IAS Birmingham Vanguard Fellowships Programme

This programme aims to attract outstanding early and mid-career researchers from global leading institutions, operating at the cutting edge of their disciplines, to work collaboratively with colleagues at the University of Birmingham.
Colleagues will focus on new and existing areas - topics that are timely, relevant, address national and international priorities, and cross disciplinary boundaries.

IAS Vanguard Fellowships and Diversity

Promoting different and new ways of thinking about problems lies at the heart of the IAS mission.  Diversity of thought comes in part from diversity of experiences and cultures.  

A high proportion of recent nominations for IAS Vanguard Fellowships have been white male candidates. In the coming round, we challenge colleagues to nominate people in the early stages of their independent careers from a more diverse range of backgrounds, and particularly welcome the nomination of women and people from minority ethnic groups as visiting fellows to share knowledge and establish long-term collaborations. 

Download the proposal form: The IAS Vanguard proposal form can be downloaded from the Universities' Internal Research Funding page, under 'IAS Workshops and Fellowships'. Please also make a note of the proposal deadlines.

Please contact Sue Gilligan to discuss the submission of proposals outside normal deadlines. 

Colleagues may wish to contact the IAS to establish the potential suitability of a prospective Vanguard Fellow before approaching them: such informal enquiries may be directed to Sue.

Timing

We would normally expect fellows to spend a period of between 4 and 8 weeks on campus.

Selection Procedure

Selection is based on a competitive application process. Up to six applicants will be invited to participate in the program.  
 

IAS Vanguard Fellowships and Diversity

Promoting different and new ways of thinking about problems lies at the heart of the IAS mission.  Diversity of thought comes in part from diversity of experiences and cultures.  

A high proportion of recent nominations for IAS Vanguard Fellowships have been white male candidates. In the coming round, we challenge colleagues to nominate people in the early stages of their independent careers from a more diverse range of backgrounds, and particularly welcome the nomination of women and people from minority ethnic groups as visiting fellows to share knowledge and establish long-term collaborations. 

Resources

The IAS will:

• arrange the appropriate invitation and visa for non EEA visitors;
• arrange and cover costs of the Fellow travelling to Birmingham from their home institution;
• arrange and cover the cost of self-catering accommodation in the city centre;
• organise access to Library and IT services;
• provide a fund against which research expenses for the visit may be claimed. The funds will be agreed between the proposer and the IAS Deputy Director at the point of approval, to allow support for the research proposal, workshops and public events;
• support networking through meetings and events across the University;
• organise and support public events and workshops agreed with the dissemination plan;
• work with the fellow and host to plan implementation of the objectives and dissemination plan.

The Proposal

We ask for a case for support of up to 500 words from the internal sponsor to

• demonstrate fit to the aims  of the programme;
• indicate likely outcomes from the collaboration, together with a dissemination plan with specifics that will be delivered during the visit (e.g. seminar, workshop, public lecture) and subsequently (e.g. publications, new research projects) which will demonstrate the value of the visit to the academic community and external stakeholders and organisations;
• if relevant, an outline of research costs associated with the visit;
• Short CV of applicant;
• Confirmation from the applicant that if IAS were to offer a Fellowship they would accept, together with an indication of the ideal dates of a visit.

Selection

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Academic excellence and standing against career stage of the proposed Vanguard Fellow;

Please note that we seek early/mid-career researchers would normally be within 15 years of achieving their PhD, who hold a research post in academia, industry, charity, arts or other organisations, which are equivalent to academic post of Lecturer or above, or who hold an individual Principal Investigator Fellowship.

• The extent to which the visit has the potential to enhance existing collaborative research or pump prime new areas.

The Vanguard Fellow will be expected to:

• Participate in IAS activities and engage with staff and research students in relevant Departments, Schools and Colleges at The University of Birmingham;
• Present an IAS seminar and or public lecture;
• Write a short report on activities and achievements against objectives outlined at application stage (within 6 months of the end of the fellowship);
• Acknowledge IAS support in any publications resulting from their period of stay in Birmingham;
• Become a member of the cohort of IAS Vanguard alumni group.

IAS Vanguard Visiting Fellows

This programme aims to attract outstanding early and mid-career researchers, operating at the cutting edge of their disciplines, to work collaboratively with colleagues at the University of Birmingham. We hope to support new collaborations on topics that are timely, relevant, address national and international priorities, and cross disciplinary boundaries. Fellows are normally expected to spend a period of between 4 and 8 weeks on campus, depending on the panel’s assessment of the proposed activity. We particularly welcome visits that enable new, rather than already established collaborations. Consideration should be given to what might eventually be the benefits to UoB in terms of engagement, impact, high quality publications and grant income generation.

Proposing an IAS Vanguard Visiting Fellow:
Please complete the IAS Vanguard Visiting Fellow Proposal Form.

Deadlines
8 January; 12 February; 11 March; 13 May; 10 June; 2 September; 14 October; 11 November 2024

More information

Please contact Sue Gilligan if you have questions about these programmes.