2024 BES OEP Policy Fellowship

The British Ecological Society (BES) is committed to making the best scientific evidence available to decision-makers and supporting members to enhance their policy engagement skills and impact. The BES Policy Fellowship offers an ecologist with a PhD (or working towards a PhD) the chance to conduct a placement in a government department or public body, applying their scientific expertise to a practical policy challenge. The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) will be funding and hosting a 2024 BES Policy Fellowship to support its work in England.

The Fellowship will provide an exciting opportunity for an ecologist to gain first-hand experience of working within a statutory body, improve their policy knowledge and awareness, develop their communication skills, and build their professional networks. The Fellowship will also help to foster wider links between the ecological and policy communities while supporting policy development informed by outstanding science.  

Topic

The fellowship will be focused around one of the topics below. In the application you will be asked to specify which topic(s) you would prefer to work on. 

1. Invasive Non-Native Species 
2. Sustainable Management of Soils 
3. Integrated Pest Management, pesticides and nature restoration 
4. Marine noise 

Procedure 

The Fellowship will ideally start in September 2024, but there is some flexibility in terms of the start date, which will be agreed between the OEP, the Fellow, and the Fellow’s home institution. The placement can be full-time or part-time. 

Funding 

A maximum of £20,000 is available from the OEP to support the Fellowship, including salary, travel and subsidence, and other costs. Applicants are asked to specify and justify the amount of funding requested and how it would be spent. The budget will need to include funding to attend meetings at the OEP Office in Worcester, England. 

The Fellow will remain employed by (or affiliated with) their home institution for the duration of the placement. 

Eligibility 

Applications to the BES Policy Fellowship will be open to any PhD student or postdoctoral researcher who is affiliated with a UK institution (university, research organisation or otherwise). The applicant does not have to be affiliated with the institution when they submit their application, but if they are not then the letter they submit from a Head of Department/School must explicitly state that the institution agrees to host the applicant as an employee for the duration of the Fellowship. Further details are in the role description. The Fellowship is only open to those who have UK Citizenship or an existing visa to work in the UK for the duration of the Fellowship. 

Application

Applications close at 23:59 on 14 July 2024. Interviews will take place online on Friday 19 July 2024.

All details of the BES Policy Fellowship with the OEP can be found in the role description:

 role description (pdf)

Applications must be made through the Flexigrant system:

APPLY NOW

If you have any questions about the Fellowship or application process, please get in touch with the BES Policy Team (policy@britishecologicalsociety.org).