British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships
British Academy Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship
NOTES FOR APPLICANTS
These Notes for Applicants are also available in PDF format.
Aim of the Scheme
1. The purpose of these awards, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the Thank-Offering to Britain Fund respectively, and administered by the British Academy, is to provide a period of research leave for one year for established scholars during which they will be able to concentrate on bringing a major piece of research towards completion while their normal teaching and administrative duties are covered by a full-time replacement. The Fellowships are tenable for one year beginning in the autumn of 2008.
Financial Basis of the Scheme
2. These awards are not covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime. Institutions are not expected to complete a financial appendix to accompany applications made under the scheme as the only cost payable will be the salary of the replacement lecturer, who should be appointed at the usual starting salary for first-time appointments, together with associated employers’ costs of NI and USS (and London Allowance where applicable). No other directly incurred, directly allocated or indirect cost can be met by the British Academy or the Leverhulme Trust in connection with this award.
Number of Awards
3. The British Academy invites applications from serving members of academic staff employed in UK universities or other scholarly institutions. It is expected that up to 7 Senior Research Fellowships and 1 Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship on this occasion. The closing date for receipt of applications, which must be countersigned by a relevant authority in applicants’ employing institutions, is 1 October 2007.
Suitable Applicants
4. These awards are intended primarily to provide opportunities for scholars who have already published works of intellectual distinction and who have been hampered in their efforts to accomplish a major piece of research by heavy teaching and administrative duties over a lengthy period, with little prospect of relief from any source. The British Academy is looking particularly therefore to help mid-career scholars. The principal purpose of the awards is to enable concentrated effort to be directed towards completing a major piece of research, which will not only be an important contribution to knowledge and understanding, but will also help to enhance the future career and career prospects of the award-holder. If the projected work involves collaboration with other scholars, applicants are asked to explain their individual contribution to the project, which should be clearly identifiable. The Academy takes no account of an applicant’s physical age or current status (e.g. Professor, Lecturer) in determining eligibility for these awards. Rather, in all cases award-holders are expected to be able to disseminate the results of their research not only through publications, but also through feeding into their future academic career after the end of their awards.
Suitable Fields
5. Applicants for the Senior Research Fellowships should be intending to pursue original, independent research in any field of study within the humanities or social sciences. An indicative list of subject areas covered by the British Academy’s awards is appended to the application form. Please tick the section(s) and subject(s) most relevant to your application. Your choice will help to determine how the application is assessed. Applicants for the Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship should note that the suitable fields are restricted to research related to ‘human studies widely interpreted and their bearing on the well-being of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom’. All applications submitted to the scheme which are relevant to this rubric will automatically be considered for the award of the Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship, but applicants are invited to add the initials TOB to their application if they believe it is particularly suitable for this award.
Relationship of these awards to other schemes offered by the British Academy
6. Applicants should note that the awards do not provide research expenses automatically to the successful applicants. Applicants may also apply to the British Academy’s Small Research Grants scheme at any time during the course of the Fellowship to assist with additional costs of their research programme. Applicants should also bear in mind that application may not be made to any other scheme offered by the British Academy at the same time as the application is submitted for the Senior Research Fellowship or Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship. Specifically, application may not be made at the same time for research leave under the British Academy Research Development Awards (BARDAs) scheme. These awards can be used to pay for the time buy-out of the Principal Applicant, for a bloc of time to work on a distinctive programme of research (as much as can be met from the cash limit); for recurrent periods of research leave over a period of up to 3 years; or to pay for a research project (with elements of research expenses such as research assistance) in which the time of the principal investigator is not the primary cost. Generally speaking the British Academy would encourage applicants who are looking for some form of research expense to be added to an element of time buy-out to think primarily of that scheme for support. We would encourage applicants with projects already well advanced that could be brought to completion, and not requiring research expenses, to consider applying to the Senior Research Fellowships or Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship scheme.
The Application Form
7. In Sections 1–4, the application form covers brief personal details; the title and abstract of the proposed scheme of research, and an applicant’s relevant publications.
8. In Sections 5–6; applicants are asked to identify the proposed primary product of their research. It is a condition of award that digital resources created as a result of research funded by the British Academy be deposited in an appropriately accessible repository. Applicants should ensure that any necessary technical advice is obtained before commencing work that involves the creation of digital resources. The Academy attaches importance to the dissemination of research, and assessors will take into account how far the plans for publication or other dissemination have been developed. In regard to this, please note, however, that the Academy does not undertake to publish or assist with the publication of the results of work accomplished during the tenure of these awards.
9. Section 7 deals with language competence. The British Academy expects that applicants will have any language skills necessary to conduct the research. If relevant, please state the level of language competence of the applicant, or otherwise explain how the objectives of the research will be met.
10. Section 8 deals with ethics. Please note the British Academy’s ethics policy described in the Code of Practice. Approval to undertake the research must be granted by the relevant authority before any work requiring approval begins.
11. Sections 9–10 call for details of research leave already enjoyed (sabbatical leave, unpaid leave and leave resulting from other research awards) as well as the normal leave entitlement offered by the applicant’s employing institution; and information about current teaching, administrative and publication commitments, giving a clear indication of those from which the applicant would not be able to be released in order to work on the proposed research for the award. Details of current teaching and administrative load should specify undergraduate and postgraduate courses taught, numbers of MA (or equivalent) and doctoral students supervised, and specific offices giving rise to administrative and other duties.
12. Section 11 provides space for an additional personal statement where applicants may explain any unusual feature of their application, not accounted for elsewhere on the form. For example, details of a career break, or of the effect of working on a part-time contract may be relevant.
13. The name of one referee should be given in Section 12. Your referee should be familiar with your project and able to comment on its significance and feasibility, and on your abilities. Please note that your referee should be drawn from outside your own employing institution. Failure to observe this rule will result in the application being ruled ineligible. Applicants are requested to explain the relevance of their choice of referee to their application.
14. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ask their referee to write, in confidence, to the British Academy either using the official reference form enclosed with the application, or, including the same information, by e-mail (to posts@britac.ac.uk) set out in similar fashion. References should not exceed 300 words. It may damage an applicant’s chances if the referee exceeds the word limit.
15. Section 13 provides space for the signature of the applicant and the counter-signature of an appropriate authority at his or her employing institution. This counter-signatory should be aware of the Terms and Conditions governing the scheme, (which should accompany these Notes for Applicants) and in particular paragraph 4 of the Conditions, and should be in a position to give the assurances sought on behalf of the applicant. It is expected that appropriate authorities will include (but not be limited to): the Vice-Chancellor or Principal; Dean of Faculty; University Secretary or Registrar; Head of Research Services or Head of College. In the case of applicants who are employed by more than one institution, eg College Fellows at Oxford or Cambridge also employed by the University, more than one signature may be required, covering all of their employment.
16. Signing the application form constitutes confirmation that the information provided is complete and accurate, and acceptance of all terms, conditions and notices contained in the Notes for Applicants.
Annexes to the Application Form
17. The completed form should be accompanied by a number of annexes as detailed below:
Annex A - A curriculum vitae: the CV should be kept brief and it will not be necessary to include details of research grants held, prizes/awards won, conferences attended or external examining;
Annex B - An outline of the proposed scheme of research, which should detail, in up to 1500 words, the programme of research to be followed if an award is offered, the methodology to be used, the timetable for its accomplishment, and briefly confirm the proposed outcome; and
Annex C - A list of publications, including any completed unpublished work. It is not necessary to give details of book reviews. In every case there should be an indication of the length of books and articles cited.Additional sheets may be added to annexes A, B and C as necessary. Please bear in mind that these should be presented in a reasonable format with margins wide enough to be suitable for photocopying.
Submission of Applications
18. Applicants should submit their applications, complete with annexes, with the declarations duly signed and counter-signed, to Dr Ken Emond, The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH by 5pm on 1 October 2007.
The form and annexes should be accompanied by one double-sided photocopy of the form and Annexes A, B and C (but excluding the Subject Areas and Monitoring Forms). This is an administrative convenience and is for use in making more copies for distribution to the assessors. Co-operation in supplying this in the correct form is greatly appreciated.
Assessment Procedure
19. There is likely to be strong competition for the available awards. Initial assessment of applications is made by one or more disciplinary committees, whose comments and recommendations are considered by specially-appointed Selection Panels (one each for the Humanities and for the Social Sciences). The Panels’ recommendations are placed before a Committee of Final Award which makes the final decision on the awards to be offered at its meeting in January 2008. There are no interviews prior to offers being made.
20. Applicants may wish to note that the following summary is given to selectors to form the basis of their judgements on the applications submitted:
(a) Has the applicant already published work of intellectual distinction?
(b) Is the proposed research project of outstanding academic merit?
Please note that academic merit is the primary basis on which assessment will be made. Assessors will evaluate the proposal, 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 the scheme of research, the presentation, and intended outcomes. Assessors may take into account evidence of language competence where the understanding of material in a foreign language is crucial to the achievement of the research objective. Assessors will also evaluate the ability of the investigator(s) to undertake the proposed research, taking into account their track record in terms of publication, their academic age and stage of career. Backlogs of publication (including any reasons given by applicants) may be taken into account in assessing the current proposal.
Only at the final stage of selection, with reference to applicants who are all felt to be of equally outstanding academic merit, will the subsequent considerations play a bigger role in the decision-making process.
(c) How pressing is the applicant’s need for the research leave applied for?
(d) What is his/her entitlement to sabbatical leave, what are existing leave prospects and how do these affect the applicant’s need for an award?
Code of Practice
21. The British Academy has 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. The Code of Practice also covers Data Protection, the Academy’s ethics policy and the appeals procedure. The Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into further correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding Committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying in this scheme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.
Monitoring Form
22. The British Academy has a commitment to equal opportunities and therefore monitors the ethnic origin of those who apply to the Academy for support. The form will be used for monitoring purposes only, and will not be used in the assessment of your application. It would also be helpful for publicity purposes if you could indicate where you heard about the British Academy’s research appointments schemes. If you choose not to return this form, this will not affect your application in any way.
Closing Date
23. The closing date for applications is 1 October 2007.
Results
24. Applicants may expect to be informed of the result of their application after the meeting of the Final Award Committee in January 2008.
British Academy /Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships
British Academy Thank-Offering to Britain Fellowship
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD
1. The British Academy will confer upon the successful applicants the title of British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellow or British Academy Thank-Offering to Britain Fellow as appropriate.
2. The award of a Fellowship may be held for a period of up to one year from a starting date, to be agreed between the British Academy, the award-holder and the employing institution, in the autumn of 2008. No award is renewable.
3. Applicants are required to give an undertaking that, if appointed, they will devote themselves full-time to the research for which they have been given the award, without responsibility for regular teaching, examining or administrative duties, save for those duties declared in the application form and approved by the British Academy. These will normally be expected only to include strictly limited postgraduate teaching and supervision.
4. At the time when an application is submitted, an appropriately authorised signatory on behalf of the applicant’s employing institution shall countersign the application to indicate that the institution will undertake:
(a) to release the Fellow from teaching, examining and administrative duties, except as declared on the form and agreed by the Academy, during the period of the award;
(b) to continue to pay the award-holder’s ordinary emoluments (including any increments and cost-of-living increases which may become due), superannuation and national insurance contributions;
(c) to continue, without cost to the British Academy or the Leverhulme Trust, to provide the award-holder with working accommodation, access to libraries and collections, and normal social facilities, and generally to continue to treat the award-holder as a member of the institution’s academic staff;
(d) to preserve fully the rights of employment of the award-holder, and, in particular, any rights he or she may have to sabbatical leave; but noting that there is no commitment for the employing institution(s) to regrade the post upon expiry of the period during which the award is held; and
(e) to make arrangements, in agreement with the British Academy, for the performance of all those duties of which the award-holder is to be relieved.
5. After an offer has been made to a successful applicant, the employing institution(s) shall be required to submit a letter giving details of the alternative arrangements proposed. This letter shall confirm the duties from which the award-holder is to be relieved, the anticipated costs of the replacement teaching, and the arrangements for recruiting the replacement. A further letter should be submitted at a later date giving details of the substitute appointed, including name, curriculum vitae and salary. The British Academy will pay to the institution(s) concerned the agreed costs of substitute teaching, normally by quarterly reimbursements. The salary rate for the replacement should be at the equivalent of the minimum starting point for a newly appointed Lecturer. The Academy will also cover the costs of superannuation and national insurance contributions (and, where appropriate, London Allowance). While it is hoped that the person substituting for the award-holder will be treated as a full member of the academic staff of the institution concerned and will be offered access to its normal facilities, including a room for working, and social facilities, the Academy will not meet the costs of these. It is expected that a full-time appointment will be made, thus giving an opportunity to a younger scholar and avoiding the need to ask the award-holder to fill any gap in the teaching arrangements.
6. The British Academy will not be liable for any claim for redundancy or unfair dismissal by any person substituting for an award-holder.
7. At the end of the award, a final report shall be submitted by the award-holder to the British Academy on the progress of their research, and other reports shall be provided at any time, if so required by the Academy. All publications resulting from the work accomplished during the tenure of an award, whether monographs, journal articles or other publications, should include due acknowledgement of the British Academy and, where appropriate, the Leverhulme Trust’s support or the Thank-Offering to Britain Fund’s support, and copies of monographs should be sent to the Academy.
8. The British Academy may, at its discretion, terminate any award, and all obligations in respect of that award shall thereafter cease, except that the Academy may continue to meet the cost of the substitution arrangement for such period as may, in its judgement, be equitable.
9. The Notes for Applicants which should accompany these Terms and Conditions of Award, form an additional and equally binding part of them, and applicants should take note of the advice given in them.
10. It is a condition of award that digtal resources created as a result of research funded by the British Academy be deposited in an appropriately accessible repository. Applicants should ensure that any necessary technical advice is obtained before commencing work that involves the creation of digital resources.