junior research fellowship cambridge 2022

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Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs)

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Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs) are fixed term awards of college membership, given to early career academics, typically before final submission of their PhD or shortly afterwards.  JRFs – like other early career fellowships – are a chance to pursue your post PhD research: they give you dedicated research time in a vibrant academic environment along with opportunities to engage with a range of academics, and to build your track record toward a next step in academia. They are awarded on the basis of research excellence and are highly competitive.   

Stipendiary JRFs include a salary, non-stipendiary JRFs do not. The connection to a college sometimes, but not always, includes benefits such as accommodation or meals. Teaching, and other college responsibilities, vary depending on the college and position.  Some colleges will have fellowships that are more like junior lectureships with a greater teaching load alongside research. 

Look for JRFs on  jobs.ac.uk , jobs.cam.ac.uk, the Cambridge  Reporter , the Oxford Gazette, the Guardian and The Times HE section. Some may only be advertised on college websites.

• Application deadlines vary but be prepared for deadlines as early as September.
• Review eligibility requirements carefully for limits on amount of time since first degree / since beginning PhD or for particular subject areas.  You can apply in some cases before finishing your PhD.
• Overseas applicants: colleges should specify whether you need the right to work in the UK or whether they could sponsor your visa.
• If you have uncertainties about the application procedure or eligibility requirements, you can call the college for clarification.
• Application procedures vary from college to college – this in an indication of what to expect but the information for each application should be read very carefully.  After the initial application, a longlist (approximately 30 applicants) will have their written work requested.  This work will typically be evaluated by anonymous specialist assessors (usually external).  A final shortlist of applicants will often be invited for interview although not always.  
• Competitions often will have high numbers of applications (150-250 applications per place, or even up to 700 applications for a big group competitions). However, numbers are unpredictable: one subject-specific competition had 16 applicants one year, and 86 the next.
• Create a spreadsheet to track your applications (deadlines, documents needed, notes on the college, etc)
•  JRFs are not the only source of funds and experience - research, check and plan for other fellowship opportunities.
• Consider the timing of your PhD submission relative to JRF application deadlines and start dates
• Ask for feedback from referees, supervisors etc

Tips: Research proposal

• Have a draft version of your proposal ready to develop.
• It needs to address the ‘whys’: why I should be doing the research; why here; why now.
• Start preparing  your application as early as you can – when the deadlines come, there can be a lot at once!
• In your research statement / proposal give detail on which journals you plan to submit your work. Specify concrete outcomes (book? Articles?), preferably with a timeline.
• Your proposal should be comprehensible to academics who are not in your field, i.e. only semi-technical and without jargon. Get someone else not in your field to read it and give feedback.  Ask friends, colleagues etc to read over the proposal and give you feedback.

Tips: Writing sample

• Requirements will depend on your subject – it could be parts of your thesis or it could be publications (you will be asked to specify your contribution)
• For scientists, you may be sending stand-alone journal articles. For arts and humanities researchers, you may be selecting parts of your PhD / book which you may need to put it in context.

Tips: referees/readers

• 2-3 referees, of whom one can be your PhD supervisor. It's the referees' role to suggest readers to college.  Referees are very important - choose them carefully.
• Remember to keep those who aren’t your supervisor informed about the progress of your PhD
• Ask referees’ advice about what written work to submit.
• Readers are very important and should include people outside of Cambridge. Make sure (via your referees, or direct, if your referees take suggestions of readers from you) that they understand what a JRF is.
• Ensure your non-supervisor referees are able to spend the time to read your work properly.
• Give your referees a list of deadlines arranged in date order; your CV; your research proposal(s) – and plenty of advance warning!
• Colleges may not give referees much instruction. Check what your referees want, but it’s good to send them the advert and flag up any salient points, e.g. teaching experience is / is not required in this competition.

Not all colleges will interview for their JRFs.   However, there are two important points to consider if you are called for interview

• The panels are often a mixture of specialists and experts from various disciplines, often covering a wide cross-section from the arts/humanities through to the sciences
• Talk about your research in a way that is accessible to people outside your own discipline, as well as being convincing to an expert.
• Be able to answer: Why is your project is the must-do project in X [broad discipline], and why are you the right person to do it?
• Practise soundbites – i.e. describing your research for variously one minute, five minutes, and ten minutes.
• Practise explaining your research to non-specialists whom you know, asking them to repeat back to you what they understood.
• Try to find out who will be on your selection panel, read their research profiles and the profiles of other researchers in college. Think about how you would fit it and how to present your work to them.
• In talking about your research, it is important to show independence from your PI/PhD supervisor.
• As well as being interested in your research, they may be interested in what you can contribute to the college
• research the college thoroughly and to talk to current JRFs at different colleges if possible.
• Think about what it is about being part of that particular college that is attractive to you.
• Teaching may or may not come up in discussion, but it is a topic worth preparing. Find out what you can about teaching in the college and think about the range of topics/level of students that you would be able to teach.  Remember though that contributions can be broader than teaching – for example, does the college run a seminar series you could contribute to? Do you have industry connections you might be able to bring in for talks?  Do  you have expertise that can contribute in other ways? (e.g. to a college’s sustainability strategy). You may also be asked about your future career plans after the JRF and how this will move you toward your next step.

Preparing for an interview or presentation

• You will be told the format in advance (likely approximately 30 minutes, possibly with a short presentation to start)
• Do practice interviews
• When an interviewer in a mixed /specialist panel asks a specialist question, it’s ok to give two answers: first answer the specialist, then "allow me to rephrase this in more general terms".
• It takes time for audiences to absorb new information. Use analogies the panel can relate to.
• See also the section on JRFs from our guide on  Interview Skills for Academia .

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Junior Research Fellows 2022

Junior research fellowships 2022.

Homerton College invites applications for up to three Junior Research Fellowships, one of which will be in partnership with THIS Institute (The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute).

Applications may be made in the fields of:

• World History, particularly North Africa, the Middle East, or Central Asia
• Healthcare Improvement Studies
• Systems Engineering

Candidates may be graduates of any University and will have completed or be about to complete a PhD.  There is no age limit for eligibility, but the College will not normally appoint Junior Research Fellows who are more than three years beyond the award of a doctorate.  A Junior Research Fellowship is tenable for four years with effect from 1st October 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The closing date for applications is Monday 17th January 2022 at noon.

Please go to  https://app.casc.cam.ac.uk/fas_live/homjrf.aspx  for information about how to apply online.

Application/administrative enquiries to: Andra Hoole/Sonali Rao, [email protected] Academic enquiries to Dr Katherine Boyle, [email protected].

Applicants working in any area relevant to improving quality and safety in healthcare will be eligible for the  THIS Institute  JRF, which is jointly funded by Homerton College and THIS Institute in the Department of Public Health and Primary Care in Cambridge. This position may appeal to candidates working in broad areas ranging from  engineering, humanities (including philosophy and ethics), law, business studies, psychology, arts and social science through to medicine and health services research  

The applications committee will automatically put forward for consideration any applicant for any of the subjects listed above that may be eligible.

Further particulars:

1    Applications are invited from outstanding graduates, whose doctoral degrees are complete or very near to completion. 

Candidates whose research requires laboratory access, consumables etc should check that their field of research is matched within the wider University of Cambridge.  You should contact the relevant department in the University, which can be found by logging onto the University of Cambridge website to ensure that relevant resources and space would be available.

2    A Junior Research Fellowship is tenable for four years with effect from 1st October 2022, or as soon as possible thereafter.  There is no age limit, but a Fellowship is intended to support those at an early stage in their academic careers, who will expect, in due course, to go on to hold posts in educational institutions of international standing.  The College will not normally appoint Junior Research Fellows who are more than three years beyond the award of a doctorate.

3    The stipend for a Junior Research Fellow (on the single pay spine scale point 16) is currently £23,096 per annum. Junior Research Fellows may join the Universities Superannuation Scheme.  There are also research funds available to Junior Research Fellows up to £3,000 pa for all expenses including Open Access fees and other publication subventions . In addition, Junior Research Fellows will receive a non-pensionable accommodation allowance of £8,400 per annum; this is taxable and subject to National Insurance contributions. Accommodation is available in College, currently at £700 per month, which will be deducted from salary.  If non-resident, the use of a study, free of charge, in College may be available.  A dining allowance is also included.

4    Junior Research Fellows are allowed to undertake a certain amount of teaching.  Supervisions will be paid for at standard supervision rates, in addition to the stipend.   

5    All applicants will need to provide:

•     A covering letter that includes a personal statement outlining your reasons for applying for this Fellowship at Homerton College, and a description of not more than 1,000 words summarising your proposed research over the next 4 years and research to date;

•     A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications where relevant;

•     Applicants are further required to ensure that two references are submitted via email ( [email protected] ) to arrive by the deadline date.  Referees should provide the details for four readers, at least two of whom should not work at the University of Cambridge.

6    Those longlisted will be invited to submit a piece of work (c. 10,000 words) including copies of text, chapters, articles or DOIs. This piece of work should enable readers to gauge so far as possible the nature, scope and importance of your research. More information will be supplied closer to the time.

7    Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview, to take place in-person or online depending on Covid regulations at the time.

8    Applicants who do not have an automatic right to work in the United Kingdom should note that employment and the payment of stipend cannot commence until appropriate leave to enter or remain has been granted under the Home Office’s immigration rules.  The College will assist the successful candidates with the application process and Certificate of Sponsorship.

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Research Fellowships

Newnham College is proud to offer a number of Research Fellowships for outstanding female researchers early in their careers.

Our Fellowships offer an opportunity to carry out independent research in a stimulating and supportive academic community, to meet established researchers across a range of disciplines, and to take part in the life of Newnham College.

Stipends, for those without financial support from other sources is Point 41 on the University Scale - £36,024 for 2023-24 (pay award pending). The stipends are on a three point scale and rise each year to the next point on that scale.

Note that applicants who have taken time out of research for professional or family reasons will not be at a disadvantage.

For further details, see below.

Meet our current Junior Research Fellows

Eligibility

Our Research Fellowships are intended for outstanding female researchers early in their careers. The Fellowships offer an opportunity to carry out independent research in a stimulating and supportive academic environment.

Applications will be accepted from any female graduate of a university within or outside the United Kingdom. Where a candidate is appointed who requires a visa in order to work in the UK, the appointment will be conditional upon the candidate successfully obtaining the necessary visa.

All candidates should note that these Research Fellowships are extremely competitive. Successful candidates are expected to be either graduate students whose doctoral degrees are complete or very near completion, or post-doctoral researchers who have recently completed their PhD degrees.

Both selection panels use the concept of “research age” in judging how long a candidate has been active in research, so that time out of research for professional or family reasons will not be a disadvantage.

These appointments comply with legislation on sex discrimination, relying on the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 22, and Article 3 of the College Charter. Newnham College admits only those who are formally recognised as female on a birth certificate or gender recognition certificate. This means women graduates and Assigned Female At Birth non-binary graduates identified as such on a birth certificate are eligible to apply for Newnham’s Research Fellowships, as are transwomen graduates with a gender recognition certificate. 

Fellowship Details

Research Fellows are appointed for a period of three years, although many leave sooner if they are successful in gaining faculty appointments in Cambridge or elsewhere.

During their tenure JRFs have no other duties other than to pursue their research, but are encouraged to consider undertaking a small amount of College teaching, or other activities such as mentoring Newnham postgraduates, assisting with Newnham admissions interviewing, or pastoral tutoring of Newnham students. They are members of the College Governing Body, and may serve on other College committees.

The Fellowships carry a competitive stipend. Accommodation in a college set or flat may be available to rent.

Fellowships may also be awarded on a non-stipendiary basis to women who hold another post-doctoral appointment in the University or in a recognised University Partner Institution (UPI).

Funds are available to support research costs, such as conference travel. All Research Fellows are also entitled to a one-off sum of up to £10K towards the cost of running an approved Newnham-based research event, such as a conference, workshop or seminar series.

The Sciences Research Fellowship is offered in any field of Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or Psychology.

Applications for the 2025 Fellowship have closed. Applications for the 2026 Fellowship will open in late August 2025, and the successful candidate will enter into their Fellowship on 1 October 2026.  

The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Fellowship subjects are offered on a three-year rotation, with the subjects as listed below. Newnham research students in the whole field of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences may apply in any year, regardless of the rotational listing. 

Applications for the 2025 Fellowship have closed. 

Applications for the 2026 Fellowship will open in late August 2025, and the successful candidate will enter into their Fellowship on 1 October 2026.

2026: Architecture, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, History of Art, Human Social and Political Sciences (including Archaeology, Anthropology, Politics and International Studies, Social Sciences). The successful candidate will enter into their Fellowship on 1 October 2026.

2027: Classics, Geography, History and Philosophy of Science, Modern and Medieval Languages (including Theoretical and Applied Linguistics), Music, Philosophy. The successful candidate will enter into their Fellowship on 1 October 2027.

2028: Business & Management, Divinity, Economics, English (including Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic), Education, History, Land Economy, Law. The successful candidate will enter into their Fellowship on 1 October 2028.

The Newby Trust Research Fellowship is a stipendiary fellowship, for the following subjects only: Archaeology, Classics, the Creative and Performing Arts, English Language, English Literature, History (ancient, medieval and modern), Modern Languages and Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Visual Arts and Media.

This Fellowship is shared with Clare College and is offered every three years, by each College in turn. The current appointment, starting 1st October 2022, was made by Newnham College.

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Celebrating our junior (early career) fellowships.

• 12th October 2023
• Fellows , News and Events ,

In our second feature exploring different aspects of the Churchill Fellowship, we look at Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs) and meet one of our new incoming Churchill College JRFs, Osarenkhoe Ogbeide.

Junior Research Fellowships, now often referred to as early career fellowships, are one of the most important ways in which the College supports research. They have existed since the College’s foundation and their objective is to welcome young scholars who have already made an impact during their doctoral work and who have an independent research agenda which they intend to pursue as they launch their academic career.

One of the first JRFs to arrive at the College was Archie Howie. By midsummer of 1960, some months before the College first opened its doors in October, Teaching Fellows in major subjects were already in place but as Howie recalls, even in those days the selection of Research Fellows traditionally took several months so a crash programme was set up which enabled Howie and three other JRFs to join in at the beginning. As the holder of an I.C.I. Fellowship, Archie Howie was a non-stipendiary JRF, but he recalls enjoying the benefit of ‘luxurious free accommodation’ sharing one of the Sheppard Flats, first with Chris Cottrell and then with John Killen (JRF 1961 in classics) and the ‘interesting discussions over meals in the temporary dining hut with other Fellows and the early Advanced Students’. Professor Archie Howie CBE, FRS went on to become a Teaching Fellow at the College and held many other positions from Dean to President of the SCR alongside his work heading up the Cavendish Lab.

Junior Research Fellowships are awarded on the basis of research excellence and competition is fierce, with around 1000 applications made each year. The College generally aims to award a couple stipendiary Fellowships annually, though this varies somewhat according to circumstance. For example, a number of named Research Fellowships in specific areas are advertised from time to time as and when funds allow.

In early decades there was an age limit, but that is now illegal: what matters is early career, not literal age. The international field of applications is always extremely large. The Junior Research Fellowship provides the most outstanding scholars at an early stage in their careers the time – 3 or 4 years, depending on the fellowship – to advance significant new work in their field. The work undertaken during the JRF must be independent from, but usually grows out of their doctoral project, and the quality and promise of the new post-doctoral project proposed is an important factor in the application. As explained by one of the competition’s past panel chairs, Professor Andrew Webber , such ‘unencumbered freedom to pursue such projects provides a very special opportunity to advance their academic careers to the next stage and this is particularly the case for stipendiary JRFs in the arts and humanities, where there are far fewer funded post-doctoral opportunities.’ The benefits are not just limited to the JRFs themselves, but the research they carry out also benefits the wider Fellowship community:

By sharing their work both formally and informally with members of the College community, our JRFs enrich and stimulate thinking and foster fresh conversations between workers in different disciplines, as well as among specialists in their fields. Professor Andrew Webber

As the competition has become more stiff, and as academic publishing at an early stage has increased, successful candidates are likely to have one or two publications ‘in the bag’. Even so, the chief mode of assessment is the use of two external assessors to judge the quality of a submission, typically a substantial part of a doctoral thesis. Churchill is unusual is not interviewing candidates: for JRFs we are not interested in, for example, teaching skills. The purpose is to provide three years of uninterrupted research.

This opportunity has produced some notable successes including recent JRF Dr Leor Zmigrod (2019-2022) whose work as a political neuroscientist and psychologist has attracted a great deal of national and international interest.

Meet incoming JRF Osarenkhoe Ogbeide

One of this year’s two incoming JRFs is Osarenkhoe Ogbeide, who recently also completed his PhD at the College.

Osarenkhoe (Ozzy) was born in Islington, London to Nigerian parents, specifically from the Edo tribe. Despite starting school in inner London, he completed some of his primary education in Lagos, Nigeria before moving to Harrow, in North-west London. He completed his undergraduate Master’s degree at the University of Leicester in Interdisciplinary Science, later renamed as Natural Sciences. Since the course didn’t have specialisation pathways he continued studying all the sciences at increasing challenging levels. His degree provided the same depth as a single science student but with the breath narrowed to topics experts considered the most important for a scientist today. We met with Ozzy to find out more about his journey to being a JRF at Churchill and plans for the future.

What was your PhD research area?

My PhD research area was on inkjet printable gas sensors made using functional 2D materials. The project served as a way to connect research themes I had previously studied in my undergraduate degree, specifically my third-year project in Atmospheric chemistry and my final year project in Nanoscience, so I felt uniquely suited to this research area and was excited to begin.

What first led you to study at Churchill and what do you like most about the College?

Churchill has a beautiful architecture, with a lot of natural light and vast green spaces. This, coupled with its proximity to the West Cambridge labs meant that it was the best choice for me for both my PhD and the Research Fellowship. I’ve visited a lot of other colleges and I can confidently say Churchill has some of the best facilities for sport, study and leisure. And I think the comparative informality helps foster a lively College community which helps to make College life even more enjoyable.

Why did you decide to apply to be a JRF and what will be your area of research?

I applied to be a JRF because I felt that there was a great deal more I could accomplish in my research area. I had some promising results and fresh ideas so it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to explore that and start my research career. A large part of my application stemmed from the encouragement I received from my supervisor, College Fellow Prof. Tawfique Hasan , and how enjoyable my time at Churchill has been.

My area of research will extend from my PhD and focus on indoor air quality monitoring using nano-engineering.

What inspired you to develop an interest in this subject area?

My interest in this subject area grew gradually over time. I previously mentioned completing projects in my undergrad that paved the way for my PhD research, and now my area of research during the JRF is the culmination of all these years of experience in gas detection and nanomaterial production.

What do you do in your spare time?

In my spare time I work on my comicbook publishing business “ New Africa Comics ” (or “NAC” for short), where I write, edit, draw and produce stories about African culture, mythology and people. Aside from that I’m an avid chess player, video game fanatic and mixed martial artist. Some of my work will be displayed digitally in the College Buttery as part of an exhibition celebrating Black History Month from Monday 23 – Friday 27 October.

What are you most looking forward to as a JRF?

Being a JRF is a great opportunity to pursue research but I’m also really excited to meet and get to know the other Fellows and listen to their stories and experiences. There is so much I can learn so I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.

What are your career aspirations?

This is an evolving target however currently I aspire to build/develop a lab where I can push industry forward and create usable products while also communicating science more effectively with my art.

Read more about Ozzy

Apply for a Junior Research Fellowship

The Joint Application Scheme for Early Career Fellowship (JRFs) 2024

Junior (Early Career) Research Fellowships are open to graduates of any University, who have recently completed their PhD or are close to completion, although there is no formal age limit. A stipend is provided with these Fellowships, and College accommodation is available if required. The normal tenure is three years. The Fellowships are widely advertised in the Michaelmas Term and elections made at the end of the Lent Term.

This year there are ten JRFs on offer across a range of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and STEM subjects from five colleges: Churchill, Clare, Fitzwilliam, Robinson and Trinity Hall. The Vice-Master of Churchill Chairs the Joint Application Scheme and retains oversight of the Churchill College applications who are ultimately approved by the College’s Fellowship Electors Committee.

Find out more and apply

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Junior Research Fellows

Junior Research Fellowships (JRFs) are designed for people who are beginning their research career, having just finished their PhD.  Appointments are fixed at three years.   The College generally appoints two JRFs a year starting from the 1st of October. Please see the vacancies page for more information about applying.

Current Queens' Junior Research Fellows are:

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