Come and research with us

The Information School has a long history of welcoming Academic Visitors from around the world to participate in our vibrant research community.

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If you want to come and research with us you will need to write a concrete plan for a project that you want to pursue when you are here, including tangible outcomes. You also need to identify a suitable member of staff in the department who you want to work with: check our staff web pages for details of our research interests. You will later need to gain approval for your visit with the Head of School.

More about being an academic visitor can be found here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/guidance/visitingtitles/visiting

Informal visits may be approved if there is a plan for a tangible output (such as a journal paper) arising from the visit.

If you are a PhD student, you can apply to be a Visiting Research Student, but you must formally apply to the University through the online application system. All standard Entry Requirements must be met. Fees would be charged for visits of more than 3 months. 

Fellowships

We are also keen to support high quality candidates who are wishing to apply for fellowship funding to join the department. Some of the key fellowship schemes in social sciences and humanities for early career candidates are listed below. Please check the eligibility criteria on the funder’s website as each scheme tends to have slightly different requirements and may change between funding rounds.

We strongly recommend contacting us early so we can support you in writing your application.

British Academy: Postdoctoral fellowships (3 years, funding for 80% of salary plus £6000 research expenses, UK/EEA nationals or UK degree)

AHRC Research, Development and Engagement Fellowships (2 years, up to £250,000, must be already be employed by research organisation)

ESRC: Postdoctoral Fellowships (12 months, salary plus research expenses, must have completed PhD at a research organisation that is part of a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP))

Leverhulme Trust: Early Career Fellowship (3 years, 100% salary cost is year 1, 50% in the following years, plus £6000 p.a. research expenses

For more information on applying for a fellowship, including guidance for submitting an expression of interest, please see the University's page on Early-career research fellowships in Social Sciences.

Centres of excellence

The University's cross-faculty research centres harness our interdisciplinary expertise to solve the world's most pressing challenges.