Faraday Institution Launches Academic-Industry Fellowships
The Faraday Institution was established in 2017 as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund – Faraday Battery Challenge. The Institution is the UK’s independent institute for electrochemical energy storage science and technology, supporting research, training, and analysis.
The Faraday Institution has now launched Industry Fellowships to enable academics, whether working on Faraday Institution research projects or not, and industrialists to conduct collaborative, mutually beneficial energy storage research projects. Both academic researchers and industrialists may apply for fellowships that will advance a defined research project with commercial potential or which solves a critical industrial problem in an area that falls within the Faraday Institution’s remit of electrochemical energy storage research. The fellowships will enable university researchers to work in an industry setting, or for a scientist employed in industry to work on a project within a university department.
The award covers the salary costs of the researchers as well as research expenses of up to £1,000 per fellowship. Fellowships can last between three months and a year, and may also be held on a pro rata basis (eg 50% part-time for up to 24 months), enabling fellows to maintain links with their employing institution. If the research collaboration is productive and all parties wish it to continue beyond the term, the Faraday Institution will consider extending the length of tenure at the request of the awardee.
Applicants must have been resident in the UK for at least three years, have a right to remain in the UK, hold a PhD (or be of equivalent standing in their profession) and hold a permanent post in either a UK university or UK-based company. Applicants should also be at a stage in their career when they would particularly benefit from establishing or strengthening personal and corporate links between the two sectors.
The fellowships must involve transfer between a UK university or a not-for-profit research organisation and a UK registered industrial company. Research topics must fall within the Faraday Institution’s remit of electrochemical energy storage research, which includes but is not limited to chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics.
Both single and joint applications are permissible, as follows:
Joint applications – where a university researcher or group and an industrial partner have agreed to work on a defined problem – are accepted twice per year for internal review. Joint applications should be submitted before 1 April and 1 October each year and are expected to be awarded within six weeks of these deadlines.
Single applications – where an industrial research group is in search of an academic partner or vice versa – are accepted on a rolling basis at any point during the year. Applications will be reviewed for suitability and, if selected, will be assisted in finding the right industrial or academic match.
The Faraday Institution expects to award approximately six Fellowships up to March 2021, but this will be reviewed in light of demand.
More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.