Rothamsted International Fellowship 2020 for Developing Countries – UK

The Rothamsted International Fellowship Scheme (RIFS) supports scientists from developing countries to train at Rothamsted Research for 6-12 months on a research project they develop jointly with a Project Leader at Rothamsted.

Application Deadline: 28th September 2020

Eligible Countries: Developing countries

To be taken at (country): UK

Eligible Field of Study: Fellowship proposals must be in agricultural, biological, environmental, mathematical or computational sciences, and must be aligned with Rothamsted’s Research Strategy.

About the Award: Rothamsted is the longest running agricultural research station in the world, providing cutting-edge science and innovation for nearly 170 years.

It’s mission is to deliver the knowledge and new practices to increase crop productivity and quality and to develop environmentally sustainable solutions for food and energy production.

No single approach can deliver sustainable agriculture with high productivity and value. A broad perspective that encompasses the whole plant system is needed and a careful balance of approaches is required. Rothamsted integrates biotechnology with other areas of science such as agronomy and agro-ecology so both existing and new knowledge can be implemented through agricultural practice.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: The Candidate must meet the following criteria:

• The Candidate must be of doctoral status, with at least two years’ post-doctoral experience. Candidates without Higher Degrees must have equivalent research experience to be considered eligible for the scheme
• Applications will not be considered where the main objective of the visit is research leading to a higher degree for the Candidate
• The Candidate must be a citizen, or be based exclusively in a low- to middle- income country. Please note that this will be defined as the countries listed on the DAC list of ODA recipients
• Candidates who have extensive and/or continuous employment in a high-income country are not eligible for RI Fellowships
• It is essential that the Candidate returns to employment in their home country where the experience gained through the RI Fellowship can be applied
• Applications are submitted by the UK supervisor, but must be of relevance to research in the candidate’s home country. It is therefore essential that the candidate makes contact with the UK supervisor and helps to co-develop the research proposal. Proposals with minimal contributions from the candidate, or supervisor, are unlikely to succeed
• In addition to the support of the UK supervisor, applications must also have the approval from the Head of Department where the fellowship will be hosted

Selection Criteria: 

• Eligibility and quality of the Candidate.
• Scientific merit of the proposal.
• Clarity of aims and feasibility experimental design.
• Relevance to Rothamsted’s Research Strategy.
• Scope for future collaborations between the Candidate and the Rothamsted Project Leader.
• Social and economic impacts on the Candidate’s home country.

Number of Awardees: Not stated

Value of Fellowship: The Fellowship will provide the successful candidate with:

• Supervision and training at Rothamsted Research
• Funds for Research costs related to their project
• Access to world-class research facilities and scientific support
• Funds for accommodation and subsistence
• Funds for travel between the home country and the UK

Duration of Fellowship: Fellowships must be between six to twelve months in duration.

How to Apply:

STEP 1:

i. Candidate has a research idea in mind with direct relevance to development issues in the Fellow’s home country.

ii. Candidate checks to see that their proposal falls within the agricultural, biological, environmental, mathematical or computational sciences, and is aligned to the Rothamsted Science Strategy.

iii. Candidates must then identify a potential Supervisor at Rothamsted Research and seek their agreement and input to co-develop a fellowship proposal. Note: Candidates may find the Supervisor, either through prior contact with that person, recommendations via colleagues, scientific literature searches or by selecting the relevant researcher from our departmental pages

STEP 2:

iv. Once a Supervisor at Rothamsted has been identified and they are in agreement to co-develop a research projects with the candidate the Supervisor requests an application form and further guidance from Rothamsted International. Note: application forms cannot be downloaded from this website and must be submitted by the Supervisor.

v. Supervisor and Candidate co-develop the fellowship proposal.

vi. Supervisor submits the Fellowship application in advance of the stated deadline.

STEP 3:

vii. Applications are reviewed by a panel of experts.

viii. This is a competitive scheme and the Panel’s decision will be communicated to the candidate and Supervisor – typically within two months of the application deadline.

ix. Successful candidate and their Supervisors agree a start date for the project.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details