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[new_anth]

Good afternoon,

I'm wondering if anyone can fill in some questions about the 3-year pre/postdoctoral Junior Research Fellowships at Cambridge and Oxford. Be prepared--these are likely really dumb questions:

1) What's the prestige level on these for those of us eventually hoping to teach in the US? (i.e., will it help/hurt/neither our chances of getting a job here, rather than, say, taking a pre/postdoc in the US)

2) If they're as competitive as, say, the Harvard Academy Scholars Program, is it unheard of for them to admit applicants from the US?

3) Is there anything a newbie applicant who's only applied to stuff in the US should know about applying to something like this in the UK?

Thanks!

[lurkergirl]

1) Don't know your field but the Oxbridge names sure don't hurt.

2) They will admit people from other countries.

3) But it really makes a difference to have some kind of in. I think if you applied without them knowing you or your advisor the chances of it working out are pretty low. They are extremely difficult to get and connections do help.

[empyrean_aisles]

They are very, very unlikely to fly you out for an interview. You'll need to be already in the UK, or willing to fund the trip yourself.

You probably already realise this but the ones that say 'non-stipendiary' do not pay anything. They are designed for people who already have a funded postdoc in a department but no college affiliation. Search elsewhere on the Academics in the UK forum for info about the differences between departments and colleges, which are important to understand if you have had no prior experience of Oxbridge.

Also be aware that the ones that do pay, pay pretty poorly - certainly below AHRC postdoc rates or the national pay spine - in part because you usually get some housing perks and will be able to take some or all meals at the college, but mostly because of an ingrained sense that 'we don't need to pay at anything resembling the national pay spine, because we are Oxbridge, and our prestige more than compensates for the crappy pay.'

[babbinacara]

1) I've the sense that the prestige level is higher in humanities/ social sciences than it is in science, because of the nature of the fields, especially expectations of collaboration in many sub-fields of science. Better to take a post-doc in a hot science lab than to do what is basically a solo science project as a JRF.

2) Extremely competitive, regularly hundreds of applications for a single fellowship. But yes, overseas applicants are often successful. Many of these will have done a UK PhD, but not necessarily. The disadvantage US applicants have is the different PhD system in the UK.  The PhD takes 3-4 years there, so just-finished UK applicants will be significantly younger than e.g. just-finished US applicants. US students will look "old" and there will be expectations that such applicants will have additional publications, research, etc.

3) You must have a tight and extremely well-defined project that you can do in three years, with results at the end (book, series of articles). As in book completely written and submitted, articles in press.  Put a timeline in your application: in the first six months I will do A and B, in the next six months C and D.  It's awkward, but the committee needs to see that plan to be convinced.
If you need money for extended fieldwork or scientific analyses, show that you have access to cash from other sources.
Make people care about your subject. Don't witter on about how your research will really expand our knowledge of the history of the eraser in the later 19th century. Nobody will care, unless the editor of the International Journal of Erasure Studies happens to be on the committee. Research your erasers, sure, but put them in a larger context about e.g. expanding industrialisation or democratisation of education, that everyone will know something about and can respond to.
Do some webstalking. What do the college fellows do? Is there anyone in your field in the college with whom you might collaborate, or at least whose interests sound as though you could have a conversation? What about the university department? What might you offer there, in terms of research collaboration and maybe some teaching? Even humanities scholars need to talk to someone at times. E-mail possible collaborators, find out about seminars or research groups to join.  Are there archives or library resources in the university or area (local county archives) that give you a reason to be in the UK and/or at Oxford or Cambridge? You need a good research plan but you also need to prove why Oxbridge is the best place for you to do that research.

The pay range is about 18 to 28 thousand pounds per year (lowish on the national pay spine but adhering to it), and most come with free room and board. Free room and board, plus a reasonable salary for sitting on your arse and doing nothing but research for three years? That's not crappy.

[new_anth]

Thank you so much for these responses. I'm still a bit awed by just how helpful the CHE forum community is and it makes learning about the post-doc/job market so much easier. I'm not actually on the job market quite yet (still ABD) and what I'm working on this fall are pre-docs/write up fellowships and trying to learn as much about applying for jobs/post-docs so that I've got at least some of the basics down for the Great Plunge.

(e.g. don't contact SC with "just calling to confirm receipt of my application and to tell you I'm really interested," and other useful insight I wouldn't have known otherwise.)

[hegemony]

They are very competitive -- there's not much use in applying if you don't have publications.

There is also no teaching component (though they allow you to do a little teaching on the side, to bump up your pay/credentials, if you want).  So unlike many post-doc applications, don't go on about how much you love teaching.

[secretweapon]

For the reasons Babbinacara gives, they are fantastic jobs.  No, they won't help you save for a house or get loads of teaching experience, but you get to do your research and make great networks. 

Bear in mind that many JRFs require you to have done fewer than [3, 4 or 5] years of full time research and to have published.  The US and UK doctoral timescales and mindsets being very different, many US candidates just don't meet the criteria (and I think there have been comments on the Wiki about how unfair this is.  Well, it is what it is).

[runwithscissors]

Yes the Oxbridge junior fellowships are definitely worth applying for. As previous posts have said, you usually get a low salary £18-19,000 but free accommodation and meals, possibly a childcare allowance as well. They will also provide money for conferences and fieldwork, but this will basically be seed money - so if you have a big expensive project in mind then you'll probably have to apply for external funding when you are in the UK. Clearly stating how you would go about this is probably a good idea in the application.

Most postdocs will give you some relocation expenses (both of mine did), but I'm not sure if the Oxbridge ones will. If they want you, they'll likely contribute something.

If you want to move to the UK to do a postdoc (which can be a good option as it allows you to concentrate solely on research and build a publications profile) then I would look further afield for postdoc funding than just these fellowships, because they are extremely competitive. It would be a good idea to get a solid research proposal together that you can tailor to different funding bodies (British Academy, Leverhulme trust, AHRC, ESRC etc etc.) and start making enquiries for postdoc mentoring from a leader in your field. Also keep checking jobs.ac.uk and the THES jobs sites. Good luck.

[new_anth]

Again, thanks for the helpful responses.

I just wanted to update a bit with some information re: interviews. Not all the JRF's require interviews (St. Catharine's College does not, for example) and for those that do, apparently (according to the Fellowship Secretary at another college) whether these interviews are in-person or over-the-telephone is entirely discretionary and depends on the college.

It sounds like a long shot, but I'm giving it a go, just because, well, heck, that's what we have to do, right?