Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowships - internal coordinated process

Scheme overview

The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) has launched their annual call for applications to their Fellowship scheme. Oxford can submit up to four candidates (either Research Fellowships or Engineering for Development Research Fellowships), at least two of these candidates must identify as being from a group that is persistently underrepresented within the engineering profession in the UK. The RAEng have identified the following groups that are currently clearly significantly underrepresented in UK engineering research for this call:

• women
• Black people, including those with any mixed ethnicity with Black ethnic background(s)
• disabled people

Oxford's selected candidates who identify as being from one of the above groups will also be put forward to the RAEng's Access Mentoring scheme as support for their final application preparation.

Aim and scope of scheme

The RAEng Fellowships are designed to promote excellence in engineering. They provide support for high-quality early career engineers to encourage them to develop successful academic research careers.

The scheme provides funding for five years to encourage the best researchers to remain in the academic engineering sector. In addition to the direct financial support, the scheme offers:

• mentoring support from an Academy Fellow to offer advice on research and career development;
• reduction of teaching and administrative duties to dedicate time to research;
• training opportunities;
• networking opportunities with other Research Fellows and Academy Fellows.

Candidates may apply under two schemes which each receive the same level of support:

1. RAEng Research Fellowship
2. Engineering for Development Research Fellowship (EDRF) with a focus on the sustainable economic or social development and/or welfare of Lower Middle Income countries.

Full scheme details can be found on the RAEng website.

Support available

The scheme provides funding for five years. Each application is capped at a maximum contribution from the Academy of £625,000 over the five-year period, at 80% of full economic costs. Mentoring support is also available from an Academy Fellow to offer advice on research and career development, and opportunities for networking with other Research Fellows and Academy Fellows.

Research Fellowships can be held part-time, but must be the only form of employment. The request for a part-time Research Fellowship (at no less than 50% of full-time equivalent) must be made clear within the application.

Eligibility

• The proposed research project must be in an engineering subject area (civil, construction & environmental; materials & mining; chemical & process; aerospace; transport & mechanical; manufacturing & design; electrical & electronic; energy & power; medical & bioengineering; computing & communications).
• Early career researchers whose PhD/DPhil has been awarded (or the PhD/DPhil has been unconditionally approved) no more than four years before the submission deadline: 19 September 2023*.
• The Research Fellowship must be the Research Fellow’s only source of employment
• Applicants who have applied to the scheme before and were unsuccessful are eligible to reapply.
• Fellowships must begin between 1 August 2024 and 31 October 2024.

* This time period includes applicants’ work experience in academia or/and in industry. A margin of up to three months more than the four-year limit is acceptable. If applicants have had maternity/paternity leave or other extenuating circumstances (e.g. extended sick leave, national service, or caring responsibilities), this will be taken into consideration and should be noted on their internal application.

Please note in previous rounds applicants must not hold a permanent academic position. This eligibility criterion is no longer applicable.

Internal coordinated bids process (deadline: 12 noon, 17 July 2023)

Departments are capped at 6 candidates to the internal prioritisation, and candidates must be numerically ranked by their department. This cap includes candidates that are currently external to the University.

Candidates should upload the following as a single PDF on IRAMS by 12 noon, 17 July 2023:

• Case for support template* (found on IRAMS)
• CV (maximum 3 sides of A4)
• Letter of support from your supervisor (maximum one side of A4)

*If needed, up to one page of figures and one page of references can be included with the internal case for support template. An X5 costing is not needed for the internal application.

Deadlines

 * Departments may set an earlier shortlisting deadline therefore candidates must liaise with their departmental research facilitation/grants team before submitting to the internal coordinated bids process. Candidates that have not been approved by their department for submission will not be accepted to the internal coordinated bids process.

Contact

For queries on the internal coordinated process, contact research@mpls.ox.ac.uk.