This Academic Career Development funding is available to support those who have encountered barriers due to their individual circumstances that have negatively impacted their research career, including any ongoing impact due to Covid-19. It will give successful applicants the time to work up research ideas and apply for fellowships or grants, publish key work, and fill any development gaps to support their next career step. In recognition of sector-wide systemic barriers, we are particularly keen to ensure that this fund will serve to strengthen the future pipeline of researchers from Black African, Black Caribbean and other Black heritage backgrounds.

Applicants can apply for up to £30,000 per application to cover their salary, this can be full or part time, and any essential non-salary funds needed.

To apply please submit a Career Development Fund Application Form (Office document, 20kB) to Claire Wrixon (claire.wrixon@bristol.ac.uk) by midnight on Thursday 19th January 2023.

The funds are to be spent according to the following principles:

• Spend is aligned to our research and enterprise objectives as articulated in the University research sub-strategy, three themes or our Research Institutes.
• A written proposal of how the funds will be spent will be signed off by the PVC Research and Enterprise and the APVCs for Enterprise and Innovation and Research Culture before funds are allocated.
• Proposals should include what successful outcomes are expected and how this will be measured (what data/evidence will be collected).
• A written report at the end of the six months is submitted detailing the outcomes achieved.
• Funds need to be spent by the 31st July 2023.

The funding will culminate in a research ideas showcase in July, to celebrate achievements and share experiences.

Successful applicants will be supported with development consisting of:

• A blended learning professional development programme over 6 months.
• Workshops on regular, productive academic writing and structuring your writing time, funding options and panel talks.
• Regular monthly writing retreats to keep you on track.
• Support with academic writing for non-native speakers.
• Coaching retreat to support participants to identify strengths and talents as well as development needs. With space to reflect on your aims, build confidence in your expertise, articulate success and skills to overcome obstacles.
• 1-1 support.
• Opportunity to develop a network of peer support. 

Selection Criteria

Projects must meet the following – these will be used as assessment criteria for the call:

Eligible applicants are Research Associates and Senior Research Associates from any discipline, who have encountered barriers due to their individual circumstances that have negatively impacted their research career, including any ongoing impact due to Covid-19. We particularly welcome applications from colleagues from Black African, Black Caribbean and other Black heritage backgrounds. If you are in any doubt about your eligibility, please speak to Claire Wrixon or Simon Swales first.

Funds are in place to pay for your time to explore and develop your research ideas and enrich your CVs. You can apply for up to £30,000 per application to cover your salary, this can be full or part time, and any essential non-salary funds needed. A breakdown of how much time you are requesting, what grade and increment point you are on and what any non-salary funds will be spent on will need to be included in your application. Funds need to be spent by the 31st July 2023. If you are unclear on your grade or increment point, please speak to us.

You will need to clearly explain how your research and your proposed outputs align with our research and enterprise objectives as articulated in the University research sub-strategy, three themes or our Research Institutes.

Outputs can take any and many forms and we are keen for researchers to think creatively about how they use this time to fill any development gaps to support their next career step. Both research and creative outputs such as fellowship proposals, grant proposals, research papers, conferences, blog posts, toolkits, artefacts, texts, performances, exhibitions, objects, interventions, applications for further funding are all acceptable outputs for the research project but we strongly encourage researchers to end with an output and document the process.

We expect applicants to have consulted with their PI before applying and to have a plan in place to mitigate any issues affecting their current contract.

We will ask for a short report on the activities at the end of the project and we are expecting all successful applicants to participant in an end of scheme showcase to communicate any outputs and the personal impact the funding has made.

Panel Assessment Criteria

• originality and feasibility of the proposed work.
• quality and coherence of the proposal.
• importance of the award relative to the EDI/Covid impact on the applicants’ career development.
• importance of the award relative to the applicant's career stage and length of time left on contract.
• alignment of research to our research and enterprise objectives as articulated in the University research sub-strategy, three themes or our Research Institutes.

Given these criteria, unsuccessful applications should not be interpreted as a negative judgment on the part of the selection panel. We expect that many excellent proposals will have to be turned down given the competition and the need to fund a range of projects and types/levels of applicants.