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About the scheme

POST and Midlands Innovation are offering a 13-week fellowship to PhD students registered at a participating Midlands Innovation institution, who are undertaking or have recently completed their PhD study.

Successful applicants will be based in UK Parliament, supporting its use of research evidence. Most fellows assist POST in providing briefing material for parliamentarians on emerging science topics. Work may include:

  • Producing a POSTnoteor POSTbrief (briefing documents to help inform the work of MPs and Peers) or contributing to a longer briefing report.
  • Assisting a select committee in an ongoing inquiry.
  • Organising a seminar to inform or disseminate research.

PhD Fellows are encouraged to interact closely with people and activities in the two Houses of Parliament, including Select Committees, MPs and Peers, their support services, ‘All-Party Parliamentary Group’ meetings and the very wide range of other activities at the Palace of Westminster.

The fellowship can be carried out full-time for three months or a part-time option can be arranged if required. Successful applicants will start their fellowship in April 2025, with the start date to be agreed between the applicant, POST, Midlands Innovation and the applicant’s supervisor.

Who is eligible to apply?

The fellowship is open to those registered at a participating Midlands Innovation institution who are undertaking or have recently completed their PhD study in the social sciences OR in life sciences, health sciences and medicine. “Recently completed” applies to people whose PhD funding ended within the six months prior to the application deadline (if your funding ended before 27 May 2024, you are not eligible for this fellowship).

This opportunity is also open to self-funded PhD students. If you are a self-funded PhD student who has recently completed their PhD, your university will determine an appropriate cut-off date for eligibility, aligned with funded students. Please contact your university to establish whether you are eligible.

Participating Midlands Innovation institutions:

  • Aston University
  • University of Birmingham
  • Cranfield University
  • University of Keele
  • University of Leicester
  • Loughborough University
  • University of Warwick

Please note that PhD students from other Midlands Innovation partners (University of Nottingham) are not eligible to apply for this fellowship.

Successful candidates will be required to complete pre-employment checks. This includes security vetting to Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) level. All successful candidates are required to pass these checks before an offer can be confirmed.

The full eligibility criteria can be found in the application guidance (see below).

How to apply

It is important that you download and read the application pack before applying, as it contains more details on the role, application process, and assessment criteria.

Download the application guidance

Applicants should submit:

  • A completed online application form.
  • A two-page briefing on a topic that you think would be of current interest to Parliamentarians. Your briefing should be written in the provided briefing template. Please see the application pack for the two-page briefing assessment and some tips for writing it.
  • An approval form which has been completed by your PhD Supervisor and Head of Department or Studentship Grant Holder.

You will be able to complete the application form and upload the completed two-page briefing and approval form via the House of Commons recruitment portal.

Apply here

Applications will undergo an initial sift based on the two-page briefing.

The deadline for applications is 23:55, 27 November 2024. Interviews will be held on 15 and 16 January 2025.

We will be hosting an online information session about the fellowship on 11 November 2024 3-4pm. Please contact Clare Lally (postfellowships@parliament.uk) or Sarah Alton (Sarah.Alton@nottingham.ac.uk) for details.

Funding arrangements

The opportunity will be funded by Midlands Innovation and successful candidates will receive a stipend payment comprised of:

  • a one-off payment of £7,922.50 OR
  • for clinical academic PhD candidates only, funding will be provided to match a 13-week PhD stipend extension.

Your university will make one payment to cover the costs of the fellowship directly to the Fellow. The payment will be made after security clearance has been granted, approximately one month before the start of the placement.

For all Fellows, travel, accommodation and any caring costs incurred as part of the fellowship will also need to be paid from the payment above.

Frequently asked questions

If you would like more information about POST or our fellowships, please see our frequently asked questions page on our website.

If you have a question about the fellowship that is not answered in this guidance or our frequently asked questions page, please contact Clare Lally (postfellowships@parliament.uk).

If you have a question about funding, please contact Sarah Alton on behalf of Midlands Innovation (Sarah.Alton@nottingham.ac.uk).

Photo by: Jamie Street via Unsplash