JRF:  Further Particulars

(Page updated 10 June 2026)

The purpose of this note is to provide information about the nature and status of a Junior Research Fellow of Trinity College (‘a Fellow under Title A’). Please read these Further Particulars carefully before proceeding to make an application. For further details regarding eligibility and how to apply, see the How to Apply and Further Guidance on Application pages.

Trinity College invites applications from a wide range of candidates from any background. The Fellowships are available in all branches of University studies.

Our Research Fellowship provides an opportunity to spend up to four years in Cambridge undertaking post‐doctoral research or scholarly work at an early stage of an academic career; this research may be on a topic essentially of the Fellow’s own choice. However, for an experimental scientist, suitable arrangements must be made with one of the laboratories in the University, and if short-listed a letter obtained detailing those arrangements.

The basic obligation of a Research Fellow is to engage full‐time in research and its dissemination. Research Fellows will join a vibrant scholarly community and are welcome– indeed encouraged – to participate fully in the life and activities of the College. Research Fellows are not required to contribute to teaching, although a Fellow who wishes to do so may undertake, for extra payment, some limited teaching within the College and University. The number of Research Fellows elected varies from year to year depending on the strength of competition; in recent years it has been between 6 and 8.

Our Research Fellows have typically gone on to obtain faculty positions at prestigious universities worldwide and have received various awards of distinction in their own field.

Emoluments, Rights and Privileges

Fellows under Title A who reside within the University precincts and devote themselves to study and research receive a stipend. For each year spent doing research in Cambridge, a Research Fellow receives a stipend from the College of £36,128 (reviewable in line with academic stipends). However, a Fellow who is registered for a further course of study in the United Kingdom (e.g. a PhD degree) will normally receive, instead of a stipend, a student maintenance grant at the rate of £26,494 per annum until completion of the course of study. A Fellow who is following a comparable course of study outside the United Kingdom will receive a stipend of £34,322 per annum. The stipend or maintenance grant will be reduced in respect of any emolument received from a source outside College. In addition, a Research Fellow enjoys all the other privileges of a Fellow – including a single person residential set of rooms in the College, free of rent but subject to tax and a service charge, and subject to availability; otherwise, a housing allowance of £10,800 per annum and the opportunity to rent a College‐owned flat; free meals at the High Table; access to funds for the support of research and attendance at conferences; and use of all the College’s facilities. Title A Fellows are also entitled to an annual taxable childcare allowance of £9,000 for the first child and £2,000 for each subsequent child.

Notification  

The decisive meeting to choose the new Fellows will take place on 18 January 2027 and applicants will be informed of the results immediately afterwards.  

Taking up a Fellowship

All Junior Research Fellows formally start their ‘Title A Fellowship’ by being admitted to the College at a ceremony in Chapel on Tuesday 5 October 2027¹. The ceremony will be followed by a dinner to welcome all new fellows to the College. Thus, the Fellowship starts in October following election and ends in September four years later.

¹It is desirable that elected Title A Fellows are admitted on this day, but should they be unavoidably unable to attend on that day, they will be admitted at the Council Meeting on Friday 8 October 2027 in person or online.

Taking up the Emoluments and Benefits of the Title A Fellowship

Most Title A Fellows will start receiving the emoluments and benefits of the Title A Fellowship in October 2027. It is possible, subject to provisions in the College’s Ordinances, to postpone or interrupt taking up these emoluments and benefits up to a total of two years (the year is divided into four quarters, so it is possible to postpone or intermit for periods shorter than a year, in multiples of quarters). A ‘benefit’ period, equivalent to the periods intermitted or deferred during the first four years will be added to the end of the Fellowship, so that Title A emoluments and benefits may be taken up after the expiry of the Fellowship. In other words, the formal Fellowship always ends four years after admission, but four years’ worth of emoluments and benefits may be enjoyed within six years of admission.

Those studying for a PhD outside the UK might wish, if necessary, to apply for a deferral in order to complete their studies. They would then become eligible for the higher rate of stipend on arrival in Cambridge.

It will also be possible for those who so choose to take up the emoluments and privileges of the position, without the status of Fellow, before then (a ‘preliminary benefit period’), in return for forgoing their entitlement to the stipend and privileges of a Fellow for an equivalent period at the end of their Fellowship.

Applicants who do not have an automatic right to work in the United Kingdom should note that, although they would still be formally elected to a Fellowship on 4 October 2027, employment and the payment of stipend cannot commence until appropriate leave to enter or remain has been granted under the Home Office’s immigration rules. For further details see the special note for applicants from outside the United Kingdom.

Eligibility

Our formal eligibility rule is simply that the candidates must be on a PhD course or its equivalent, or have submitted a PhD thesis or its equivalent, no earlier than 1 November 2025. By ‘or its equivalent’ we mean a course at the same level as a PhD, but we are also willing to accept as eligible candidates who are not taking a formal course, if they are at the same stage in their careers as if they were taking or had just finished a PhD.

Election Procedure

Eligible candidates are elected to Junior Research Fellowships at Trinity on the basis of the quality of the research they submit, and the evidence that it provides of high originality and promise. A short‐listing procedure (based on submitted written work and references) is used to select the strongest candidates, who will then be required to submit a dissertation on a subject connected with some branch or branches of University studies, and also a separate summary of about 2,000 words. The final meeting of Electors will take place on Monday 18 January 2027. There are no interviews.

For further guidance on the application process, see:

How to Apply

Further Guidance on Application

Shortlisting and Election

Frequently Asked Questions