British Academy Visiting Fellowships - Notes for Applicants for UK Host (Form B)
**Applicants applying for a British Academy/ESRC Chinese Visiting Fellowship should follow these Notes for Applicants when applying. All rules that apply to the general Visiting Fellowship scheme also apply to the China-specific scheme.**
Links to Application Form B (for UK Host) and Reference Form B are at the bottom of this page. For Application Form A (for Visiting Fellow) and Reference Form A, please see Notes for Applicants for Visiting Fellow.
Purpose of grant
The Academy's Visiting Fellowships scheme enables early-career scholars from overseas working in any branch of the humanities or social sciences to apply, in conjunction with a UK host academic, to spend two to six months undertaking a clearly specified research project in the United Kingdom.
Candidates must demonstrate great promise and show that they would benefit from time to pursue their research in the United Kingdom. The Academy regards the host's engagement with the visitor as crucial in ensuring a successful visit. Applications will be prioritised where the host demonstrates a strong interest in the visit, where it is clear that the visitor will be well supported and mentored, and where the mutual benefits are explained.
Although any early-career applicant from outside the UK may apply under this scheme, it is the Academy's intention to give a higher priority to candidates from countries where financial resources to support visits to the UK are not readily available, and to candidates who have not already had the opportunity to work in the UK.
Part of the funding is allocated for candidates from Africa, and part for candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean. Some funding will also be allocated to candidates from China.
A Visiting Fellowship candidate from the Middle East or South Asia may wish to consider the British Academy-Arts and Humanities Research Council-Economic and Social Research Council Visiting Fellowships scheme for candidates from the following countries in these regions: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Please note that you may apply either to the Academy’s scheme or the BA-AHRC-ESRC scheme, but not to both schemes.
The Academy will grant the title of British Academy Visiting Fellow, and award funding to meet the costs of the visit.
How to apply
PLEASE READ THESE NOTES CAREFULLY (Incorrectly completed applications may be rejected):
Applicants to this scheme must have a UK host who is willing to support the visit. The UK host must fill in part of the application form, and make all the necessary administrative arrangements for the visit.The British Academy cannot undertake to find a UK host for overseas scholars, but applicants may wish to check the lists of previous award holders, which list institutions which have been willing to host visiting fellows in the past.
The UK host must fill in Part B of the application form, and undertake all the necessary administrative arrangements for the visit.
1. The Visiting Fellow is asked to download Part A of the application form, and Referee Form A; complete Part A of the form, and send it to the UK host, either by post or by email. Please note that Part A must be signed and dated by the Visiting Fellow. The Fellow is also asked to send Referee Form A to their chosen referee, who is asked to send their reference direct to the British Academy.
2. On receipt of the Visiting Fellow’s Part A, the UK host is asked to download Part B of the application form, and the Referee Form B. The host should complete, sign and date the forms, and send both Part A and Part B to the Academy, to arrive no later than the 12 January 2009.
3. The UK host is asked to send Referee Form B to the chosen referee, with a copy of Parts A and B of the form. The referee is asked to send the reference direct to the British Academy, to arrive by 12 January 2009. Please note that the referee should not be from your own institution, and should not be the same referee as that chosen by the Visiting Fellow. Faxed references are not accepted, but the form may be sent by post or by email to vf@britac.ac.uk.
The Academy will only accept complete applications, submitted in hard copy, which consist of Form A and Form B and Reference Forms A and B. Form A and Form B must be submitted together by the UK host. The Academy will not accept or acknowledge any incomplete application.
Please note that the Academy will not accept faxed applications. Applications may be sent electronically, but a hard copy must also be received by the closing date. Just one, original hard copy is required.
Eligibility
Visiting Fellows must be of postdoctoral or equivalent status at the time of application, and must normally have obtained their doctorates after 1 January 2003. Academics without a PhD must demonstrate equivalent status, i.e. academic staff with at least one or two years of teaching/ research experience. Fellowships must not be used to support research leading directly to a qualification.
Applicants cannot be based in the UK at the time of application, nor can they apply to this scheme to extend an ongoing studentship or fellowship in the UK.
The UK host must be an established scholar of postdoctoral status who is ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, and must undertake to make all the necessary practical and administrative arrangements for the visit.
Closing date
12 January 2009. Applications are considered in March, for visits to take place during the financial year beginning 1 April. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by the end of March. Visits should not begin any earlier than 1 May 2009, nor any later than 31 March 2010.
Financial basis of the scheme
The maximum grant under this scheme is £7,500 to cover maintenace and subsistence costs for the Visiting Fellow for the duration of their stay in the UK.
Notes on completing the application form
Question 1: Please provide contact details for correspondence regarding the application.
Question 2: Name of Visiting Fellow and duration of visit. Please note that the visit cannot normally be split, and should be for two to six months.
Question 3: Finance: Because this scheme is essentially a small grant scheme, it is no longer covered under the Full Economic costing (FEC) regime. This part of the form requests information on the costs directly incurred by the Visiting Fellow, which should be calculated by the UK host's employing institution, taking the figure for travel to the UK from the Visiting Fellow’s estimate in Form A, which should be £800 or less. Give an estimate of costs in the UK, under the heads Accommodation, Maintenance, and Other appropriate costs, such as travel in the UK, research expenses, etc. The level of Directly Incurred costs is expected to be set at a rate which will allow the Visiting Fellow to live in reasonable comfort, but it is not expected that funding will be sought for hotel accommodation throughout the visit. As the scheme provides only travel and subsitence costs for a limited stay in the UK, funds should not be subject to UK tax.
Question 4: UK host endorsement of the visit. Please use this section of the form to explain why you are prepared to act as a host for the visit, why the visit is important, and the level of facilities and other support to be offered to the Visiting Fellow. The Academy’s assessors will pay particular attention to the UK host’s comments on the Visiting Fellow’s application, and will give weight to the level and nature of support for the visit, the degree to which the visit might fit into a wider picture of links with the Visiting Fellow’s institution or country, and any plans for longer-term contacts.
Question 5: Ethics. Please note the Academy’s ethics policy described in the Code of Practice. The UK host is asked to take responsibility for ensuring that the research meets both the Academy’s ethics policy and the policy of the UK host institution.
Question 6: Referee. All applications for Academy grants are considered in the light of referees' comments. No application will be considered without the required number of references. This scheme requires two references, one for the Visiting Fellow (Reference A) and one for the UK host (Reference B). Please note that the same person cannot act as both Referee A and Referee B. Referee B should be from outside your own institution, and is expected to comment on the fit between the Visiting Fellow’s research project and the UK host institution, rather than, necessarily, on the Visiting Fellow. Please note that the UK host must not act as a referee.
Subject Areas: You are asked to indicate within which Section and Subject Areas the research falls. This will assist the Academy in assigning the appropriate assessors to the application.
Monitoring form: The Academy monitors information on people who apply to the Academy. The information you provide is entirely voluntary, and your application will be in no way affected should you choose not to complete the form.
Assessment criteria
Assessors will evaluate the proposal on the basis of its academic merit, taking into account its originality, its relationship to, and the volume of, research already in the field, the scholarly importance of the research proposed, the suitability of the methodology, the feasibility of the research programme, the specificity of scheme of research, the presentation, and intended outcomes. Assessors will evaluate the ability of the applicant for the Visiting Fellowship to undertake the proposed research, and the support offered by the UK host. In making their decisions, assessors will bear in mind the possibilities of alternative funding being available to support a visit to the UK, previous visits to the UK or to other countries, potential for ongoing collaboration as well as the benefits of the visit to the applicants.
Code of Practice
The Academy has adopted a Code of Practice for assessing research applications, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications for research support. Information regarding Data Protection, the Ethics Policy and the Appeals Procedure are to be found in the Code of Practice.
Feedback is not a feature of this programme, and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding Committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice.
Submission of the signed application form constitutes the applicant's agreement to all terms, conditions and notices contained in the Notes for Applicants.
Contact the International Relations Department for further advice.
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Application Form B (for UK Host)>
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