Open Research Fellowship Programme

The Fellowship Programme seeks to provide a unique opportunity for Fellows to advance their careers while contributing to the open research community. Notably, the programme offers financial support by covering 0.2 FTE salary costs for up to 5 Fellows, for a period of 12 months (subject to Head of School approval).

Buyout of your time will allow you to focus completely on your project, and fully dedicate a day of your working week without the distractions of other responsibilities. So not only will you be pursuing your own interests, you'll also be making a valuable contribution to the wider academic world. Fellowship opportunities are open to all Academic, Professional and Technical Services colleagues across the University.

Ahead of the launch of the Office for Open Research we consulted the research community about priorities for the University’s Open Research Programme. In this consultation the development of open research training was identified as a key priority. This need was reiterated in the results of a national survey by the UK Reproducibility Network, which identified gaps in provision for open research skills development. Support from the Research England Advancing Research Culture Fund has allowed the development of a full Fellowship programme to help address this.

The Open Research Fellowship programme will provide you with time to work on open research by buying out up to 0.2 FTE for a year. As part of your application, we would also ask you to provide as detailed as possible costings on project expenditure.

By participating in our Fellowship programme, you will work on your own project and contribute to the creation of a suite of skills and training resources that will help us to spread knowledge and best practices in open research. Fellows can draw on support from The Office for Open Research to deliver their project and for the creation of training resources.

A project proposal is a key part of the application to the Open Research Fellowship Programme. We keep an open mind about the scope and remit of an open research project, but broadly aim to support projects which define, investigate, or facilitate open research practice in your subject area or across the University.

Fellowship projects are additionally required to address one of the following objectives:
- Produce training resources related to an open research skills and training priority area.
- Develop a new, or enhance an existing, open research infrastructure.
- Cultivate a new open research community or work closely to strengthen and support an existing community within your discipline/department.

You may wish to refer to the projects being undertaken by the current cohort of Fellows. The Office for Open Research team are also happy to discuss any project ideas you may have.

We welcome applications from academic, professional and technical services colleagues from across the University. To be eligible for the Fellowship, colleagues must be on an existing permanent contract with the University or a fixed-term contract that extends up to or beyond the end of the Fellowship term.

If appointed, a percentage of your time will be “bought out” for a period of up to 12 months (typically 0.2FTE or equivalent), subject to approval from your Head of School / service.

The application checklist sets out the steps required for submitting an application.

A completed expression of interest form should be submitted by email to openresearch@manchester.ac.uk.

Please note the application window for 2024/2025 Open Research Fellowship Programme has now closed.

All applications will be reviewed according to criteria related to their project, and the applicants own experience and commitment to open research. This will include:

- Quality of the project and its feasibility within the Fellowship timeline
- Commitment to and experience of open research practices and principles

Those shortlisted will be interviewed by a panel drawn from Open Research Strategy Group.