The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar 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. In contrast to a research assistant or research officer, the position of research fellow normally requires a doctoral degree, or equivalent work for instance in industry. Some research fellows undertake postdoctoral research or have some moderate teaching responsibilities. Research fellow positions vary in different countries and academic institutions. In some cases, they are permanent with the possibility of promotion, while in other instances they are temporary.
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Nowadays, in many universities this position is the first career grade of a Research Career Pathway and may be permanent, subject to normal probation regulations. Within such a path, the next two higher career grades are usually senior research fellow and professorial fellow. Although similar to the position of a research fellow, these two positions 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). These positions are for researchers with a proven track record of generating research income to fund themselves and producing high quality research output that is internationally recognised.
In some universities, research career grades roughly correspond to the grades of the Teaching and Scholarship Career Pathways in the following way: research fellow - lecturer, professorial fellow - professor, whereas senior research fellow somewhere between a reader and a senior lecturer. However, at some top universities, a senior research fellow may be a position of comparable academic standing to a full professorship at these universities[1], the distinction from a professorship being that a professorship is usually also a teaching position while senior research fellow is a research-only position.
In some universities in the UK (e.g. the University of Oxford, the University of Leeds), the position research fellow has replaced the position of research associate, thereby broadening the appointment grade for research fellows.
In the past, the term research fellow often referred to a junior researcher, who worked on a specific project on a temporal basis. Research fellows tended to be paid either from central university funds or by an outside organisation such as a charity or company, or through an external grant-awarding body such as a research council or a royal society. Particularly in Oxbridge style colleges, research fellows appointed as fellows of a college tended to, or still do, partially receive remuneration in form of college housing and subsistence. Colleges may award junior research fellowships as the equivalent of post-doctoral research posts, lasting for three or four years. In contrast, senior research fellows tended to be established academics, often a professor on sabbatical from another institution, conducting temporally research elsewhere.
Researchers may be appointed as faculty research fellow as a faculty member without tenure. Some research fellows are visiting research fellow from another institution.
The English term research fellow is sometimes used to refer to the holder of a research fellowship from a public foundation that promotes research. Fellowships, from prestigious institutions such as Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, can be obtained by postdoctoral researchers at the beginning of their academic career, by experienced, established scholars and scientists, or even leading authorities in their discipline. This means that the award holder may formally hold a specific title at his or her home institution (e.g. Privatdozent), but may in the context of the sponsor be referred to as research fellow.[2]
In the Russian Federation, the position and title research fellow is unknown; however there is a broadly similar position called in Russian: Научный сотрудник (literally "scientific worker"). This position normally requires a doctoral degree or the degree of Candidate of Sciences. The position Ведущий научный сотрудник (literally "chief scientific worker") normally requires, 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.[3]
In India many academic and research institutions provide Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) and Senior Research Fellowships (SRF). JRF are awarded to successful undergraduates and SRF are awarded to post-graduate candidates. Selection is done primarily through competitive exams, although interviews can also play a role; in addition, exceptional candidates may be directly selected from top institutes. While science graduates are selected via the UGC-NET (National Eligibility test), graduates from professional streams are selected via exams conducted by CSIR or the GATE (Graduate Aptitude test). The selected candidates work on projects assigned by research institutes or academic institutions. The posts are temporary in nature and the duration is normally two years, with a possibility of a one year extension based on satisfactory completion of the project. After completing research fellowships, most candidates look for research jobs or pursue doctoral education.