2016 Cheney Fellowships in Culture announced

A scheme designed to bring senior researchers for extended visits to Leeds is now accepting applications.

Are you a senior researcher who is looking for an opportunity to spend some time way from day to day responsibilities to develop new research ideas and collaborations?

Thanks to the generous donation of Peter and Susan Cheney, the University of Leeds is able to offer a number of senior research fellowships to enable you to do just that.

The Cheney Fellowships scheme enables talented senior researchers to undertake a period of research at the University of Leeds, during which time they can spend time thinking, talking, collaborating and developing new ideas with academic colleagues including staff and research students. Applicants from within and outside of academia are encouraged.

For the 2016 round, applications are invited from potential fellows in the area of culture (under the auspices of the Cultural Institute at the University of Leeds), focusing on one or more of the following areas:

• Research making use of the distinctive holdings of Special Collections in the University Library;
• Research relating to partner organisations of the Cultural Institute (including, for example, Opera North, the Henry Moore Institute, the Hepworth Gallery, the Thackray Medical Museum);
• Research relating to new methods in digital humanities (for example, digital creativity);
• Research relating to new methods in the study of science, technology and culture (for example, Medical or Environmental Humanities);
• Research relating to cultural value;
• Research into cities and culture.

During your stay, you will either be paid a salary - University Grade 9 (minimum £47,328 p.a.) or University Grade 10 (minimum £57,047 p.a.) depending on experience or alternatively you will receive funding to cover the costs of travel and subsistence where you continue to receive a salary from your home institution. The scheme will also provide funding to support research costs during your stay.

Fellowships typically last for 6 months full time but a proposal for multiple shorter visits may also be acceptable.

Fellows are expected to start their fellowship no later than 12 months after the deadline for applications.

As part of the application process you will be required to submit the following documents:

• An academic CV; and;
• A supporting statement describing the work you would undertake during the course of the fellowship, the research group(s) and individual academics you would envisage working with, and how your proposed activity matches the characteristics of the Cheney Fellowship scheme and addresses the assessment criteria (no more than 2 sides of A4, minimum font size 11).

Further information about the scheme, including a job description, can be found here.

Applications should be submitted to cheneyfellowships@leeds.ac.uk by 5pm on Sunday, 12th June 2016.