Applications are now open for the 2025 Royal Academy of Engineering (RAENG) Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowship. Click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
About Royal Academy of Engineering (RAENG) Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships
Funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), over the last 35 years, the Academy’s Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships scheme has successfully supported over 200 academic appointments and enhanced internationally renowned centres of excellence.
Awardees are expected to:
- establish or enhance a world leading engineering research group
- deliver 'use-inspired' research that meets the needs of their industrial sponsors
- disseminate the outcomes of their research for appropriate academic use
- become a self-sustaining research group by the end of the award (by securing substantial external grant income).
This scheme aims to strengthen the links between industry and academia, supporting academics in UK universities to undertake use-inspired research to meet the needs of industrial sponsors.
Benefits of Royal Academy of Engineering (RAENG) Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships
The scheme provides funding for five years. Each application is capped at a maximum contribution from the Academy of £225,000 over the five-year period.
In addition to the direct financial support, the scheme benefits include:
- Mentoring support from an Academy Fellow to offer independent expert advice and guidance on research related matters throughout the duration of the award
- Training, events and additional funding opportunities
- Reduction of teaching and administrative duties to enable the awardees to focus on delivering use-inspired research, that creates impact for their industrial sponsors
- Networking opportunities with other awardees and Academy Fellows.
Royal Academy of Engineering (RAENG) Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships Requirments
- Awards must be held at a UK higher education institution/university.
- The applicant must have an academic position or an unconditional offer of such a position. The host institution’s letter of support must make clear that they have offered a position to the applicant stating the starting date.
- Awards made in this round must start between 1 March and 30 April 2025.
- Research Chairs are professorial appointments, so applicants should already be a professor or equivalent.
- Senior Research Fellowships are senior academic appointments, so applicants should already be at reader or lecturer level or equivalent.
- Applicants should be able to demonstrate an outstanding research profile including a proven track record in securing external grant income and developing collaborations.
- Applications are welcome from any engineering discipline. Engineering is defined in its broadest sense, encompassing a wide range of diverse fields. If you are unsure whether your collaborative research project falls within the Academy’s engineering remit area, please contact [email protected].
- The duration of an award is five years. This applies to both full and part-time awards. The industrial sponsor must commit to fund the entire five-year period. Applications for shorter time periods will not be accepted.
- The industrial sponsor must have a significant base in the UK. No more than a maximum of two industrial sponsors per application is allowed.
- In special circumstances, the industrial sponsor may be another funding body such as a charity or government department. In such cases, the funding body is subject to the same terms and conditions as an industrial sponsor and must also demonstrate suitable pathways to exploit research outcomes and impact.
- The industrial sponsor must make a (cash or in-kind) contribution towards the fellowship that is proportionate to the size of the organisation. It must cover the research project over the five-year period. This can include both cash and in-kind support. The amount of funding the industrial sponsor is willing to contribute is an important assessment criterion, being an indicator of the level of commitment to the post and the level of ambition for the group to be created.
- Applicants must have already identified an appropriate collaborative research project and secured the support of an industrial sponsor prior to submitting an application.
- The proposed research programme should naturally align with the interests of the industrial sponsor and its ‘use-inspired research’ should be underpinned by world-class basic research. The collaborative research proposal must be of mutual benefit to both industrial sponsor and host institution. Please note the proposal should not be a consultancy work.
- The Research Chairs / Senior Research Fellowship cannot be jointly hosted by more than one higher education institution/university.
Application Date and Process
Before applying, please read the information provided in the applicant guidance notes.
For help identifying an industrial or academic host, you may find the konfer website helpful.
Selection Process
Stage 1: Expert review
The full application will be assessed by a minimum of three expert reviews (usually Academy Fellows). Expert reviewers will provide comments and score against each of the following assessment criteria, the overall quality of the application and a recommendation on whether they should proceed to interview.
- Quality of the applicant
- Quality of the collaborative research programme
- Strength of the strategic partnership
- Beneficiaries and impact
- Financial costing of the proposal
Sift panel:
The Academy staff will collate all reviewers’ comments and scores into a summary table, and rank the applications by overall score and the Yes/No recommendations. These are presented to the sift panel for a final decision on which applications should proceed to interview stage. Those applicants not asked to attend an interview will be informed of this decision as soon as possible following the sift panel’s decision.
Stage 2: Interview
The interview will be conducted by a generalist panel consisting of at least three Academy Fellows. Each interview will take about 45 minutes. Panellists will provide comments against the assessment criteria outlined above.
The ranking of candidates during the preceding sift panels will have no bearing at interview. All interview candidates are considered to have equal standing. Following the interviews, the panel will rank the applications and select the top ranked candidates for awards.
Full details of the selection process are outlined in the Reviewer Guidance for Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships Applicant Guidance Note.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process, please contact the Research Team at [email protected] to discuss options.
The awardee must submit an annual progress report to the Academy, which will be reviewed and evaluated by the assigned mentor. At the annual review meeting, the awardee, the host institution’s head of department/school, a representative of the industrial sponsor, the mentor, and a member of Academy staff will discuss progress and agree future plans.
Application Deadline
12 September, 2024
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Royal Academy of Engineering (RAENG) Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships
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