Each Fellow will prepare a short summary of their research topic consisting of 3-5 pages, which will be reviewed, edited and published on the SCCJR website, and additionally with the option of publishing these on the SIPR website. These will be open access and publicly available but Fellows retain copyright over their work.

We expect that either a sole authored academic article and/or grant application will flow from the Fellowship, with the support of Mentors. These will require to be submitted within 6 months of completion of the Fellowship.

Fellows are also asked to outline further proposed dissemination approaches in the application form, which could include infographics, podcasts etc, and mentors will offer guidance in the development of these approaches as appropriate.

Indicative Timescales

Fellows should be in a position to participate in all fellowship activities, and to complete the Fellowship, to the indicative timescales below:

Grant award letters issued and Fellowships start                          December 2021                                                          

Policy Making and Evidence session with SG policy                     January 2022

Writing workshop                                                                            April 2022

Policy briefing draft submitted for comments                                 Mid June 2022

Final Policy briefings submitted                                                     Mid July 2022

Final conference                                                                            November 2022

Journal article submitted and/or grant application submitted        February 2023

Applicants will be aware that the current COVID situation, whilst significantly improving, may still be impacting on the way we work during the Fellowship period, and it may well be that much of the activity outlined above will need to be done remotely. We will seek to ensure that we arrange this in a way that suits successful applicants as far as is reasonably possible.

We need your personal information to allow us to assess your application to the Scheme and if successful, administer funding to you. We also need your data to contact you by post, email or telephone.

The link below contains the details of the Privacy notice applicable to this Fellowship, please read this Notice before applying

A panel composed of SG Justice Analytical Services, SCCJR and SIPR representatives will review the applications.

• Clarity of expression in explaining the PhD topic and key questions it seeks/sought to answer;

• The extent to which it is directly related to matters of crime and justice in Scotland and to the Scottish Justice system;

• Relevance and timeliness of doctoral topic for dissemination to policy and practice audiences, including in the current COVID context;

• Useful and engaging/innovative ideas about forms of output and dissemination, and the way in which these will maximize impact of and engagement with findings amongst the relevant audiences; and

• Feasibility of timeline, including any other work commitments.

The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) worked in funded partnership with the Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services Division between 2006 and 2016. Through this relationship, numerous PhD projects were developed and won funding (through CASE awards, and ESRC AQM, Collaborative and Pathway streams) to conduct research on policy-relevant issues. SCCJR aims to communicate its research to a range of audiences and is investing in this initiative.

The Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR), is a strategic collaboration between 14 of Scotland’s universities, Police Scotland, and the Scottish Police Authority, and since 2007 has supported applicable research by PhD students to help the police meet the challenges of the 21st century and for achieving international excellence for policing research in Scotland. SIPR is pleased to support this initiative to maximise the knowledge exchange of evidence-based research that can contribute to policing policy and practice.

For any enquiries around assistance with getting an academic mentor, or for any other enquiries of an academic nature, please contact SCCJR or SIPR at the contacts noted above.

For all other enquiries, please contact the Scottish Government – debbie.headrick@gov.scot

For more information please see our Scottish Justice Fellowships 2021 Q & A document below

Scottish Justice Fellows Q&A and Process Note

Below are some FAQs on the call:

Q. I worked in policy and so I do have some experience of working for and with Government. I would like to check given my experience if I am suitable to apply or whether the fellowships are intended for those with less experience of dissemination?

A. The Fellowships are intended to create opportunities for relevant research to be developed into forms that can most effectively be accessed by those in policy or practice. There is no particular advantage for those with more or less experience working with or writing for policy makers.

Q. I wanted to check about the level of commitment required. I understand this can be undertaken on a part-time or full-time basis, please can you clarify what the expectations would be for taking this on part-time? For example, number of hours per week?

A. There is no specific expectation of hours per week. Fellows will be matched with an academic mentor and there is an expectation that they will make time to meet with this mentor to assist development of dissemination. In addition, Fellows will be expected to make space, given due notice, in their diaries for the policymaker session and the writing workshop to support preparation of outputs, and to attend the end of Fellowship conference to present their work sometime in March or April. We are generally hoping the Fellows will also have some interaction with each other and form a supportive community. So while part-time working is perfectly acceptable, we would hope Fellows would welcome some interaction with other Fellows and the partners involved in this initiative.

Q. Can I apply even though I did not attend a Scottish University for my PhD. I have lived in Scotland for many years, did my Masters at a Scottish university on a topic within Scottish criminal justice, and currently work/volunteer with a voluntary sector organisation directly engaged in crime and justice issues in Scotland, and can see how my doctoral research could inform this. My PhD is from an English University.

A. Yes. The criteria is that the PhD research is of direct relevance to issues of crime and justice in Scotland, regardless of where it was undertaken.

Q. Parental/Maternity Issues: I will be having a child at a point falling within the period of funding for this initiative. Am I eligible to apply for this scheme?

A. Expecting a child is not necessarily a bar to applying to the scheme, and we would hope to make it possible for those in all kinds of family and caring circumstances to take part. There may be accommodations and adjustments we can make to support participation of new parents. The main thing would be for those applying to be in a position to meaningfully engage with the Scottish Justice Fellows programme, which includes both producing an agreed set of outputs and an experiential element of engaging with the other Fellows, an academic mentor, and the policy colleagues. So for example, it might be possible to extend the deadline for outputs, but for the Fellow to attend the end of fellowship conference and still have the opportunity of sharing their work. We are not able to shift the Fellowship to an entirely separate time period (e.g. following a period of maternity leave where that ends beyond the end date of the Fellowship) as an essential component of the scheme is the experiential part of working with other Fellows.

Q. I did not attend a Scottish university and am based outside of Scotland. Am I eligible?

A. The scheme is seeking to create opportunities for new empirical evidence to be brought to bear on policy debates in Scotland, and to support the next generation of researchers on crime and justice in Scotland. Applicants do not need to have attended a Scottish university but the focus needs to be of direct relevance to crime and justice in Scotland – the expectation would be that the thesis contained fieldwork or case study material relating directly to, or conducted in, Scotland.

Q. Should my potential mentor be from my PhD supervisory team and from the same institution that I am affiliated with or should it be a different supervisor hosted by a different institution?

A. The scheme is designed to help candidates take a step on from the PhD, so we encourage applicants to consider a mentor and institution that is different to their PhD supervisors. If however there is a good reason why the PhD supervisor is the best or only option, please offer a justification as to why this is required. Split mentoring arrangements will be considered.

Q. My PhD was carried out in Scotland but I now live overseas. Am I required to be physically present in Scotland to carry out the Fellowship?

A. Physical presence in Scotland is not a formal requirement of the Fellowship. Mentor meetings, and where relevant events, can take place remotely – and flexibility of activities in light of covid restrictions is encouraged. It is however anticipated that Fellows will be available to attend in-person events that are scheduled.

Justice Fellowship Programme