Incoming fellowships FAQ

If you have any questions about the programme, please see below for frequently asked questions.

Recruitment

How are fellowship projects scoped?     

Fellowships are scoped in collaboration with UCL Public Policy, UCL research departments and policy organisations. 

There are two ways that fellowship projects are scoped:

1. A UCL research department/centre identifies a research area where policy expertise and knowledge are needed. 
2. A policy org/department identifies a policy area where research expertise and knowledge are needed. 

How are incoming fellowships recruited?    

There are several options:

1. Through existing relations with policy actors (see recruitment process option A below).
2. UCL does an open call for a policy fellowship opportunity (see recruitment process option A below).
3. Through existing partnerships with policy departments (see recruitment process option C below). 

What is the recruitment process? Does UCL need to advertise via Talent Link?  

 A)    If it is knowledge exchange, and the individual is representing their employer with their employer’s agreement and we’re not paying for them there is no need to go through an open recruitment process. 

B)    For an external secondment, minimum is to advertise it to redeployees, but it is possible to get a waiver for a redeployment period. UCL will advertise it on their careers page and share with relevant policy departments. The recruitment process is managed on Talentlink to provide complete oversight of the process. 

C)    The policy partner will recruit the fellowship within their own department/team so there is no need to do an open recruitment process. 

How does UCL calculate the cost of a fellow?   

There are three cost models to chose from:

• Cost model for secondments. The policy organisation tells us the cost of that individual, so we pay that plus VAT on a monthly basis. 
• Cost plus model for secondments. We pay the fully loaded cost and a mark-up for the expertise given by secondees. Making a profit from making a trained employee available. 
• Career development tool. This is when the fellowship is linked to known down time with no work for them during the fellowship period. The employer allows the fellow to work for another organisation for no payment.

What are the steps for administering costs?

• Agree costs with policy organisation. 
• The policy organisation raises an invoice
• UCL raises a purchase order for the costs and secondment period. 
• UCL finance would agree it. 

Onboarding

Is a secondment agreement required?     

A secondment agreement is always required for a fellowship. 

Whose inward secondment agreement do we use?  

UCL does not have an inward secondment agreement. A secondment agreement must be provided by the policy organisation. 

How can fellows find out about working at UCL?     

Each fellow will be provided with a Fellowship Welcome booklet. A lot of information can also be found online on UCL’s welcome space (it’s mostly aimed at employees but there is useful information here for all other resource types too such as the organisation structure, and welcome Q&A sessions). Each department has local cultural and structural aspects which will be communicated to fellows in induction meetings. 

What happens at the beginning of the fellowship?    

The fellowship begins with an induction meeting with the supervisor. 

• Define ways of working i.e. remote, hybrid, in person. 
• Define aims, objectives and outputs of the fellowship.
• Define a timeline for the fellowship.
• Identify training for the fellow
• Schedule weekly/fortnightly meetings

The supervisor is responsible for arranging meetings between the fellow, their research team, and relevant research centres and academics. 

The fellow will also meet with their sponsor to understand the aims and objectives of the fellowship. 

Fellowship Period

Will the secondee be given a UCL email address?  

This is up to the host department and secondee to decide if they are given a UCL email address. Some secondees prefer to retain their institutional affiliation and retain their normal email address. 

Will the fellow be given systems access and other employees benefits?   

Fellows can be set up with limited systems access. Different levels of access can be agreed beforehand. Fellows cannot access employees’ schemes like nursery, gym etc as they are not employees. 

Who is responsible for the fellow during the Fellowship and what are their roles? 

• UCL Supervisor – An academic will be designated to provide comprehensive support for the fellowship, overseeing various aspects including induction, conducting regular meetings, performing progress reviews, and closely monitoring the achievement of the fellowship's aims and objectives.
• UCL Sponsor – a senior academic will be assigned as a sponsor to secure the fellow’s visibility during the fellowship 
• Employee Line manager – the fellow remains an employee of their own organisation and their line manager is responsible for administering leave and any other processes and policies relating to their own organisation. 
• UCL Policy Fellowship Coordinator – is responsible for administering the fellowship including the completion of secondment agreements, and all HR and legal processes. 

How does the research host and the fellow work together?

The ways of working will differ depending on the host and fellow. The supervisor will organise an induction session before the fellowship begins to agree on the ways of working. 

What training is available during the fellowship?  

During the induction and regular meetings, it is both the supervisors and fellow’s responsibility to identify training that will enhance the fellow’s experience. 

How will the impact of the fellowship be measured?   

• Both the fellow and supervisor will be required to submit a formative and summative evaluation survey to UCL Public Policy. 
• UCL PP will also conduct an exit interview with both the fellow and supervisor to understand what worked and what didn’t in the fellowship. 
• UCL PP will check-in with the fellow and supervisor a year later for updates on any further outcomes and impact of the fellowship and resulting partnerships. 

What are the outputs of the fellowships?   

The desired outputs of the fellowship will be agreed as part of the fellowship scoping process and at the induction meeting. These may change. Examples of possible outputs are convening a roundtable and workshop, production of a report, frameworks, guidelines, and infographics.