The aim of Wellcome Trust-Postdoctoral Fellowships-Scholarships 2015-2016 is to support those who will train in a new research area that is complementary to, but distinct from, their current field of expertise, to enable an interdisciplinary approach to their research question – e.g. you might be a physicist wanting to work on a biology-based programme, or a biologist wanting to undertake a bio-engineering project.
Applicants will be expected to identify an important biomedical research question and to propose a personal interdisciplinary training programme to achieve their research aims.
Applications are opened twice a year.
Study in: USA & UK Host Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), then a UK institution. |
Course Level: Postdoctoral Course Starts: 2015 |
CLOSING DATE: 7 July & 22 November 2014 (5pm)
Shortlisted candidate interviews: 19-21 November 2014 (1st round)
Wellcome Trust
Postdoctoral Fellowships – Scholarships at MIT 2015-2016
Field of Study(s):
The postdoctoral fellowships-scholarships’s research should be at the interfaces between:
- biology/medicine
- mathematics,
- engineering,
- computer,
- physical or
- chemical sciences.
Target Group:
This international Wellcome Trust–Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Postdoctoral Fellowships-scholarships targeted to qualified postdoctoral researchers in order to gain experience of research in the mentioned field of studies above. Especially individuals with a relevant connection to the European Economic Area.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Wellcome Trust-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Postdoctoral Fellowships 2015/2016, applicant must match these criterias:
- individuals with a relevant connection to the European Economic Area
- applicants who have already spent a year or more training or working in an academic or research institution in the United States, are not eligible to apply to this postdoctoral fellowship-scholarship.
- applicants should be about to submit their doctoral thesis or have up to, but no more than, three years’ postdoctoral experience from date of their PhD viva to the deadline for applications to the scheme.
- Time spent outside the research environment will be taken into consideration.
- Applicants may have a background in any appropriate field of study (e.g. biology or medicine or chemistry or physics) but they must propose to address an important biomedical research question.
- The proposed research should fall within the Wellcome Trust’s normal funding remit.
Supervision and Sponsorship of the Wellcome Trust-MIT Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science:
- require: an MIT faculty sponsor(s) who can guarantee that MIT will meet all applicants’ research costs while they are based in their laboratory, including research expenses and access to equipment – he/she must have a contract of employment at MIT and have tenure beyond the duration of the proposed fellowship
- require: a UK mentor who will provide applicants with independent support and advice for the duration of the award.
What does it cover:
The postdoctoral fellowship is for four years full-time, with the fellow based at MIT for two to three years (Phase 1) before returning to a host institution in the UK for the remainder of the award (Phase 2). Applicants are not allowed to have made definitive arrangements for their return to the UK at the time of their initial application; the Trust acknowledges that any current plan may well be subject to change.
Applicant’s initial application will relate to the time to be spent at MIT (Phase 1: Research at MIT).
The Wellcome Trust will provide a stipend, at a level to be determined by applicant’s MIT faculty sponsor(s), and additional support to cover miscellaneous expenses including travel, health insurance and small items of equipment. The MIT faculty sponsor(s) will meet all research costs.
For Phase 2 (Research on return to the UK), the Wellcome Trust will consider providing an appropriate salary for the fellow, research expenses (to cover materials and consumables, animals, if justified, and modest equipment) for the one- to two-year period back in the UK, as well as provision for public engagement costs.
The award of funds for the return to the UK (Phase 2) will be dependent on submission of a competitive application for continuation of the project at a UK host institution, which will be subject to peer review and possible interview.
The fellow may request the postponement of the return to the UK for up to three years (with funding for this period provided by another source). If the Wellcome Trust agrees to the postphonement of the return to the UK, an application form as detailed above will be required for approval before funds for the postponed Phase 2 are awarded.
How to apply:
Applicants must complete and submit an application using the web-based application system, eGrants, by the closing date (see ‘Deadlines’); link attached below.
Reviewers typically assess:
- applicant’s track record
- the feasibility of the approach
- the importance of the research question
- applicant’s choice of appropriate research sponsors
- the interdisciplinary training component (such as, will a biologist be gaining experience in technologies and/or approaches that are not typically used in biomedical research or will a physicist, for example, be conducting research in a biomedical context?)
- applicant’s vision of how the fellowship will contribute to her/his career development
- applicant’s longer-term aspirations.
Applications will be peer reviewed and shortlisted for interview by the relevant Interview Commitee. Awards will be conditional upon a satisfactory performance at interview.
Shortlisted applicants will be notified two weeks before the interview date. Interviews will be conducted at our offices in London.
Postdoctoral Fellowships on Biomedical Science – Application Advice
Applicant should give careful thought to her/his choice of MIT faculty sponsor(s) and UK mentor. Appropriate individuals will possess strong track records in research, training and/or mentorship.
Applicant should drive the identification of a research question and the development of the proposal. However, the committee expect applicant’s MIT faculty sponsor(s) and UK mentor to provide applicant with advice and support during the application process. In particular, the MIT faculty sponsor(s) must guarantee to meet all applicant’s research costs while he/she is based in their laboratory, including research expenses and access to equipment.
Applicants will be expected to focus on their research for the duration of the award.
Applicants may not apply for more than one Wellcome Trust fellowship scheme at any one time.
Source & further information on Wellcome Trust-MIT postdoctoral fellowship-scholarship in science 2015/2016:
Official Invitation of Wellcome postdoctoral fellowships
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