Academic fellowships
Parliament offers fellowships in which academics come and conduct projects at Parliament. There are opportunities for academic researchers at any stage of their career.
POST's Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme
In the Parliamentary Academic Fellowship Scheme, researchers use their knowledge and skills to carry out projects in UK Parliament. The Knowledge Exchange Unit in Parliament organise the scheme.
The scheme first began in 2016 and has two strands. In the Directed Call of the scheme, academics work on projects issued by Parliament. This is currently a rolling scheme, with projects issued as the need in Parliament arises. In the Open Call of the scheme, academics propose projects they would like to conduct in Parliament. The Open Call last opened for applications during 2020 and is currently closed.
Researchers bring their skills and knowledge to offices across Parliament. They work closely with parliamentary staff in their host team, and some will also have direct contact with Members of Parliament. A fellowship project might support core work of an office in Parliament, or fill a gap in expertise. It could help to grow Parliament's academic networks, or inform parliamentary scrutiny. It might analyse and evaluate parliamentary practices, or build staff capacity and skills.
Applications are open to all UK-based university researchers who already have a PhD and are employed on an academic contract (and, exceptionally, they are also open to those who don't have a PhD but who are employed in a university on an academic contract and have equivalent experience of a PhD). They are also open to university staff working in impact or knowledge exchange. People applying for fellowships must also be eligible for a parliamentary pass.
Parliamentary Academic Fellows go through an application process when applying for fellowships. As part of this they complete application forms and attend an interview. Applicants source funding for the fellowships from their institutions or research organisations/ funders.
Academics remain employed by their university whilst they carry out fellowships. They have the status of Parliamentary Academic Fellows for the duration of their fellowships.
Fellowships generate impact for Parliament, the fellow and the fellow’s home institution. In Parliament, for example, fellowships can raise awareness around topics, inform scrutiny and support changes in processes. They allow fellows to increase their knowledge of Parliament, build networks for themselves and their home institution, and develop new skills. They can lead to research impact and can enable opportunities for fellows to publish, and develop their teaching.
An overview of some of the fellows currently participating in the scheme, including their institution, their host office in Parliament and their fellowship project, can be found below:
| Fellow name | Fellow institution | Host office in UK Parliament | Fellowship project |
|
Dr Patrick Butchard |
Edge Hill University |
International Affairs and Defence Section, House of Commons Library |
Supporting the delivery of international law policy research for the House of Commons Library |
|
Dr Elinor Carmi |
University of Liverpool | Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, House of Commons Committee Office | Digital Literacies for a Healthy Democracy |
| Sandra Messenger | Cranfield University | Knowledge Exchange Unit, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology | The use of digital approaches to knowledge exchange to enhance diverse engagement between the UK Parliament and the research community |
| Professor Andrew Mumford | University of Nottingham | International Affairs Unit, House of Commons Committee Office | Providing Support and Advice to the House of Commons International Affairs Unit on the Government's Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review |
| Professor Rachel Murray | University of Bristol | Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Branch | Assessing the effectiveness of the National Assembly’s Standing Orders and the Standing Orders Consultation Programme in the Gambia |
| Dr James Winnett | University of Warwick | Business and Transport Section, House of Commons Library |
Reducing societal reliance on petrol and diesel cars: the impact of policy on decarbonising transport |
The KEU conduct ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the Parliamentary Academic Scheme, which informs developments in the scheme. This includes to ensure that the scheme and recruitment process are inclusive. You can read a long evaluation of the pilot scheme, which ran between 2016 and 2019 here. It includes a review of the scheme, details of projects conducted and their impacts, and five case studies. You can read a short summary of the pilot scheme here.
Find out more about the Open Call of the Parliamentary Academic Fellowship scheme.
Find out more about the Directed Call of the Parliamentary Academic Fellowship scheme.
If you would like to find out more about the scheme, please contact Laura Webb on webblj@parliament.uk.
POST PhD Fellowships
POST offers fellowships in which sponsored PhD students can work at POST for (usually) three months.
Some fellowships are also open to post-doctoral researchers in academia and industry. POST runs this scheme with Research Councils, learned societies and charities. Find out more about POST PhD Fellowships.