Academic Career Development Fellowship Programme
| Upcoming Deadline | 18 February 2027, 12pm |
|---|---|
| Funding Amount | 40% of total salary costs per annum* |
| Funding Duration | up to 3 years |
Academic Career Development Fellowships Overview
INT Academic Career Development Fellowships offer the opportunity for exceptional scholars in selected subjects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences to contribute to both research and teaching within a Faculty and College environment, offering excellent preparation for subsequent academic appointments at Cambridge or elsewhere.
INT Academic Career Development Fellows will have an opportunity to:
- Enjoy protected research time to pursue an independent project
- Be embedded in a Faculty research and teaching culture
- Teach in College in small groups (in some cases, to act as a College Director of Studies)
- Teach undergraduate and/or Masters students in a Faculty setting
- Be mentored by Faculty members in academic skills (teaching, research, publication, grant applications, academic administration)
- Become a member of the INT’s Fellowship community
Eligible candidates will be at an early stage of their career typically with less than three years’ experience post-PhD/equivalent, exclusive of any career breaks. They will either already hold a PhD, or have an equivalent qualification, or will have submitted their doctoral dissertation by the Fellowship application deadline.
- All Colleges are potentially eligible providing they have a Department/Faculty partner,
- INT provides financial support for the research element of the Fellowship (40% of total salary costs)
- The Faculty/Department provides for Faculty teaching (30% of total salary costs)
- The College (or possibly two Colleges together) will provide 30% for up to 80 hours teaching (30% of total salary costs)
- For certain Colleges (those eligible for an INT JRF), INT may offer supplementary funds to help cover the College’s 30% salary contribution
Michaelmas Term
INT writes to Faculties and Departments in the Schools of Arts & Humanities (SAH) and Humanities & Social Sciences (SHSS) asking them if they are interested to set up an ACDF with a college or colleges and INT. If a Faculty of Department is interested (and has approval and potential funding from the Head of Department and School) would like to be introduced to a college, they need to notify INT by early to mid-October. SHSS may decide at this stage to support one or more departments with the required 30% contribution; other subjects may need to rely on trust funds or fund-raising to find the required contribution.
Once INT has heard from departments committed to setting up an ACDF, it will pass this information on to all colleges. Prospective partners should discuss the proposal as early as possible. Applications are invited by a deadline in mid-February.
Lent Term
Partnerships should be agreed as soon as possible in order for applications to be made no later than 18 February 2027 for consideration by the Trustees at their meeting in early March.
Applications need to be made jointly by the partner Department and College(s) via the online form linked here.
Applications will comprise the following:
1.A letter addressed to the Director, Professor Gemma Burgess that has been signed off by the Head of Department and College(s) concerned. The letter should be no longer than 3 sides of A4 and should include a response to the following questions:
Your application - the Department/College partnership
- Why do you (Department and College) wish to host an ACDF?
- What are the Department and College’s strategic aims in hosting this ACDF?
- What benefits to the academic community within both the Department and College do you anticipate as a result of this fellowship?
Academic Development of the Fellow
- How will the Fellow contribute to the teaching and the wider intellectual life of the department and college?
- Will the Fellow be asked to teach undergraduate and/or Master’s students or act as a Director of Studies?
- What processes are in place to ensure that the Fellow's workload meets the ACDF framework (0.4 fte research, 0.3 fte Department-based teaching and other academic duties & 0.3 fte College duties, to include a maximum of 80 supervisions p.a)?
- What additional facilities and relevant resources will be provided to the Fellow by the Department and College?
- What professional and personal development support will be available to the Fellow via the Department and College?
- Will the Fellow have a mentor in the Department and College?
- What processes are in place to ensure that the Fellow is welcomed and integrated into the Department, College and wider University?
2. A completed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the proposed Fellowship that has been signed by the Department and College(s).
3. A template job description that will be used for the role
4. Details of the Fellow’s line manager in the Department and College
5. Confirmation that the management of the Fellowship will meet the responsibilities detailed in the MoU
Easter Term
Following the Trustee Meeting in March, INT will confirm the outcome of the applications with the proposed partners. Those successful will be asked to agree on the procedure and timetable for recruitment for appointments to begin in September or October of that year.
Responsibilities of the Department
A Fellowship may be designated by the School to a Department on the basis of teaching need. Or, a Department may propose an ACDF award based on its own resources.
Fellowships should contribute to existing teaching or diversification, rather than being used to support an increase of student cohort size. At the end of the Fellowship, the teaching responsibility will fall back to the Department, drawing on the pool of available teaching within the Department in the usual way.
The Head of Department is responsible for
- providing an appropriate research environment
- confirming and monitoring research outputs and milestones and
- ensuring mentoring and other support are in place for the career development of the Fellow: a research Mentor will be nominated in the appropriate field who will, together with the Head of Department, be responsible to the Isaac Newton Trust for assuring that the Fellow has adequate research time of at least 40% FTE.
The Head of Department will agree an outline of teaching responsibilities within the Department based on the Fellow’s research strengths. They will also take the lead in ensuring that division of time is maintained so that Fellows are able to pursue all proposed activities in balance and is line-managed effectively within the Fellow’s role.
The Head of Department will liaise with the partnering College(s) as appropriate to ensure co-operative management of the Fellow’s co-terminous appointments.
Responsibilities of the College(s)
The Senior Tutor(s) will provide line-management for the ACDF in his/her College duties and liaise with the Head of the host Faculty regarding recruitment and over questions relating to the appointee’s teaching load and any other HR matters.
The Lead College will be responsible for specifying the level of College supervision and Direction of Studies to be undertaken; ACDFs should not be asked to direct studies immediately on arrival nor normally to take sole responsibility for directing for any subjects other than ‘small’ subjects.
Any other Colleges seeking to engage the Fellow for supervisions may do so as part of the maximum College teaching load, (80 supervisions or equivalent) by arrangement with the contracting College(s); the Fellows themselves will not be remunerated separately for College supervisions, but will report via CamCORS to the relevant College in the usual way.
Non-contractual Colleges engaging the Fellow for supervision in this way will remunerate the Fellow’s contracting College for the actual hours taught.
Directing of studies may, however, be remunerated separately from the ACDF model by the College if this is normal practice for Fellows or CTOs in similar situations.
The Lead College will offer an appropriate level of association to the Fellow. In some cases, this might be a full Fellowship or equivalent of a JRF; in others, it might be a Bye Fellowship or Postdoctoral Associateship, according to the College’s usual practice.
The Lead College will offer community, emoluments and other privileges as appropriate to the level of membership provided; if another College is sharing the Fellowship, it will consider what level of association it might offer in the light of this other provision.
Responsibilities of the Isaac Newton Trust
The INT will endeavour to work with Department and Colleges to make initial arrangements for partnerships and will assist in resolving difficulties that might arise concerning arrangements among the partners; however, INT is not responsible for selection, any HR or employment matters relating to the Fellowships.
INT will pay its contribution for research annually to the Department on receipt of an invoice.
ACDFs may apply for modest INT research funding in open competition with other researchers.
Unspent portions of the INT contribution are to be returned at termination of appointment.
Following the Trustee's approval of the ACDF and the completion of the MOU, the partner College and Department can proceed with the recruitment of the fellowship position. The recruitment process will be undertaken jointly by the College and Department; both partners will be represented on the selection panel. INT is not involved in the recruitment but requires a copy of the job description and advert.
The College/Department need to provide INT with a CV of the role holder once the fellow has been successfully appointed.
The Academic Career Development Fellow will also be required to complete INT's Personal Data Consent Form.
Early Career Fellows will be regarded as employees of the institutions (the University and the host college(s)) where the award is held and therefore be subject to that institution’s terms and conditions of employment.
The Faculty should send an invoice to the Isaac Newton Trust (via administrator@newtontrust.cam.ac.uk) at the start of each academic year for 40% of the overall salary costs, up to spine point 44, (salary + on costs) of the Fellowship.
Due acknowledgement of support received from the Isaac Newton Trust should be made in any publication resulting from the Fellow's research, whether an article, a paper, a book, or any other output. The Fellow is also expected to acknowledge support in any form of media communication, including media appearances, press releases, book launches and conferences, and to inform the Trust of such activities.
Fellows should tag the Trust on social media and include INT’s logo where relevant.
In addition to the INT’s own contribution to the ACDF, the Trustees will consider providing a supplementary award to cover all or part of the eligible college’s 30% contribution less the cost of 80 supervisions per annum, if a suitable case for extra support is made.
Stipendiary INT JRFs and ACDF supplements are alternative ways of supporting AHSS subjects in eligible colleges.
Please note that an eligible college may have an ACDF, but not with an ACDF supplement, while it also has a Stipendiary INT JRF in post.
Colleges with stipendiary INT JRFs in post cannot apply for an ACDF with an ACDF supplement until the Lent Term of the INT JRF's final year.