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Routes to Research Fellow

Routes to Research fellow

This section contains information on the three routes to Research Fellow status in UCD as well as an outline of the assessment criteria

A prestigious independent funding award to an individual following a competitive, peer-reviewed process. This will be the route through which most Research Fellow posts will arise.

Approval required: Proposed by PI for approval of Head of School and College Principal.

This route can be taken if the following conditions are met:

  • It is decided that a particular programme of work not less than 24 months in duration requires a Research Fellow level appointment to lead that work under the direction of the PI/Grant-holder.
  • The PI/Grant-holder can fund the post in accordance with UCD Salary Policy for Post-Doctoral Researchers and Research Assistants.

Approval required: Proposed by PI for approval of Head of School and College Principal.

The post will be advertised and the Interview Board must include one of the actual approvers (Head of School or College Principal) and a delegate of one of the others.

Approval required: Approval for a bespoke advertisement/contract in the first instance requires approval of the Head of School and the College Principal. 

The post will be advertised and the Interview Board must include one of the approvers and a delegate of one other.

The review built into the contract should be led at College level by the College Principal or their nominee and 2 Heads of School.

Research Fellow Assessment Criteria

The UCD Research Fellow assessment criteria will inform all individual assessment decisions.

  • Research Fellows will be holders of a PhD with significant post-qualification research experience. They will have a track record of high-quality publications and/or innovation outputs, in accord with the norms of their discipline.
  • Research Fellows will typically have a minimum of 4 years Postdoctoral experience, ideally including an international element and/or enterprise experience.
  • They will need to be able to demonstrate a track record in the following areas:
    • Publications, as assessed by the norms of their discipline i.e. quality and impact of academic publisher, citations, ranking of journal publications etc.
    • Supervision of students, including, where appropriate contributing to undergraduate project supervision and Masters dissertations on taught programmes.
    • Research leadership in a research group or laboratory.
    • Contribution to the writing of research proposals which are submitted to peer-reviewed funding processes.
    • Capability to exercise independence in research, as evidenced by, for example, senior authorship/sole authorship of publications and invited presentations at conferences.
  • In addition, evidence of the following will significantly enhance an application:
    • Attainment of independent funding through a competitive, peer-reviewed process.
    • Innovation and commercialisation outputs, e.g. development of patents, prototypes,
    • Industry collaboration or experience.
    • Experience working with Government agencies, nationally or internationally

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