Cumberland Lodge has opened a new recruitment round for its two-year PhD fellowship scheme, the Cumberland Lodge Fellowship, and doctoral students studying anywhere in the UK are welcome to apply.
The Cumberland Lodge Fellowship launched in 2014. It is designed to encourage and equip students with the skills and experience to engage with pressing social issues and to use their work and research for the betterment of society.
Developing future leaders
Each year, six doctoral students with future leadership potential are given the chance to be involved in our educational work over two years.
They benefit from helping to facilitate our cross-sector, inter-disciplinary conferences and lectures, on topics outside of their own academic disciplines.
Through this they gain experience of working collaboratively, engaging in cross-disciplinary discussions, facilitating events, and writing for different audiences, and develop transferrable skills in communication, networking and public engagement.
'Absolute highlight'
Talking about her experiences of being a Cumberland Lodge Fellow, Lorna Hardy, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, said: "I’m just so grateful that I was given the opportunity to undertake this fellowship: it’s been an absolute highlight of my PhD so far."
Rebecca Black, who is studying at the Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre at the University of Edinburgh, added: "My time as a Cumberland Lodge Fellow has been amazing: I’ve learned so much. It has broadened my horizons and widened my perspectives through a wealth of different debates. It has also thoroughly enhanced my PhD experience."
The programme is designed to fit around the demands of doctoral research, with fellows required to attend the Lodge for at least six days and to participate in two evening engagements per year.
Each year starts with a weekend induction retreat in September, to welcome the new cohort of fellows.
Sam Fowles, who is studying for a PhD at Queen Mary, University of London, joined us as a Cumberland Lodge PhD Fellow in September 2015. He said: "It’s changed the way that I think, the way that I see the world and pushed me to challenge myself and my opinions beyond what I ever thought I would... It’s been an incredibly eye-opening experience."
You can find out more about the Cumberland Lodge Fellowship and how to apply, here.
The deadline for applications is Friday 31 March 2017.