Applicants sought - EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships

The Department is seeking applications from researchers with a PhD (or at least 4 years’ full-time research experience) to apply for an EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. In all cases, the fellowship must involve an element of mobility (specified below).  

• European Fellowships are held in EU Member States or Associated Countries and are open to researchers either coming to Europe or moving within Europe.  European fellowships are 12-24 months in length. To apply for a fellowship with York, you must not have been based in the UK for more 12 months of the 3 years preceding the call deadline (14/09/2016).
• Global Fellowships are based on a secondment to a third country and a mandatory 12 month return period to a European host.  Global Fellowships are 12 to 24 months for the outgoing phase, plus 12 months for the return phase in Europe.  To apply for a fellowship with York, you must be an EU / Associated country national or have been resident in the UK for 5 years or more. You must also have spent you must not have spent more than 12 months of the 3 years preceding the call deadline (14/09/2016) in the third country.

In order to be considered, please submit the following documents to Ed Kirby (ed.kirby@york.ac.uk) by 4pm on Friday 27th May:

• A copy of your CV (following the Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship guidelines – see p. 41 of the guide available here) 
• A two page outline of the proposed research project
• Up to 1 page on your proposed mentor, your reasons for this choice and the wider fit between your project and the Department 

It is recommended that you contact your proposed mentor in advance of applying. If you have any questions regarding the process please contact Ed Kirby.

£1.3m ESRC Research Grant awarded to SATSU

Andrew Webster, Director of  SATSU (the Science and Technology Studies Unit based in the Department), has recently been awarded a large research grant by the Economic and Social Research Council to undertake work in the sociology of science field which focuses on current developments in regenerative medicine and stem cells. This is pertinent research considering regular media coverage about patients seeking cell theapy treatment abroad as a last resort to cure terminal illness.

The grant is for £1.3m and will begin in late spring, so a number of postdoc job opportunities will appear soon. The research explores in particular developments in cell therapies, to track the interplay between corporations  clinics and regulators, especially in regard to perceptions of its clinical utility, and the patterns of regulatory oversight that are seen to be needed. We hope thereby to determine the current and potential impact of the field on health and healthcare systems and how these in turn shape its development. 

The work builds on previous work in SATSU - the REMEDIE project - funded by the European Commission and a national ESRC programme on stem cells that Andrew coordinated. Andrew recently gave a presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Social Science and Policy on the issues raised for the NHS. Meanwhile SATSU's doctoral researcher, Ruchhi Higham, is also working in the area examining the ways the field disrupts conventional approaches to clinical trials. 

More generally, this research ties in with the European Commission-funded COST Action called 'Bio-objects', that Andrew also Chairs.