Engage Fellowships
The NCCPE Engage Fellowships scheme offers grants of up to £25,000 for individuals, partnerships, or groups of people with the drive, passion, and thinking to see engaged practice embedded in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
About Engage Fellowships
*Applications for Engage Fellowships are now closed*
Engage fellowships are for individuals, partnerships, or groups who want to test an idea or explore a challenge relating to public and community engagement within UK higher education. We are especially interested in supporting people who can bring fresh thinking, a commitment to challenge, and an ability to work proactively with others. These are all things that NCCPE will support by sharing our knowledge, networks and resources.
- 2 Fellowships will be available of up to £25,000 (inclusive of VAT).
- Fellowship activity needs to be completed between 1st July 2024 and 31st July 2025 - and should start no later than September 2024.
- Fellowships are for members of the PEP network only.
- Applicants will be asked to demonstrate an awareness of issues of power, diversity, and inclusion in the way they work.
- Applicants will be asked to demonstrate how the fellowship will contribute to their personal development.
Within the fellowship, candidates might choose to convene conversations; conduct some desk research; visit others across the UK to review and exchange practice; develop their skills and practice; or something else.
NCCPE is committed to working closely with successful candidates in the way that is best suited to the fellowship. Above all we want to be mutually supportive and generative. As well as funding, Engage Fellows will receive:
- Administrative and intellectual support from the NCCPE team.
- Time with a dedicated mentor to support you and your work.
- Opportunity to be founding members of what we hope will be a growing cohort of NCCPE Engage Fellows.
- Opportunities to share with the wider sector including with funders.
- Recognition on the NCCPE website.
The Engage Fellowships are funded as part of the NCCPE's grant funding provided by UKRI, RE, Wellcome, SFC, DELNI, and HEFCW.
Meet our current fellows!
Individuals and groups
We recognise that engagement is highly collaborative. Therefore we offer two types of Fellowship.
- Individual fellowships: Individual Fellows will have the opportunity to use their funding to address a challenge or opportunity to improve the public engagement sector. They can use their funding to resource others to work alongside them or undertake the work alone. They will receive one-to-one mentor support and will be responsible for all aspects of the fellowship. An individual fellow will need to be a member of the PEP Network.
- Group fellowships: People applying as partnerships or groups will all be considered as NCCPE Engage Fellows. One of the group will need to be the lead applicant, who will be responsible for the funding and how it is distributed. This applicant needs to be a member of the PEP Network. The Group fellows will receive group mentoring and can also use their funding to resource others to work alongside them.
Application Process
*Applications for Engage Fellowships are now closed*
The pilot Engage Fellowship application process had three stages:
- A short preliminary form in which we invited applicants to introduce themselves/their group and their idea for the fellowship and fellowship, and how this would contribute to their/their group’s personal development.
- Successful candidates were invited to continue through to a full application in which we heard more about them and their motivations, their idea and how they might like to organise their fellowship, and their professional development.
- 30-minute online interviews in which we explored their idea to a greater depth, how it might be developed and the potential for NCCPE to support this should the application be successful.
Questions and Contact
To apply for the Fellowship, you must be a member of the NCCPE's PEP Network. The network will be notified when the scheme opens through the PEP Newsletter
To receive updates on the Fellowship and other opportunities, please join the PEP Network, sign up to NCCPE’s newsletter, or follow the NCCPE on Linked In, or X
If you have any questions about the Fellowship, you can ask them anonymously on our Padlet board: