Funding and Fellowships Dr. Ian Prior School of Biomedical Sciences

Why do you want to be a research fellow? Which fellowship should you apply for? What do you have to do to get a fellowship? (where is the right place to be, when is the right time?) Key questions:

Why? Independence Research-focused position Gateway to long term academic career Reality is: Increasingly a desk job Small lab but high expectations Regularly write and secure grants Publish regularly Develop infrastructure Contributions to admin/teaching Responsible for other people’s careers

The Royal Society: the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth Royal Society University Research Fellowships (URF) Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships (DHF) ….to provide outstanding scientists, who should have the potential to become leaders in their chosen field, with the opportunity to build an independent research career. URF: approx. 30 per year. (5% success rate) DHF: approx. 10 per year. Eligibility: Natural sciences: mathematics, biological and biomedical sciences, engineering. EU citizens not holding permanent academic position. Fellowship: URF: 5 years (+3 years,+2 years), salary + £11,000pa; maximum flexibility DHF: 4 years, salary + £11,000pa. Which Fellowship?

Alternative Biomedical Fellowships Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Approx. 70 per year, any discipline. 50% of salary + £6000pa research expenses. 2-3 years duration. Beit Memorial Fellowship 1 every other year Salary + minimal research expenses. 3 years duration. Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellowship Salary + Research Assistant + expenses + start up costs. 5 years duration. Focus at least 80% of time on Wellcome projects. BBSRC David Phillips fellowships Up to 10 per year Salary + expenses + start up costs. 5 years duration NB. NOT medical research. CRUK Career Development Fellowship Salary + Postdoctoral Researcher + Research Technician + expenses + equipment. 6 years duration Other medical charities: eg. Leukaemia Research Fund, British Heart Foundation Alternative funding: MRC New Investigator Research Grant Up to £600,000 over 3 years. Expect institution to be committed to offering permanent contract by the end. Which Fellowship?

What do I have to do to get a fellowship? Typically PhD with 3-10 years post-doc experience Excellent publications/record of productivity Ambitious research proposal/academic vision Excellent and appropriate research environment Clearly independent of colleagues Possibly evidence of securing external funding Interview well

My experience: PhD Liverpool Post-doc Brisbane PI Liverpool 2003, URF application 2003 : ‘Nanoscale characterisation of cell surface signalling domains’ What do I have to do to get a fellowship? Publications Prior IA, Muncke C, Parton RG and Hancock JF. J. Cell Biol. (2003) 160: Morrow IC, Rea S, Martin S, Prior IA, Prohaska R, Hancock JF, James DE and Parton RG. J. Biol. Chem. (2002) 277: Carozzi AJ, Roy S, Morrow IC, Pol A, Wyse B, Clyde-Smith J, Prior IA, Nixon SJ, Hancock JF and Parton RG. J. Biol. Chem. (2002) 27: Prior IA and Hancock JF. J. Cell Sci. (2001) 114: Prior IA, Harding A, Yan J, Sluimer J, Parton RG and Hancock JF. Nature Cell Biol. (2001) 3: Prior IA and Clague MJ. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. (2000) 1475: Apolloni A, Prior IA, Lindsay M, Parton RG and Hancock JF. Mol. Cell Biol. (2000) 20: Prior IA and Clague MJ. Mol. Cell Biol. Res. Commun. (1999) 1: Prior IA and Clague MJ. Curr. Biol. (1997) 7: Grants : Wellcome Trust Showcase Award; £125, : UQ Early Career Research Award, AUS$24,

What do I have to do to get a fellowship? Track record:5+ first author papers, some in good journals Research proposal: innovative/ambitious/realistic/feasible 2-5 pages - every word counts some preliminary data Location:excellent research environment appropriate infrastructure suitable lab space good colleagues not moving needs extra justification

What do I have to do to get a fellowship? Talk to colleagues working in unrelated areas, attend meetings Read more Is your research productive? Will it be in the next 12 months? Be prepared to move Take responsibility for your project Be proactive at every opportunity Try to get funding eg. travel/training fellowship Pre-application tips:

Application tips: Staying in same institute and extending post-doc project hard to justify Discuss your plans and ideas with other people Get hold of successful fellowship and grant applications Make sure you pitch it properly - may need rewriting for different panels No typos or lazy text Get at least one other person to critically read your applications Proposal has to be clear to non-experts Don’t underbudget your running costs Be prepared to embrace new technologies Timelines are important - maybe use Gantt plot Be very positive What do I have to do to get a fellowship?