Deadline:September 2022
Applications of Common Wealth Professional Fellowships 2022/2023 for Mid-Career Professionals are now open. Please submit your application. All Commonwealth Professional Fellowships in the 2022/23 round are in the thematic area of Clean Energy, Air and Oceans. All fellowships in this round will be tenable for three months from 22nd February 2023
Common Wealth Professional Fellowships 2022/2023 are for mid-career professionals from low- and middle-income countries to spend a period of time at a UK host organization working in their sector for a programme of professional development.To provide professionals with the opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in their given sector, and to have catalytic effects on their workplaces.
Benefits
Each Fellowship provides:
- Approved return airfare from the fellow’s home country to the UK
- Reimbursement of the standard visa application fee
- Stipend (living allowance) payable monthly (or pro rata) for the duration of the award at the rate of £1,782 per month, or £2,197 per month for those at organisations in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels)
- If a fellow declares a disability, a full assessment of needs and eligibility for additional financial support will be offered by the CSC. See the CSC disability support statement for more information
- Arrival allowance of up to £972.59 (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels), including an element for warm clothing
- For the Clean Energy, Air and Oceans programme a £1,000 travel allowance per fellow to facilitate attendance at events (administered by host organisations)
- A maximum of £3,000 per fellow can be agreed by host organisations for short courses/conferences as well as travel to visit other UK organisations where this forms an integral part of the programme. Host organisations should bear in mind the restrictions set out in our guidance on claimable costs.
Eligibility
To be eligible for these Fellowships, prospective fellows must:
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person
- Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
- Have at least five years’ full-time, or equivalent part-time, relevant work experience, in a profession related to the subject of the Fellowship programme, by the proposed start of the fellowship – voluntary work experience will not be counted towards this minimum.
- Be in employment at the time of application at an organisation that they will return to upon completion of the Fellowship
- If nominated for a Professional Fellowship, prospective Fellows will be required to provide at least two references, (one of which must be from their current employer). Prospective Fellows will be contacted directly by the CSC if required to submit references. The Host organisation Fellows are applying to might also contact them to request a reference when considering their application
- Not have undertaken a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship within the last five years (at the time of taking up the award)
- Not be seeking to undertake an academic programme of research or study. Academics are eligible to apply for the scheme, but only to undertake programmes of academic management, not research or courses relevant to their research subject
- Be available to start and complete their fellowship within prescribed dates
- In addition to the above, prospective fellows must ensure they meet any eligibility criteria set out by each individual host organisation.
- The CSC aims to identify talented individuals who have the potential to make change. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination and encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates. For further information on the support available to fellows with a disability, see the CSC disability support statement.
Eligible countries
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bangladesh
- Belize
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Dominica
- Eswatini
- Fiji
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guyana
- India
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mauritius
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- St Helena
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and The Grenadines
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
Application
Applications for prospective Fellows are now open. Please click here to visit our online application system and submit your application.
In the application form, prospective fellows will be asked to:
- List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained (where applicable)
- List up to 10 publications and prizes (if applicable)
- Provide details of your employment history and explain how each job is relevant to the programme you wish to undertake in the UK (up to 100 words per employment)
- Provide a statement on the relevance of your previous work experience to the proposed fellowship (up to 300 words)
- Provide a Development Impact statement in 4 parts.
In the first part (up to 200 words) you should explain how your proposed Fellowship relates to:
- Reducing reliance on fossil fuels, lowering rates of air pollution or promoting marine conservation, in accordance with the aims of COP 26 and SDGs 7, 13 and 14.
- development issues at the global, national and local level
- development issues connected to the theme of climate change and the wider sector
In the second part (up to 100 words) you should explain how you intend to apply your new skills once your Fellowship ends.
In the third part (up to 250 words) you should outline what you expect will change in development terms following your Fellowship including:
- the outcomes that you aim to achieve
- the timeframe for their implementation
- who the beneficiaries will be
In the fourth part (up to 100 words) you should write about how the impact of your work could be best measured.
- Confirm what your award objectives are and how each of them will be met by the Fellowship programme
- Confirm what your objectives are for the next two years and how each of them will be met by the Fellowship programme
- Confirm what your objectives are in the longer term and how each of them will be met by the Fellowship programme
- Provide a personal statement to summarise the ways in which your personal background has encouraged you to want to make an impact in your home country. You should indicate areas in which you have already contributed, such as having overcome any personal or community barriers to your chosen career (up to 500 words)
- Summarise the ways in which you have engaged in voluntary activities and the opportunities you have had to demonstrate leadership (up to 500 words)
You must also provide a scan of your passport or national identity card
