The Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship is for outstanding scientists at an early stage of their career who have the potential to become leaders in their field but who also have a demonstrable need for a flexible working pattern or part time working due to personal circumstances, such as (but not limited to) parenting/caring responsibilities, disability or health issues. Applicants must be in the early stages of their career and have up to 6 years of actual research experience since your PhD at the closing date of the round career breaks (such as parental leave, long term sickness etc) and part-time working are taken into account and generous additional allowance is given for some career breaks in addition to the actual time spent away from research (see page 6 of the 2024 funder scheme notes for full details). Applicants must also not have a permanent academic position at the time of application or hold or have held a similar independent fellowship that allows you to establish a research group. Applicants can be of any nationality. The scheme is open to applicants of all nationalities and is eligible for the Global Talent Visa. Funding is available for 8 years and includes the applicant's salary and generous funding towards research expenses as outlined in the funder guidance/website. Applications are submitted through the Royal Society's application portal - Flexigrant.
Deadline and timescales (2024)
The internal EOI Deadline is the 14th August 2024. Applicants who are interested to apply through Oxford Physics are asked to send the following documents to fellowships@physics.ox.ac.uk by this date. EOIs will be assessed based on the Royal Society’s criteria for the scheme*.
- One-page outline of the proposed research project
- CV
- Publication and output list
- Please cc in your Oxford Physics sponsor (an Oxford Physics academic who supports your application). If selected to apply you will also need a second reader for your application (a second academic in the department who supports the application process in addition to your main sponsor).
- Please confirm have a ‘demonstratable need for flexible support due to personal circumstances which is current/by the start of their Fellowship. This can, but not exclusively, include: parental/caring responsibilities (e.g. raising children or being the primary carer for ageing or seriously ill family members) and/or clinically diagnosed health conditions’ (taken from page 5 of the 2024 funder scheme notes). Please note, you do not need to disclose this specific need at the EOI stage (just that you meet the requirement for the call) however please do contact us on fellowships@physics.ox.ac.uk if you wish to discuss your specific circumstances and eligibility for the scheme with one of the Research Facilitation team in confidence.
Should any candidates have difficulty in securing a sponsor within the department or need further guidance on this please contact the facilitation team and we will endeavour to support you. Similarly, if there are any additional factors or circumstances that you wish to be considered during our assessment of your EOI – this might include (but is not limited to) career breaks, caring responsibilities, part-time working, disability etc – or if you are likely to need any specific support or accommodations during the application process, please communicate this to us (in confidence if required): fellowships@physics.ox.ac.uk.
Additional information: The Royal Society provide flexibility to accommodate personal circumstances including part-time working, sabbaticals and secondments within the fellowship. There is provision for financial support for childcare costs that arise from attending conferences and research visits. The Royal Society welcomes applications from scientists with disabilities and provides adjustments to ensure that they can participate fully in the selection process (see 'Support for Disabled Applicants' on the funder's webpage for further details). Applicants who have an ongoing need for flexibility may also consider applying for the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (DHF) in addition to the URF.
*Assessment criteria:
- The scientific track record of the applicant commensurate with research experience: past achievements, research career to date, publication record, likely contribution to research field, future potential to become a research leader.
- The scientific merit, originality, significance and quality of proposed research project and likelihood of achieving goals.
- The suitability of host organisation including appropriate expertise/equipment and research environment. Support for career development