A research fellow is an academic

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

position at a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator. Although research fellow positions vary in different countries and academic institutions, in general it indicates junior researchers who develop their research careers under the guidance of senior researchers.

India

In India, the position of research fellowship is provided to scholars from various streams like science, arts, literature, management and others. Research fellowship is funded by government academic and research institutes, and private companies as well. Research fellows research under the supervision of experienced faculty, professor, head of department, and Dean on two different posts known as

Junior Research Fellowship The JRF or JRF Junior Research Fellow is a letter awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Test UGC NET or NTA-UGC-NET, is the examination for determining the eligibility ...

(JRF) and senior research fellow (SRF). Research organisations like ICAR, CSIR, UGC, ICMR, SERB recruit research fellows through National Eligibility Test. After the completion of pre-defined tenure, JRF can be considered for a senior research fellowship based on the research fellow's performance and/or interview conducted by the committee of the research institute.

Russian Federation

In the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, the position and title research fellow is unknown; however, there is a broadly similar position of (russian: Научный сотрудник, italic=yes, links=no, ). This position normally requires a degree of Candidate of Sciences approximately corresponding to the PhD. More senior positions normally require, in addition to the aforementioned degree, a track record of publications or certified inventions, as well as practical contributions to major research and development projects.

South Africa

Research fellows in South Africa are considered an asset to research organisations and universities. There are highly ranked universities such as

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

Business School, and Rhodes University which offer fellowships to South African nationals in certain fields of research.

United Kingdom

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 Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

), principal research fellow—

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

, whereas senior research fellow is somewhere between a

and senior lecturer or

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

. Some universities such as Cambridge restricts 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

Professorial Fellows are the most senior professorships at a university. 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 All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, 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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Research Fellow Academic administration

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...