Peterhouse Research Fellowships 2025

The Governing Body of Peterhouse, applying the benefactions of the late William Stone, former Scholar of the College, and others, intends to elect a number of Research Fellows, who will enter upon their tenure on 1st October 2025.

Applications must be received by 12.00pm on Monday 9th September 2024. Referees' references must be received by 5.00pm on Wednesday 18th September 2024. Incomplete applications will NOT be accepted. Please make sure that your application and your references reach us before the respective closing dates.

To apply, you are required to register. This enables you to save your application and revisit/edit it before submitting, or to check its status. It is recommended that you register as soon as possible.

To register, please go to the Application Registration page.

Competition Details

Eligibility Requirements

  • Application for a research fellowship is open to all in either the Arts or the Sciences.
  • Candidates must be graduates of, or current students at, universities in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. Candidates must, by the 1st October 2025, have passed all examinations required for a first degree at a university and would be expected to have gained at least a 2.i classification, or equivalent. Candidature is also restricted to those who commenced full-time research work on a PhD degree not earlier than the beginning of the 2021/2022 academic year.
  • Please view the Eligibility Requirements for further details. The RF Administrator is unable to answer queries relating to your eligibility; please follow the instructions.
  • Statements of research are required and should not be more than 600 words, outlining the work candidates would submit in support of their applications and the research they propose to pursue if elected. Please note that the statement will be read by people outside as well as inside the candidate's own discipline and should therefore be intelligible to scholars in other subjects.
  • Candidates must provide details for two or three referees who have agreed to submit a reference through the website by 5.00pm on Wednesday 18th September 2024. The referees should be familiar with your work. At least one must be from a department external to your own or from another institution, and one should be familiar with the writings to be submitted.
  • The application must be submitted online by 12.00pm on Monday 9th September 2024.

Written Work

  • Dissertations or other written work are not required at this stage, but it is essential to have these readily accessible. Those candidates whose applications are short-listed for further assessment will be invited to submit a copy of their chosen written work electronically no later than Sunday 27th October 2024. Please ensure that your contact details on your application are kept updated at that time (preferably giving your email, mobile, or telephone details).
  • The College is concerned with the quality, rather than quantity, of the work submitted but, in order that an informed assessment may be made, it is important that sufficient material be available. As a rough guide, it is recommended that the work for submission to external assessors should be to a maximum of 30,000 words including references, appendices or bibliography (or about one quarter the length of a PhD thesis).
  • Submitted work should be written in English.
  • In addition to submitting written work, short-listed science candidates may be asked to provide a statement from their proposed Head of Department confirming that adequate space, finance and facilities are available. In cases where short-listed candidates are not already in contact with the Department, the College will provide assistance in initiating discussions with the Head of Department.

Fellowship Details

  • The annual remuneration of a residential Research Fellow will, from 1 October 2024, be equivalent to point 33 on the University Scale, at present £30,487*. Stipends will be subject to deductions in consideration of emoluments from other sources. Research Fellows who wish to live in College will be provided with College accommodation free of rent and council tax.** The College will support the Fellow’s research expense claims up to a value of £1,685*. For international candidates, all visa costs and health surcharges will be covered.

    In the case of a Research Fellow who has not yet taken the Ph.D., the College may pay certain approved University fees. Research Fellows are expected to engage in full time research, but may be permitted to teach for up to six hours a week and will be paid for this. All Research Fellows are allowed seven free meals a week at the Common Table. In addition to pursuing research it is expected that Research Fellows will take a full part in College life and activities. The tenure is three years and in certain circumstances may be renewed. Up to one year’s absence may be granted.

    *subject to annual review
    ** Note that accommodation-related benefits are taxable benefits under current HMRC rules

Application Timetable

  • The application process begins on Friday 9th August 2024.
  • The application must be submitted through the website by 12.00pm on Monday 9th September 2024. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  • Two or three references must be submitted through the website by 5.00pm on Wednesday 18th September 2024.
  • Candidates will be short-listed on 16th October 2024.
  • Written work must be submitted by Sunday 27th October 2024.
  • The second selection meeting will take place on 21rd November 2024 where a shortlist of candidates to be interviewed will be made.
  • Interviews will take place on Tuesday 10th December 2024.
  • Successful candidates will enter into their Fellowships on 1st October 2025.