoI form from your host School Director of Research and complete this as a next step.

The form should be submitted by email with the subject header “Leverhulme ECF 2025’ to I.Ghose@bham.ac.uk and researchbids@contacts.bham.ac.uk  by 12:00 noon on Friday, 15^th November 2024.

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted in December 2024 to work on a final application with support from our Research Strategy and Services team and a departmental research mentor before the submission deadline of 20^th February 2025.