The Flora Philip Fellowship
Posted by Tom Leinster
The School of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh is pleased to invite applications for the 2023 Flora Philip Fellowship. This four-year Fellowship is specifically aimed at promising early-career postdoctoral researchers from backgrounds that are under-represented in the mathematical sciences academic community (e.g. gender, minority ethnicity, disability, disadvantaged circumstances, etc.). The Fellowship aims to provide a supportive and collegial environment for early-career researchers to develop their research and prepare themselves, with support from an academic mentor, for future independent roles in academia and beyond.
The closing date is 24 November and the job ad is here.
Flora Philip Fellowships honour the pioneering achievements of Flora Philip (1865-1943) who was the first female member of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and one of the first women to graduate from the University of Edinburgh in 1893.
We seek candidates from diverse backgrounds that can demonstrate high potential for independent research in an area that aligns with the School’s activities.
Everything above is official blurb, but let me (Tom) add a little more. This is the second time the Flora Philip Fellowship has run. The first time, a year ago, one of the recipients was Emily Roff, who had just completed a PhD with me. (She’s currently in Osaka on a JSPS postdoc with Masahiko Yoshinaga, and will take up the Flora Philip Fellowship when she returns.) So, there is precedent for people in categorical parts of mathematics being successful.
Last year, there were so many good applicants that we managed to persuade the university to fund three positions instead of just one or two. But here’s the thing: there’s anecdotal evidence that some excellent researchers from underrepresented groups either didn’t apply or nearly didn’t, assuming wrongly that they would be aiming too high. We would very much like to encourage applicants who might not otherwise think of applying for a postdoc at Edinburgh.
If you have questions, feel free to email me (firstname.lastname@ed.ac.uk). I’m not on the committee, but I may be able to help.