Guidance for Fellowship Applicants
Download application formFellow is the Physiological Society’s senior category of membership. It is a high-level designation which is awarded to long-standing members to acknowledge their invaluable experience, extensive knowledge, expertise, and commitment to the discipline.
In recent years, the Society has strengthened its application process. It is therefore critical that each applicant be confident they are at the right juncture in their career to apply and have the time to provide the committee with robust evidence.
Fellow Eligibility & Application Checklist
You must:
- Possess Full Member status for at least ten consecutive years postdoctoral prior to the year of nomination;
- Supply the names of two supporters who are both Full (voting) Members of the Society. One must be a Fellow member and one must be outside the applicant’s institution;
- Provide a high standard of evidence they have met three of the six criteria.
*Please note that members are entitled to apply for a one year waiver of their subscription fee for a career break or maternity leave during which time they retain all the benefits of their membership.
Supporters Checklist
Please ensure:
- Both supporters are Full (voting) Members of the Society;
- At least one supporter is an existing Fellow of the Society;
- If not a Fellow, your second supporter is of an equivalent standing holding a senior level position: e.g. Professor, Senior Research Scientist;
- One supporter is outside the candidate’s current workplace to ensure independence of opinion.
Criterion Checklist
Have you?
- Chosen only three of the below following six criteria?
- Ranked them in order with your strongest first?
- Provided specific, detailed and compelling evidence against each one demonstrating how you meet it?
Instructions to Applicants regarding the criteria
Excellence may be demonstrated through publishing, research, education, teaching, policy, leadership, service or administration. Fellowship recognises sustained impact across the breadth of physiology.
Your responses should:
- Focus on your strongest evidence
- Clearly describe your personal contribution
- Demonstrate impact and outcomes
- Use specific examples and evidence
- Remain concise and evidence-based
Please:
- Avoid lengthy narrative descriptions
- Avoid full publication lists or CV-style entries
- Use bullet points wherever possible
- Focus on quality and impact rather than quantity
Guidance Notes for Applicants
Strong Applications Typically:
- Focus on impact rather than activity
- Clearly explain personal contribution
- Demonstrate leadership or influence
- Provide measurable evidence where possible
- Show sustained or wider benefit
- Use concise, evidence-based language
Important Reminder
Fellowship recognises:
- Sustained excellence
- Leadership
- Influence
- Meaningful impact across the breadth of physiology
Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate not only what they did, but why it mattered.
Examples of Strong Evidence
Less Effective
“Member of departmental teaching committee.”
More Effective
“Led redesign of undergraduate physiology curriculum adopted across three departments, improving student satisfaction scores from 74% to 91%.”
Top Tips
So What?
Do not forget to highlight the IMPACT of your achievements.
Publication lists do not tell a story
- Curate your publications and decide which you believe to be the top papers. Use those to demonstrate the impact of your research.
- Select those papers where you have made the most significant practical / intellectual contributions to the work.
How have you gone above and beyond your day job?
Tell the Committee what makes your accomplishments exceptional. For example if you have sat on a committee you need to be able to demonstrate tangible benefits of you having served on that committee.
Highlight seniority
Make sure you detail your senior responsibilities, especially those you have held for the longer-term. For example, line management duties, budgetary responsibilities, technical specialism and strategic influence within organisations.
*Where more than one bullet is listed against a criterion only one must be successfully achieved.
| Criterion | Description | Examples of High Standard of Evidence | Notes/ Guidance for Applicants & Reviewers |
| Service to the Society |
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Evidence should show active engagement and tangible outcomes, not just attendance.
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Examples could include:
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Research
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Evidence should demonstrate both the significance of the research contribution and the applicant’s personal leadership and influence within the field.
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Details of major research grants, including:
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Publishing
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Evidence should demonstrate not only publication volume, but also evidence of substantial intellectual contribution, authorship leadership, and impact within the field.
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Emphasise quality as well as quantity* (e.g., senior/lead authorship, impactful journals). Include DOI/reference list.
* The DORA site highlights the strengths and also limitations of the H-index and why ‘it should never be used in isolation when evaluating researchers.’ As Nominations Committee is considering more than just this one metric, we would be compliant (there was no consensus from the Board to remove the metrics). |
| Policy and public service |
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Evidence should demonstrate leadership, influence, and measurable contribution to policy, professional practice, education, or public understanding of physiology beyond the applicant’s own institution.
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Provide clear examples of influence or outcomes, e.g., policy documents, committee reports, media coverage. Evidence should demonstrate tangible impact beyond institution alongside their role leadership of the project or participant, for example.
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Education and teaching
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Evidence should demonstrate their specific role and leadership contribution. As well as sustained educational leadership and impact beyond routine teaching responsibilities, with clear evidence of influence at institutional, national, or international level.
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Provide clear examples of influence or outcomes, adoption, awards, or national recognition. Examples of supporting evidence may include:
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| Administration |
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Evidence should show their specific leadership role and decision-making authority demonstrating how their administrative leadership contributed to institutional success, sustainability, or strategic advancement beyond normal departmental duties.
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Provide clear evidence including scope, scale, complexity of the environment and the tangible outcomes or improvements. Examples of supporting evidence may include:
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