MOBILITY Research Fellow

The University of Birmingham has received funding from the European Research Council to offer pump-priming postdoctoral fellowship awards to early career researchers to support development of their independent research programme. This new competitive fellowship scheme aims to support high-calibre post-doctoral researchers to develop proposals for submission to prestigious fellowship schemes such as NIHR Postdoctoral Awards, ERC starter grants, Future Leaders Fellowship, Wellcome/MRC Career Development Awards etc.

The fellowship aims to boost the competitiveness of the postholder for these externally funded, independent fellowship applications by offering the opportunity to complete key research outputs in progress, develop new skills and/or generation of preliminary data. The postholder will work in a high-quality research environment and will be sponsored by a senior mentor for development of their independent research within the strategic areas of research in the field of STEM.

The awards are open to both internal and external candidates and will provide the Fellow's salary for up to five years, together with research costs. The postholder is expected to apply for independent fellowships within the first 36 months of appointment. The MOBILITY Fellowship will continue for up to five years or until the Fellow secures an independent fellowship, whichever occurs sooner. Where an independent fellowship is secured, the MOBILITY Fellow will be expected to transfer to it as soon as reasonably practicable.

Role Summary:
- Develop research objectives and proposals for their programme of work, while beginning to establish their independence as a researcher.
- Design and submit a research project for an externally funded research fellowship.

Main Duties:
- Develop research objectives and proposals for their research, with input from a mentor as appropriate
- Lead or make significant contributions to writing bids for research funding
- Analyse and interpret data
- Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
- Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc.
- Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
- Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
- Undertake management/administration arising from research
- Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
- Collect research data through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
- Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
- Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
- Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines
- Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture

Person Specification:
- A PhD relevant to the research area
- Demonstration of a competitive track record (research outputs, merits) for personal fellowship
- Possession of a research proposal in development, which will be advanced to submission to a funding body in the first year of the appointment
- Demonstration of the ability to utilise the appointment for strengthening your researcher profile towards competitiveness for externally funded fellowship
- High level analytical capability
- Ability to communicate complex information clearly
- Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
- Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
- Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
- Ability to contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
- Ability to co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
- Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly

There are 6 positions available.