Image: Jonathan McIntosh [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Flickr
Intelligence community fellowships require thorough background research
Funded by the Government Office for Science, and Managed by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Programme is back for its fifth annual competition.
Fellowships provide up to £200,000 at 80 per cent of full economic cost over two years to researchers with up to five years’ experience post-PhD. They support unclassified—that is, not designated as secret—research on topics drawn up by intelligence community (IC) members. This year 21 topics have been selected and the deadline for applications is 19 April.
Fellows are guided on different aspects of their project by a research adviser from their host institution, an academy mentor chosen from a shortlist, and an IC adviser who specialises in the relevant topic for their project.
Taking charge
Despoina Kampouridou, based at the University of Birmingham, and one of four 2020 IC post-PhD fellows interviewed for this article, says that even though her advisers were important in shaping the bid, applicants will be made to understand that “you are the principal investigator”.
Kampouridou’s project investigates next-generation antenna designs, which use metamaterials to achieve greater performance. She says that, when she was writing her bid, the issue of not knowing exactly what the IC wants from R&D projects was a major challenge. She had to accept not knowing the “very specific technical requirements” for her bid.
Andrew Lamb, a fellow based at the University of Birmingham, became quickly aware of this problem as he built his project to investigate whether quantum gravity sensors could be used to screen vehicles at UK borders. But even though fine detail may be lacking, Lamb says there is a wealth of public information available that applicants can draw from to get a feel for the IC’s desires. He used a 2015 National Security Strategy and Defence and Security Review, a 2018 National Security Capability Review, and assessments from the National Crime Agency on serious organised crime to get a sense of what was lacking. “It’s almost like doing a gap analysis in a business sense—asking, ‘What is missing?’ and then, ‘How can I sell it?’” he says.
While Lamb says the scientific aspects of proposals are reviewed by a panel of experts, the whole package must appeal to an intelligence staffer who may lack detailed technical knowledge. “Their opinion is important because they will become the adviser for you, so they have to think it is feasible.”
Apart from using public information, it may be possible for some applicants to speak directly to the potential users of their proposed project. This was the tack taken by 2020 fellow James Gooch, based at King’s College London. For his fellowship he is developing a biological sensor that can detect and identify traces of chemical or biological weapons.
He spoke with potential users when formulating his bid and believes it is important to understand “their major challenges in terms of analysis, procedures—and then their ideal solutions”.
A number of intelligence agencies and government departments feed in to the programme, including the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, the Department for Transport and the National Cyber Security Centre. “They’re very keen to engage with academics, but it could be difficult to get an initial contact with them,” says Gooch. He says that if other departments at your university cannot make introductions, you should try writing to general inquiries or outreach email addresses and explain your situation.
Rush bid
Building such relationships takes time, but quick bids are possible with this scheme for those who already have a good feel for the needs of the IC. Marko Tesic, a fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, only found out about the call “seven or 10 days before the deadline”. He was able to write a first draft in a few days as the proposal follows on from his PhD, which was partly supported by the US Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, a funder of high-risk R&D with potential uses in intelligence.
His project is about making the decision-making of artificial intelligence tools used by the IC more transparent and “trying to see what kind of explanations a human would prefer and which would increase or decrease trust”.
Tesic says the “toughest bit” for him was getting his research office to trust his chances with such a late bid and convincing them to review the funding details. As it happens, they did and were “really supportive” once he convinced them that he had a shot.
But those who won’t make it through in this round, even with more than a week to put together the application, will not leave empty-handed. Lamb applied for the call in 2019 but was unsuccessful. He says the academy gives excellent feedback, making it a good fellowship for first-time applicants. And, he adds: “It’s worth noting the topics don’t always change,” so a reinvigorated reapplication may be possible the following year.
This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com