The Mind Association is very pleased to invite applications for up to two Research Fellowships to cover research leave for one term/semester in the academic year 2010–2011.
The Fellowships are intended for academics in posts in a UK institution of higher education who are engaged in research in any area of Philosophy. The Fellowships may be used to fund research leave for projects at any stage of completion, including initial stages of research. The grants will be paid to the universities at which the scholars are employed, and will be £8,500 for a university with terms, and £13,000 for a university with semesters (plus London weighting allowance, where appropriate).
Award of a Fellowship is conditional on the university’s agreeing that the funds will be used to release the scholar from all administrative and teaching duties (with the optional exception of supervising doctoral students). It is intended that the scheme will supplement, not substitute for, any institutional leave to which successful candidates are eligible. One of the aims of the Fellowships scheme is to support academics who are substantially burdened with teaching or administrative duties. For one of the Fellowships, if suitable candidates present themselves, priority will be given to applicants who are in a non-permanent post, or for whom no more than seven years (excluding career breaks) have elapsed since their first appointment to a permanent or tenure-track post.
Printed applications should be sent to the Association’s Honorary Secretary: Professor Robert Hopkins, Department of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, 45 Victoria St, Sheffield S3 7QB.
The deadline for applications is 22 January 2010. Results will be available by 5 March 2010. Applications should consist of:
• a CV, including the names of two referees
• a research proposal of not more than 1200 words
• details (covering the last 5 years) of administrative and teaching duties, research leaves, and any non-academic commitments curtailing research time, such as career breaks, maternity or paternity leave, or caring for a sick relative
• a statement of the applicant’s entitlement to research leave under his or her institution’s current policy
• a statement of what institutional leave, if any, the applicant expects to have during the current academic year and the next academic year
• a statement of other sources of financial support for which the applicant intends to apply and which would cover terms/semesters consecutive with the period of research that would be covered by the Mind Fellowship (a Mind Fellowship cannot be held as part of a three term/semester period of leave in which one term/semester is covered by an AHRC grant)
• a letter from the scholar’s Head of Department or Dean stating that the funds will be used only for the replacement costs of teaching and administrative duties, from which the scholar must be wholly released during the tenure of the Fellowship (with the optional exception of supervising doctoral students)
Applicants should arrange for their two referees to send their letters straight to Professor Hopkins by 22 January 2010. Applicants should ask referees to comment, where possible, on both their administrative load and their research proposal. Both referees should be asked to provide a detailed academic assessment of the research proposal and to grade the proposal according to the following scheme:
A+: an application of the highest quality;
A: an application of high quality;
A-: a good application;
B: a good application, but where there are significant reservations about its feasibility;
R: an application where there are major reservations about its worth or feasibility.