In the United Kingdom, a research fellow is a broad category, used to indicate a scholar on a research-oriented professional development track. In many universities, a research fellow is a career grade of a
Research Career Pathway, following on from a postdoctoral position such as research associate, and may be open-ended, subject to normal probation regulations. For some universities, research career grades roughly correspond to the grades of the academic pathway in the following way: research fellow (a lower or same grade as a
lecturer), principal research fellow—
reader, whereas senior research fellow is somewhere between a
lecturer and
senior lecturer or
associate professor. Some universities, such as Cambridge, restrict Professorial grades only to academics who have excelled in both teaching and research. Outside of faculty appointments, the title of "Research Fellow" or "Senior Research Fellows" can be also used as honorary or temporary awarded "fellowships" to distinguished academics by research institutes or colleges, usually from different institutions.
Professorial Fellows At
University College, Oxford, Professorial Fellows are the holders of Statutory Chairs, the most senior professorships at
Oxford: they are members of the College's Governing Body.
Senior Research Fellows Senior Research Fellowships (SRFs) are awarded to researchers with "academic standing comparable to that of a distinguished research professorship at a major university." They recognize scholars with distinguished research records and publications. This position originated in the 15th century as a way of allowing scholars time and funding to pursue independent research without having teaching duties. As with the professorial fellows, senior research fellows are research-only posts; with the rise of the career grade, there will normally be a formal requirement of a moderate amount of teaching and/or supervision (often at postgraduate level). At
All Souls College, Oxford, senior research fellows are 7-year-long positions that are equivalent to a tenured position in the United States. This position is equivalent to a full professorship.
Junior Research Fellows List of research fellowships ==See also==