Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is (at least in theory) part of an elite group of learned people who work together as peers in the pursuit of knowledge. However, there are no precise rules for how the title is used, and each academic institution grants the title as it sees fit.

General academic use

The term "Fellow" is most often used to describe the incumbent of a temporary academic post. Generally, a fellow of this type has very limited teaching duties and devotes the bulk of his time to research. The term is most accurately used to describe students that have been awarded a stipend or other funding that supports their pursuit of an advanced degree and/or research.

A junior research fellow is known informally as a "postdoc". The position is equivalent to research associate, but whereas a research associate works on a specific project under the direction of a supervisor, a research fellow has greater freedom to work independently and choose his or her own projects. A research associate's salary is paid out of his supervisor's budget, whereas a research fellow is paid either from central university funds or by an outside organisation such as a charity or company.

The title Research Fellow may also refer to a young researcher in receipt of a fellowship awarded by an external grant-awarding body such as a Research Council or the Royal Society in the UK or the NIH in the US, and having status equivalent to a permanent member of academic staff at their institute. They conduct independent research in the same manner as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer or Assistant/Associate Professor but have minimal teaching duties, and generally they retain their Fellowship and associated research grant funding when moving their research group between universities.

A senior research fellow is an established academic, often a Professor on sabbatical from another institution. The research fellow may be granted the title of Professor by his temporary employer; if he is, he is more likely to be referred to as a Research Professor.

Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity

The Colleges of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin, use the term "fellow" in a more specific sense. The full fellows of a College form the governing body of the College, although they may elect a Council to handle day-to-day management. All fellows are entitled to certain privileges within their College, which may include dining at High Table (in some cases free of charge) and possibly the right to a room in College (which may be rent-free).

There are a number of types of fellow:

• Research fellows, as discussed above, whose salaries (if any — many are non-stipendary) are paid by the College from the income on its endowment. Some of the less affluent Colleges do not pay their research fellows a salary, instead awarding fellowships to postdocs already employed by the University.
• In Oxford College tutors are paid to provide small-group teaching to the College's undergraduates. The position is typically a joint appointment (there are a variety of types) with the University.

In Cambridge University Teaching Officers (lecturers, readers, and professors) are entitled to College fellowships. For lecturers and readers, the process is competitive – generally the most able academics get fellowships at the richest and most prestigious Colleges. Professors are allocated to Colleges by a centralised process to ensure fairness. These fellows may or may not provide small-group teaching to undergraduates in the College, for which they would be paid by the hour.

• Some senior non-academic College staff such as bursars are made fellows because of their importance to the running of the College.
• Most Cambridge Colleges grant fellowships for life after a qualifying period. Retired academics may therefore remain as fellows. In Oxford on retirement a Governing Body fellow would normally be elected a 'fellow emeritus' and would leave the Governing Body. Distinguished old members of the college, or its benefactors and friends might also be elected 'Honorary Fellow', normally for life; but beyond limited dining rights this is merely an honour.
• Most Oxford Colleges have 'Fellows by Special Election' or 'Supernumerary Fellows' who may be members of the teaching staff, but who would not necessary be members of the Governing Body.

In Cambridge except for research fellows, College fellows have no duties as such and are not paid. They will typically have a salaried post either with their College or the University.

The term "praelector" is used for some types of fellow.

Professional societies

Fellows are the highest grade of membership of most professional societies (see for example, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Lower grades are referred to as members (who typically share voting rights with the fellows), or associates (who may or may not, depending on whether "associate" status is a form of full membership).

How fellowship is acquired varies from society to society. It is typically involves some or all of:

• A qualifying period in a lower grade
• Nomination by two existing fellows who know the applicant professionally
• Evidence of continued formal training post-qualification
• Evidence of substantial achievement in the profession

NB the following seems rather unclear!

" ... In Cambridge except for research fellows, College fellows have no duties as such and are not paid. They will typically have a salaried post either with their College or the University. ..."

Learned societies

Exclusive learned societies such as the Royal Society have Fellow as the only grade of membership, others like the Faculty of Young Musicians have members holding the post of Associate and posts Honoris Causa

US universities

Some US universities, such as Harvard call the members of their Board of Trustees "fellows". This differs from the general academic use of the term, because this kind of fellow is a non-executive trustee rather than a working academic.

Graduate school fellowships

See also: List of graduate school fellowships

In the context of graduate school in the United States and Canada, a fellowship is a merit-based scholarship.

Fellowships include:

• MacArthur Fellowship
• NSF Fellowship
• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Presidential Management Fellowship

Other uses

Historically, the word "fellow" was also used to describe a man, particularly by those in the upper social classes.

In Christianity, fellowship means individual Christians who are in communion with each other. Today the word fellowship is often used to designate a group, either run by a denomination or is interdenominational, aimed at fostering a sense of fellowship (that is, mutual support and common purpose) among Christians of a particular demographic. An example of a large fellowship would be the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

In the North American system of medical education, a period of medical training following on from residency is generally called a fellowship. This refers to a period of several years during which the physician takes training in a subspecialty, such as cardiology or hematology/oncology. During this time, the physician is known as a fellow. Although their training is more advanced than that of residents, fellows usually continue to treat patients under the supervision of an attending physician - that is, one who has already completed a fellowship in the relevant subspecialty and is permitted to practice without direct supervision by other physicians. (Because they have completed their residencies, fellows may "moonlight" as attending physicians in the generalist field where they were trained, such as internal medicine or pediatrics, but they must be supervised by a fully trained attending when working in their subspecialty.) Most medical subspecialties have formalized fellowship programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Alcoholics Anonymous considers itself a fellowship in the sense that it has no hierarchy or other organizational structure, and hence all members are equals.

The Fellowship of the Ring, a fellowship of nine different fictional characters (4 Hobbits, 2 Men, a Wizard, Elf and a Dwarf) featured prominently in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

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