The V&A and University of Sussex seek to appoint one fellow each in the academic year 2018/19 to support ongoing research collaboration between the two institutions.

This exchange offers staff from across the University of Sussex the opportunity to hold a fellowship in the V&A’s Research Department. The fellow will normally spend the equivalent of one day a week of their dedicated research time at the Museum; proposals to take an equivalent amount of time as one or more focused blocks will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The Fellowship can be used by Sussex staff to:

• Further develop their expertise and undertake research in their field.
• Develop a collaborative research project and/or funding proposal with V&A colleagues.
• Organise at least one interdisciplinary workshop, bringing together colleagues from across the V&A and, where appropriate, the university.
• Deliver a research work in progress seminar on their project towards the end of the fellowship.
• Engage in research-led teaching and offer advice to early career members of staff.

It provides Sussex academics from across the University with the opportunity to contribute to the V&A’s aim of improving knowledge of and access to its collections.  Applications from Sussex academics are especially welcome in the following areas:

• Challenging Histories of Collecting
• Digital Humanities
• Robotics
• Materials Science, including the development of new materials
• Childhood, particularly focused on design and creativity
• Life Writing and Oral History

Call for Applications

Please submit your application in a word document, no longer than one side of A4 (there is no application form to complete). Please indicate the nature of the research you would like to undertake, how this opportunity will benefit your own professional development, the V&A’s strategic objectives and the University of Sussex’s commitment to interdisciplinary research.  Applications need to be signed by your Head of School as an indication of their full support.

DEADLINE: Please send completed applications to research@vam.ac.uk by Monday 25 June 2018.

If you would like to discuss your application please contact Flora Dennis F.Dennis@sussex.ac.uk 

Selection Criteria

A committee made up of representatives from the V&A and the University of Sussex will make a decision based on consultation with relevant colleagues and consideration of available space and other resources, and the following section criteria:

• Demonstrable knowledge of a field relevant to the University of Sussex and its Departments and potential to generate high-quality, collaborative research outputs in these areas commensurate with career stage.
• The ability to advance an existing or developing project, or initiate a new project, that clearly serves the strategic aims and research priorities of the V&A.
• Evidence that fellowship proposals will be developed to support longer-term research collaboration between the V&A and Sussex.
• The University of Sussex particularly welcomes ideas for projects with an interdisciplinary dimension.
  

FURTHER PARTICULARS

Information about the V&A

The V&A has entered a period of unprecedented expansion, involving collaborations with partners in higher education, the heritage sector, the creative industries and policymakers across the UK and abroad. The next five years will see the creation of a new public entrance and exhibition hall on Exhibition Road, the V&A Museum of Design in Dundee, a pioneering design gallery in China, and a major new museum at the heart of the cultural and educational quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It will also see the move of stored collections into a new collections centre and major renovation and redisplay projects at both South Kensington and the Museum of Childhood. Additionally, the transfer of the Royal Photographic Society collection to the V&A will create the world’s leading collection for the Art of Photography, paving the way for the creation of a new International Photographic Resource Centre.

Resources and Financial Support.

Exchange fellows will be provided with desk space in the Research Department, access to a personal computer, and a temporary V&A pass for the duration of the fellowship, subject to Security clearance. Fellows would be expected in the first instance to apply to their School for funding to support travel.

Term of Appointment

Appointment will be for a specific period within the academic year determined by the proposed project. The appointment will not normally be renewed, and extensions of proposed work and new projects will normally require the submission of a new application.