The History Faculty, University of Cambridge invites applications for British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships. The Faculty is delighted to receive applications in any area of History. Cambridge makes an internal ranking of these applications; the reason for the August deadline is to give the Faculty time to review them. We then nominate the strongest proposals to the University’s Research Strategy Office, for submission to the British Academy itself in October.

Potential candidates should first contact a suitable academic mentor from among our existing staff; if you need guidance on whom to approach, please contact the Research Director Professor Annabel Brett ([email protected]). Once you find a willing mentor, please ask them to write a letter direct to the Faculty commenting on your suitability for the scheme, what you would bring to the Faculty, and your longer-term employment prospects.

Then, prepare your application to the Faculty, which must be submitted as a single pdf document comprising:

• A completed internal Expression of Interest form

• CV (2 A4 sides maximum),

• list of publications

• writing sample (5,000 words, excluding footnotes)

The application must be sent to [email protected] by 5pm, 23 August 2021.

You should ask your mentor to send their letter to the same address by the same deadline.

For further details on the scheme, please consult the British Academy website.

The aim of the British Academy (BA) in making these awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment, which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields.

Eligibility

Applicants must be supported by the UK host institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship.

Applicants must be within three years of the award of a doctorate (for the 2021/22 competition this means either already having been awarded a doctoral degree following a viva voce examination held on or after 1 April 2019; or having a reasonable expectation that they will have submitted and had their thesis examined by 1 April 2022).

Applicants in the 2021/22 competition awarded a PhD following a viva voce examination held prior to 1 April 2019 who are unable to offer extenuating circumstances, such as interruption to their academic career for maternity leave or illness, will not be considered.

Applicants must be a UK or EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university. Any applicant who does not fall into one of these categories must demonstrate a strong prior association with the UK academic community, for example through having already been employed in a temporary capacity (longer than twelve months) at a UK university.

Application deadline: 23 August 2021, 5pm

For more information and how to apply, please visit:

https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/british-academy-postdoctoral-fellowship-2021