A career in research is exciting, varied and gives you the opportunity to be at the cutting edge of discovery in your chosen field, but it is a highly competitive environment and researchers from all over the world aspire to reach the top of the profession. If you are aiming for a career in academic research it is crucial to publish regularly, be independent and attract your own funding. You can start to do this early in your research career: if you are awarded a postdoctoral fellowship, not only will you stand out from the crowd, but you will demonstrate that you can propose innovative projects that attract research funding – this is a key requirement for a successful academic career.

How do you go about the process of applying for your own postdoctoral research fellowship? There is more to it that filling in an application form: you will have to propose and design an innovative project, identify a senior researcher to advise you and approach them about being involved in your project, convince the application reviewer that you are the right person, name referees and more. In order to be successful requires planning and preparation and you will need to use your network and be proactive. In this workshop you will find out what steps you should take, time frames, the different types of fellowships available and how to use your connections to your advantage.

This workshop is suitable for PhD students (from 2^nd year onwards) and early career researchers/postdocs. The workshop will include case studies, individual exercises and the instructor’s own experience of successfully obtaining a postdoctoral research fellowship.

Funding; fellowship; research career; independent researcher; postdoctoral; writing applications; novel ideas; opportunity

“I got some great career advice. Thanks for the excellent course.”

“Very informative! Also a great opportunity to network.”