The Newton International Fellowships Scheme
Are you at the beginning of your research career - with the potential to be world-class?
Do you want to build and maintain links with leading researchers in the UK?
Then apply for a Newton International Fellowship.
The 2016 round is now open.
Overview :
The Newton International Fellowships Scheme was established in 2008 to select the very best early stage postdoctoral researchers from all over the world and enable them to work at UK research institutions for a period of two years.
The Newton International Fellowships programme is available to eligible applicants from any country outside the UK.
From 2015 additional Fellowships are supported through the Newton Fund specifically for applicants from Newton Fund partner countries; this new initiative aims to develop long-term sustainable growth and welfare of partner countries through building research and innovation capacity, and forms part of the UK’s Official Development Assistance commitment. Newton Fund countries include Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey.
The Newton International Fellowships Scheme covers researchers in the following disciplines: physical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The scheme also covers clinical and patient orientated research, for applicants from China and India during the current round.
Objectives of the Newton International Fellowships Scheme
To support the development and training of postdoctoral researchers at an early stage of their career from any country outside the UK, by providing an opportunity to work at a UK research institution for two years.
To ensure the best postdoctoral researchers across all relevant disciplines from around the world are supported in the UK.
To foster long-term relations between Newton International Fellows and the UK research base through the establishment of an alumni programme for former Fellows of this Scheme.
The alumni programme will include the possible provision of further funding for Newton International Fellows for follow-on activities, to enable links with UK based researchers to be maintained and developed.
Please note that due to funding constraints the alumni programme is not currently available for clinical or patient oriented Newton International Fellows.
For Newton Fund countries: The Newton International Fellowships aim to develop research and innovation capacity, supporting the development of a well-trained research community to promote economic development and welfare of partner countries.
Eligibility :
Applicants must hold a PhD, or expect to obtain their PhD by the time funding starts, and should have no more than 7 years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application (discounting career breaks, but including teaching experience and/or time spent in industry). Additionally, applicants should not hold UK citizenship and should be working outside of the UK at the point of application. Applicants must have a clearly defined and mutually-beneficial research proposal agreed with a UK host researcher. For further details please refer to the ‘Eligibility’ criteria below.
Duration of Fellowship :
Fellowships provide the opportunity for the best early stage postdoctoral researchers from all over the world to work at UK research institutions for a period of two years, on a full time basis.
Level of Funding :
Funding will consist of the following:
£24,000 per annum for subsistence costs (tax exempt),
up to £8,000 per annum for research expenses,
a one-off payment of up to £2,000 for relocation expenses in year one only.
The Fellowship :
The Newton International Fellowship scheme will select the very best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world, and offer support for two years at UK research institutions.
The long-term aim of the scheme is to build a global pool of research leaders and encourage long-term international collaboration with the UK.
The Newton International Fellowships scheme is run by The British Academy and the Royal Society.
The Fellowships cover the broad range of physical, natural and social sciences and the humanities.
They provide grants of £24,000 per annum to cover subsistence and up to £8,000 per annum to cover research expenses, plus a one-off relocation allowance of up to £2,000.
In addition, Newton Fellows may be eligible for follow-up funding of up to £6,000 per annum for up to 10 years following the completion of the Fellowship.
The Newton International Fellowships Scheme covers researchers in the following disciplines: physical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. The scheme also covers clinical and patient orientated research, for applicants from China and India during the current round.
Contribution to UK Host Organisation :
ewton International Fellowships will not be costed on the basis of full economic costing (FEC). Instead, awards will include a sum of 50% of the total award (i.e. up to £33k for two years) to enable the UK host institution to host a Fellowship, to cover access for the individual to the institution and department facilities (adequate office and laboratory space and access to essential equipment and facilities, etc.). For example: if the award value is £34,000 in the first year (£24,000 + £8,000 + £2,000), the contribution is £17,000; total value award for first year is £51,000). Newton International Fellows will not have access to this funding.
Closing date: 9th March 2016* *applicants are advised to submit their application for approval to the UK host organisation approver at least 5 working days before the round deadline i.e. by 2 nd March 2016.
Please note that you will still be able to submit your application for approval up to and including the closing date in March but your application must be approved by your host organisation by 23:59 GMT on the 9th March so we recommend you submit it before then to give the institution time to process your application.
Number of awards offered:
Approximately 40 Newton International Fellowships will be available in this round, with additional Fellowships awarded to individuals from Newton Fund Countries
Notification of results: August 2016 Start date of the Fellowship: If successful, the start date will be negotiated and agreed with the Royal Society, British Academy or the Academy of Medical Sciences, but will be between October 2016 – March 2017 (preferably 1st of month)
Feedback : Due to the very large number of applications we receive for this scheme, we will not be able to provide feedback.
Follow-on Alumni funding for Newton International Fellows : Royal Society and British Academy Newton International Fellows may also be eligible to receive follow-on Alumni funding following the tenure of their Fellowship to support networking activities with UK-based researchers. Information regarding the Follow-on Alumni funding will be sent to successful Newton International Fellows during the course of the Fellowship.
Eligibility and assessment criteria
Applicant
Applicants should have no more than 7 years active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application, including teaching experience, time spent in industry, honorary positions and/or visiting researcher positions. Career breaks must be clearly detailed and explained in the application, for example “Start and end dates - career break – maternity/paternity leave”. Applicants in the final stages of their PhD will be accepted provided that the PhD will be completed (including viva) before the start date of the Fellowship. Confirmation of award of the PhD will be required before any Fellowship award is confirmed.
Applicants should be working outside the UK and should not hold UK citizenship at the time of application. Individuals already living, working or researching in the UK are not eligible to apply. Individuals working outside the UK but employed by a UK organisation are also not eligible to apply.
Contact between the UK Sponsor and Applicant prior to the application is essential. This contact should lead to a clearly defined and mutually-beneficial research project proposal. Please note that the three implementing academies will not be able to assist in locating a UK Sponsor. Applicants must be competent in oral and written English. The UK Sponsor must confirm their competency on the application form and in their supporting statement.
Applications from individuals who have not studied or worked in the UK previously are encouraged as the scheme aims to establish new links between the applicant and the UK.
All applicants must be working and be based outside of the UKat the time of application.Applicants who completed their PhD at a UK organisation must have been working and based outside the UK for at least one year at the deadline for the application. Applicants proposing to return to their UK PhD organisation and/or PhD supervisor will normally be considered to be ineligible and so applicants must have exceptional reasons for proposing to do so.
Proposed Fellowships must be carried out in the UK at the UK host organisation for the two year period. Applicants cannot conduct their research outside the UK but short fieldwork trips abroad may be possible where appropriate. Short fieldwork trips abroad must not normally total more than one month per annum. Please note that fieldwork is defined as “(practical) gathering of material or data specifically for the Newton International Fellowship project”.
Applicants may only submit one application in a round. The application must be with only one coapplicant at a UK host organisation.
Researchers applying from Brazil will need to hold a permanent position at a Brazilian institution to be considered under the Newton Fund. Other Brazilian applicants who do not fulfil this are still eligible to apply for the Newton International Fellowship but they will not be considered for Newton Fund supported Newton International Fellowships.
UK Sponsor and host organisation
The UK Sponsor (co-applicant) must hold a permanent or fixed term contract in a publicly-funded research organisation. In the case of fixed term contracts, employment must continue for at least the duration of the project.
The host organisation is the UK institution, which employs the UK sponsor.
The UK Sponsor must be an established researcher of at least postdoctoral (or equivalent) status and must make all the necessary practical and administrative arrangements for the duration of the Fellowship.
The UK Sponsor must be based in the UK at the UK host organisation.
Researchers working in governmental research institutes are not excluded from acting as sponsors but they must explain in their application why their institute is not funding the Fellowship. Applications cannot be accepted from private or commercial organisations.
Completion of the application form
Using e-GAP2 Applications can only be submitted online using the Royal Society’s electronic Grant Application and Processing (e-GAP2 ) system via https://e-gap.royalsociety.org
. If you have not previously used e-GAP2 , please follow the registration process from the e-GAP2 homepage. Please note that the Royal Society’s eGAP2 system is not linked with the British Academy’s e-GAP2 system. Paper-based applications will not be accepted.
Before completing the online form, all Applicants should check that they comply with the eligibility requirements and ensure all necessary information is presented in the application. These requirements are strictly adhered to and applications without all necessary information, or evidence to show the assessment criteria are met, will be rejected.
All applications must be submitted via the Royal Society’s e-GAP2 system to the UK host organisation for approval and must be approved via e-GAP2 before they are accepted as complete. Please note that the approving department of the UK host organisation is usually a central institution department. Please allow them at least 5 working days before the official round deadline to approve your application on e-GAP2 . Applications not approved before the deadline will be deleted after the closing date. Late applications will not be accepted.
Please read the instructions below before you start filling out your application, and refer to the guidance notes in the sections that follow as you complete the form.
Important information – to be read before starting an application
Personal details: Once logged on to e-GAP2 and before starting your application, click My Details at the top of the page. Please ensure that your Personal Details information is up to date. Automatic log-out: Save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of text. Please note that if the system does not detect any activity for 3 hours it will log out and everything that has not been saved will be lost. Typing and moving between tabs within an application is not considered an activity; you need to have pressed the Save button.
Loss of work: You should not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open simultaneously and only one user should edit an application at a time, otherwise changes might be lost. Multiple users should not be viewing/editing the same application at the same time, even via different computers, as this may cause data loss.
Character limits: If you exceed specified character limits the system will not allow you to save (please note that the limits refer to characters, not words, and that the count includes spaces). We recommend that you first type and save the text in a word processor and check the character limit before pasting it into e-GAP2 . Character limits apply to text boxes.
Plain text: When entering plain text, avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by e-GAP2 . You should generate a PDF of your application (by choosing ‘print application’ on the form) to check that the application appears as you want it to.
Mandatory fields: All fields on an application form that are marked with an asterisk (*) require an entry before the application can be submitted. If a mandatory field is not relevant to you, please enter ‘N/A’ or 0 in the case of financial detail requests.
Email addresses: e-GAP2 relies on automatic email contact. It is therefore essential that you enter email addresses accurately throughout. When you enter an email address into e-GAP2 , it will create a new account (with that email as the e-GAP2 login) if that address has not been seen before, even if the referee already has an account under a different address. Therefore please check what email login referees may already be using (and which they would prefer to be contacted through) for e-GAP2 to avoid creating multiple accounts. It is the Applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the Host Organisation Approver, Heads of Department and Referees have all been contacted. The Royal Society will not be held responsible for automated emails that are not received due to address errors or spam filters.
e-GAP2 passwords: If a user forgets or needs to reset their e-GAP2 password, they need to click on the ‘Forgotten password?’ link on the e-GAP2 login page and input their e-GAP2 login email when requested. 9 An email containing a link will then be sent to the input email account. The user should click on the link to reset the password. (It is not necessary to know any previous passwords to do this). Please note that the link is time-limited to 30 minutes. Therefore, users should click on the 'Forgotten Password' link only when they are able to reset their password within 30 minutes.
Tracking progress: You can track the progress of your application through the submission and review processes by going into your e-GAP2 account, selecting ‘My Applications’ and then ‘Manage Application’ for the application in question.
Application sharing: You can allow other e-GAP2 users to view your draft application, in advance of submission, by providing their email address and entering the permissions you want them to have. They will be able to log in using their existing login and password and also see and, depending on permissions, amend your application. To do this, the other e-GAP2 user needs to click on My Applications once they have logged on in order to see your application.
Application deletion: You can delete your application at any time and will be able to recover it for a period of 7 days afterwards. After this it will be permanently removed from the system.
The Application Form
The ‘Funding schemes’ section of your e-GAP2 account will show all rounds currently open for application and any applications you have made. To make an application click on ‘Apply now’ in the required round: the scheme name description and round deadline are displayed here. Applicants must start, complete and submit the application from their own e-GAP2 account. The application can be completed by using the navigation tabs on the e-GAP2 screen. It is divided into several sections:
Summary Applicant
Personal Details
Applicant Career Summary
Co-Applicant Personal Details (UK Sponsor)
Co-Applicant Career Summary (UK Sponsor)
Organisations (UK host organisation)
Proposal Financial Details
Nominated Referees
HoD Statement
Applicant Diversity Monitoring (only seen by the applicant)
Co-applicant Diversity Monitoring (only seen by the co-applicant)
View More Details On How to Fill up the form Here - Goto page no 9
Applications must be submitted by the applicant and approved by the host organisation by 23.59 GMT on the 9th March 2016.
Apply Here Online
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