The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has funds available to support Postdoctoral Enterprise Fellowships for internal candidates within the University of Southampton/University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Partnership. 

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Scheme Outline

 

The funds will be used to support the salary of the successful applicant for up to one year in the first instance (with an additional year possible subject to successful performance review), to facilitate applications for enterprise and translation activities and industrial funding. NIHR criteria state fellowships must be awarded following a competitive process. These awards are expected to allow applicants to prepare competitive bids for enterprise activities and/or industrial funding.

 

Fellowship activities should focus on gaining external support to the applicant beyond the funded period. The enterprise fellowship period will be used to conduct activities dedicated to translational activities, to developing commercialisation plans and, where essential, to generate data focussed on enterprise activity, all of which should focus on strengthening applications for external support. Fellowships can also be used to support ongoing industrial partnerships whilst external funding is secured. Emphasis may vary across Themes, so potential applicants are strongly encouraged to talk to Theme Leads before making an application. All successful awardees are expected to be active in making enterprise or industrial applications during their award.

 

There is no provision for the cost of consumables or training in the Enterprise Fellowships. Please provide details of how these costs will be met in the relevant section of the application form (if applicable). If the applicant has a clinical background, it may be possible to combine this award with clinical commitments/training. However, applicants will need to have secured permission to be released from the appropriate UHS Clinical Division and considered their position beyond the end of BRC support.

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In this round, the topic of the planned research application must be aligned with the following BRC Theme research priorities and accompanying SMART Objectives or planned future experimental theme work:

 

• Microbiology, Infection & Immunology (MII)

Topics involving more than one Theme are encouraged. The proposed fellowships must fit within the NIHR and BRC remit, with particular emphasis on experimental medicine which does not include animal research. Theme Research Strategy and SMART objectives can be found here.

 

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Theme Leads to discuss their projects before making an application, to ensure project alignment.

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As these are postdoctoral fellowships, applicants must have been awarded an MD or PhD, or have recently submitted their doctoral thesis, with appointment conditional on successful award.  

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Application Criteria

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Candidates whose proposed research programmes align with the scientific programmes of the BRC are eligible to apply for these funds.

 

Applicants must already hold an MD / PhD or have recently submitted their doctoral thesis (in this case appointment is subject to successful award).  

 

To apply, please send the following to BRC-applications@uhs.nhs.uk by 17 May 2024:

 

• Postdoctoral Enterprise Fellowship application form with all sections completed and word limits respected. Please use this version of the form. The timeline/GANTT chart can be submitted as a separate document if necessary.

 

• A summary CV (max two sides of A4, size 11 font). The CV should contain basic information about education, employment history, current source of funding, job plan and academic responsibilities, as well as a list of the most relevant publications from the last five years.

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Applicants will be notified of outcomes by early June.

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For further information, please contact Prof Karl Staples at k.staples@soton.ac.uk. 
 

 

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