How to apply

Eligibility criteria

  • Be a Citizen and a Resident of a country in either Africa or India
  • Be currently employed at a university or an academic institute in either Africa or India, working at either Assistant or Associate Professor level (or equivalent)
  • Be within the first six years of your current faculty appointment
  • Have an active research programme on using AI to accelerate progress in a scientific field OR have a promising research idea to demonstrate how AI can advance scientific progress
  • Be working in one (or more) of the following three priority application areas:
    • Climate change, environment and biodiversity
    • Food and water security
    • STEM underpinning biomedical research

Application process

Stage 1

The application portal opens on 28 March and closes on 28 April. The information required at this stage will be:

  • CV (7 pages maximum, Calibri 11pt font, 2cm margins, including a list of academic publications and teaching commitments)
  • Brief research proposal, clearly setting out the research project you wish to pursue, including how your existing or proposed approach will find application within the three priority application areas listed above, and why this use of AI/ML will result in novel insights and impact. Please specify clearly which of the three priority areas is best aligned with your research interests. Your research proposal should include key summaries that can be used for communication with a non-scientific audience (max. 300 words).
  • Contact details of two referees (name, title, email, work address). These referees should be people who have directly worked with you in an academic setting in the past, in either a supervisory capacity or on a collaborative research project.
  • Contact details of Head of Department (or equivalent). Note, that this individual will only be asked to confirm their support in Stage 1 (i.e. pre-shortlisting); if the application gets through to the shortlisting phase, we will ask them to write a letter of support.
  • Any extenuating circumstances (optional) please outline any interruptions to your research/career which you would like the selection panel to be aware of; these might include caring duties.

Stage 2 (for shortlisted candidates only)

The application portal opens on 20 May and closes on 3 June. The information required at this stage will be:

  • Statement of purpose explaining why your existing research and future career plan makes you a good fit for the Schmidt Faculty Fellowship Programme (max. 1000 words).
  • Detailed research proposal clearly setting out the research project you wish to pursue, including how your existing or proposed approach will find application within the three priority application areas listed above, and why this use of AI/ML will result in novel insights and impact. Please provide a detailed research proposal for a scientific audience (max. 2000 words).
  • Letter of support from the Head of Department, or equivalent (at the institute where the applicant is currently based).
  • Two samples of written work (published or working papers) within the last 5 years that are relevant to this fellowship. For each piece of work, provide a short statement explaining its significance in broad terms and its relevance to this fellowship (max. 100 words for each written work). For any co-authored work, please also state your contributions to the paper (max. 100 words for each written work).
  • Training plan providing an overview of any AI-related or professional skills you will need to acquire or further develop in order for you to succeed in your planned research (max. 500 words).
  • Statement on ensuring wider benefits of this fellowship explaining the approaches you will take to maximise the impact of your work and ensure equitable take-up of your research (max. 200 words).

Applicants who are shortlisted after stage 2 will be invited to interview. Interviews will be held online in July.

Frequently asked questions

No, a PhD is not necessary; we ask that applicants are either Associate or Assistant Professors, or in an equivalent level position.

No, there is no age limit.

The successful candidates will be matched with an Oxford collaborator in a collaborative process. This matching does not form part of the selection process so please do not contact Oxford faculty about the matching during your application.

The Oxford collaborators will host the fellows in their respective departments and provide academic support during the fellowship.

Yes, however we ask that your research be predominantly in the the mathematical, physical or life sciences, within the three focus areas.

Yes, applications will need to be in English.

The programme will assist the successful candidates in the visa application process by sending supporting documents and providing bursaries to pay for the costs of these applications, including travel to and from the visa offices. Please note it is the responsibility of the candidate to make a timely visa application and ensure they meet the requirements.

You can only apply via the application portal. Email applications will not be considered.

The application process allows one to make changes to the application while it is still in draft form and to save it on the platform until a later time or date when one is ready to submit. An application can no longer be edited once it has been submitted.

Yes, we only ask that candidates be within their first six years of their appointment as Associate/ Assistant Professor.