British Academy Visiting Fellowships - Notes for Applicants for Visiting Fellow (Form A)

**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 A (for Visiting Fellow) and Reference Form A are at the bottom of this page.  For Application Form B (for UK Host) and Reference Form B, please see Notes for Applicants for UK Host.

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 you may wish to check the lists of previous award holders, which list institutions which have been willing to host visiting fellows in the past.

1. Download Part A of the application form, and Referee Form A.

2. Fill in Part A of the form, in typescript, or on a word-processor, or, if absolutely necessary, in clear handwriting, preferably printed. Give the information required in the space available. Do not add additional sheets of paper unless invited to do so.

3. Send a copy of Part A, with Referee Form A, to your referee. Please note that the referee should not be from your own institution, and must not be your UK host.They should also be different from the referee chosen by your UK host. Ask your referee to complete the form and send it direct to the Academy, to arrive by 12 January 2009. Faxed references are not accepted, but the form may be sent by post or by email to vf@britac.ac.uk

4. Send Part A of the form to your UK host. You may do so by post, but please ensure that this arrives with your host in time for them to submit the full application to the British Academy by the closing date. You may also send it electronically, but if you do so, please remember to scan your signature. Part A of the form must be signed and dated.

5. The UK host should then download Part B of the form, fill in the form, and send both Part A and Part B to the Academy.

The Academy will only accept complete applications, submitted in hard copy, which consist of Form A, 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 a Form A which is not accompanied by the other forms.

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.

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.

Notes on completing the application form

Question 1: Your name and contact details (please include dialling code for telephone number), the title of your project and requested dates for your visit to the UK. Please note that the visit cannot normally be split, and should be from two to six months.

Question 2: The name, department and institution of your UK host, and email contact address

Question 3: An estimate of your return travel expenses to the UK, quoting an economy fare in pounds sterling. The normal maximum fare will be £800, so if your fare is likely to be more than this, please explain why.

Question 4: Brief information on you, your qualifications and career, and why a visit to the UK is important to you.

Question 5: Information on your research project. Your description should answer the following questions: What are your research objectives, and how does your proposed work relate to other work in this field? How are you going to carry out the work – what is your research programme in the UK (how will you spend your time)?

Question 6: Do you wish to visit other UK institutions as well as the UK institution where you will be based? If so, please list them, and any individual scholars you would like to meet.

Question 7: Explain what the outputs of your visit will be: for example, publication, conference attendance, dissemination of the work in other ways.

Question 8: Any other information you feel may be relevant. For example, how will the visit benefit your work at your home institution? If you are, at the time of application, away from your normal place of residence, for example on a temporary fellowship, please give details.

Question 9: 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 (Referee A) and one for the UK host (Referee B). Please note that the same person cannot act as both Referee A and Referee B. Please choose a referee who is able to give an informed view of both you and your research project. Referees should, where possible, be from outside the visiting fellow and UK host’s own institutions. Please note that the UK host must not act as a referee.

Monitoring form: The Academy monitors information on people who apply to the Academy (Please note that the ethnic orgin categories relate to UK census data and may not be approriate in all cases). 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 A (for Visiting Fellow)>
download Referee Form A
(for Visiting Fellow's referee)>