About the Fellowships
Queen’s University Belfast is one of the leading universities in the UK and Ireland, with a distinguished heritage and history. With over 24,000 students, 3,700 staff and an annual turnover of some £300m, Queen’s University Belfast plays a unique leadership role in Northern Ireland. As a member of the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities, Queen’s University Belfast combines excellence in research and education with a student centred ethos.
Making a global impact through excellence in research and innovation the University is ranked joint 8th in the UK for Research Intensity (Times Higher Rankings based on REF 2014). Queen’s University Belfast brings together researchers across discipline to address some of the greatest societal challenges of our time, with over 75% of our research rated as world class or internationally leading.
Professor Patrick Johnston was regarded as one of the world’s foremost cancer researchers and served as the 12th President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast until his death in June 2017. Professor Johnston led the modernisation of cancer services across Northern Ireland, including the development of a state-of-the-art Clinical Cancer Centre and a new research Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology (CCRCB) at the University which opened in 2007.
To support our ambitious research strategy, we are making a substantial investment and expect to award a number of prestigious fellowships, including both Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowships and up to 5 Patrick G. Johnston Fellowships, with the latter aligned to medical research and funded by a generous philanthropic gift.
These prominent three-year Research Fellowships are a fantastic opportunity to build upon the foundations of an academic career and will lead to an academic post, subject to appropriate performance against agreed criteria. The purpose of the scheme is to support the Fellows in pursuing their research. Successful Fellows will be able to access exceptional support to enable them to become leaders in their field.
Duration of Fellowships
The Fellowships will be offered for three years starting in 2018 - 2021. At the end of the three years, having undertaken the appropriate professional development, and satisfying the criteria for an academic post within the University, the Fellows will be offered an academic position.
Research Priority Themes
In order to build upon our existing areas of world-leading research, we aim to align our Fellows with the research areas in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences including activities associated with the Schools of: Biological Sciences; Medicine, Dentistry & Biomedical Sciences; Nursing & Midwifery; and, Pharmacy and including the Institute of Health Sciences (encompassing the Centres for Cancer Research & Cell Biology, Experimental Medicine; and, Public Health), the Institute for Global Food Security and the MATCH Pioneer Research Programme.
One of the Patrick G. Johnston Fellowships will be in the area of medical informatics/bioinformatics and will align with the recent Health Data Research UK (HDR-UK) Substantive Site award (in partnership with the University of Swansea).
Applicants will be required to demonstrate in their application how their current research is aligned to one or more of the themes. With a relevant degree and PhD (or equivalent) the Fellows will also have 3 – 6 years’ post-PhD experience, although exceptional candidates in their third year post-PhD experience will also be considered.
The successful candidates will demonstrate through their application and assessment at interview how they meet the criteria for the Fellowships as outlined in the Job Details (link).