External Research Fellowship

We are delighted to announce that the UCL Ear Institute has opened its first call for External Fellowship applications. We are inviting expressions of interest from ECRs who wish to be sponsored for external fellowships to establish an independent research group via a tenure-track like process. The deadline for this call is 30^th June 2024.

We are looking for candidates whose research fits with the Ear Institute’s goal of being a leading international centre for research and teaching related to understanding hearing and transforming hearing health. We are a collaborative, multi-disciplinary institute with circa 75 staff working across basic and clinical sciences including genetics, cell and molecular biology, auditory neuroscience, cognitive and computational neuroscience, audiological sciences and ENT medicine. The UCL Ear Institute together with its partner, the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital (RN ENT), also hosts a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Theme in ‘Hearing Health’.

The EI offers a collaborative environment within the Faculty of Brain Sciences and is embedded within UCL’s neuroscience community. The Institute hosts state-of-the-art facilities for cell and molecular biology, microscopy, neurophysiology and behaviour, and researchers have access to UCL’s state-of-the-art facilities (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/science-technology-platforms/). A RAND analysis of highly-cited publications ranked UCL No.1 in England for both ‘Deafness and Hearing’ and for ‘Audiology and Speech & Language Pathology’. The EI delivers world-class teaching; training the next generation of auditory scientists is a priority at the UCL Ear Institute. The Institute hosts three-and four-year PhD programmes in a wide range of basic and clinical disciplines. It also offers a range of Master’s-level programmes in audiology, otolaryngology and audiovestibular research, as well as short courses for students and health-care professionals. Staff members additionally contribute to neuroscience programs across UCL. An undergraduate BSc in Audiology was launched in 2022/23.

We are looking to sponsor early career researchers (ECRs) for external fellowships that will enable them to establish an independent research group. Such fellowships include: Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, MRC Career Development Award, CRUK Career Development Fellowship, ERC Starting Grant, Royal Society URF, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, EPSRC Open Fellowship, UKRI Future Leader Fellowships and similar awards.

Following application, shortlisted candidates will be invited to give a research seminar and meet with faculty members, students and current fellows. They will be expected to demonstrate how their research complements EI’s research strategy and could contribute to collaborative programmes of work in the Institute. Interviews may be face-to-face or via an online platform. After this process, we will sponsor candidates who are a good fit for the EI and who will have competitive fellowship applications. Our commitment starts with academic and administrative support at the application and interview stages for these fellowships. For successful fellows, we will provide support to ensure they can successfully establish their research group, gain opportunities to develop teaching skills and play a full role in the running of the Institute. Fellows will also benefit from career development and mentoring programmes, opportunities to attract PhD students through PhD programs and additional funding support beyond the end of the fellowship. We expect fellows to develop into strong candidates for permanent positions within the department, or elsewhere.

Eligibility

Candidates should confirm their eligibility for specific fellowship schemes and will be required to provide evidence of eligibility to work in the UK before commencing any fellowship offered. We strongly encourage applications from women, disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as part of our ongoing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Further information and applying

Note that we run two selection rounds per year, and participation in this process is an obligatory step for obtaining the support of the Institute to submit a fellowship application.

Deadline for this round is June 30th 2024 (interviews in mid/late July, to target fellowship deadlines in late 2024), with a subsequent round taking place in late Autumn, and 6 monthly thereafter.

For more information or informal enquiries please email ear.admin@ucl.ac.uk.

You can find further information about this on the Ear Institute website: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ear/research/fellowships-ear-institute.

If you would like to enquire further, then please send an email to ear.admin@ucl.ac.uk and someone will get back to you.