King's College Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) will make up to three appointments to E-Lab Research Associates in any subject (arts, humanities, sciences, engineering), to start in November 2023.
Appointments will be for two years. Applicants must, at the time of appointment, have funding for at least a full year. The E-Lab RA scheme is designed to run in parallel to an existing research contract at the University of Cambridge. Under this scheme, postdoctoral researchers are bought out for one day of their week which they devote to entrepreneurial activities in the broad sense of the term (which could be related to their current research or be something completely different). This could focus on a range of varied activities including among others commercialisation of intellectual property, cultural production, charity and social initiatives.
Applicants must submit a plan for their activities as an E-Lab RA together with a supporting email/letter from their PI (if applicable).
E-Lab Research Associates have access to the Turing Rooms (the home of the E-Lab at King’s), the SCR, the Library and other College facilities. They have the right to lunch and dine in College with one High Table dinner and two lunches per week free of charge. Presentation of their work to the E-Lab Senior Advisory Board, the Fellowship and Graduate student body will be expected of all Research Associates at some point during their tenure. They will also be expected to report on their entrepreneurial activities at the end of each academic term.
Further Particulars
King’s College Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) intends to make up to three appointments to E-Lab Research Associates (E-Lab RAs) to join the College in November 2023. Applicants must at the time of appointment be of post-doctoral standing and may be graduates of any university. They must at the time of appointment, and for the duration of the appointment, be employed by the University of Cambridge in a post-doctoral research role. Candidates would normally be early in their research careers.
The E-Lab Post-doctoral Associates will be selected by the Directors of the King’s E-Lab, the College’s Research Managers, and additional expertise if needed, and selection will be through evaluation of a proposal from applicants for undertaking entrepreneurial activities (broadly defined) during their tenure. Applications may come from individuals working in any branch of the sciences, arts or humanities.
The E-Lab Research Associate position will normally be tenable for two years. Candidates must have guaranteed funding for at least one year from 1 October 2023. The E-Lab RAs will be bought out for one day of the week which they devote to entrepreneurial activities as outlined in their proposal (a sum equal to 20% of the salary costs including employer pension and NI but no overheads). No other stipend or honorarium is payable, and no College accommodation is provided. RAs will have access to the facilities of the College, and dining rights for weekly lunch and dinner (and guests at cost).
Many College RAs to date have been involved in undergraduate supervision and admissions interviewing for King’s and have enjoyed being involved in this way. The College encourages and welcomes such involvement and will support any RAs doing this as a part of their career development, but this is not a requirement.
E-Lab Research Associates should not simultaneously be a member of another college.
Dates
The closing date for the King's College E-Lab Research Associates 2023 Competition is 12 noon (UK local time) Monday 23 October 2023. The application materials must be received before the closing date for full consideration.
Short-listed candidates will be invited to attend an interview via Zoom during the week of 30th of October 2023. Please ensure that you will be available for interview, as it is not possible to arrange other times for interviews.
The Application
To apply use the following link to go to the FAS website and create an application:
The application should include:
- A single PDF document which includes the curriculum vitae for the applicant (2 pages max).
- A single PDF document describing the research project for which they are currently funded, of not more than 500 words (excluding references, footnotes, endnotes, and diagrams) written to be intelligible to non-specialists.
- A single PDF document describing the entrepreneurial activity which they propose to undertake as a King’s E-Lab RA, of not more than 500 words (excluding references, footnotes, endnotes, and diagrams) written to be intelligible to non-specialists.
- Applicants should ask their PI (if applicable) to provide a supporting letter on the online system. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that the PI submits their supporting letter by the closing date.
- Applicants should ask a referee to submit one reference on the online system. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure that the referee submits their reference by the closing date.
If you have any questions regarding the competition please e-mail the competition administrator and E-Lab Manager, Mrs Katrina Purser.
