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The Oxford Brookes University Teacher Research Fellowship

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The OBU Teacher Fellowship provides teachers in state schools and colleges in the UK with the opportunity to apply to become a teacher research fellow for the duration of the academic year 2025-2026. The fellowship is designed to aid teachers in maintaining and developing their intellectual wellbeing through continuing professional development which supports them in undertaking action research in a topic which is mutually beneficial to their school or college and Oxford Brookes University. 

Successful fellowship applicants will be supported with professional development from Oxford Brookes academics through a series of seminars, conferences, and resources. Oxford Brookes University teaching fellows will also be given funding of £500 (paid to the school/college) to be used to support their action research project. Fellowships will be awarded in the summer term to be undertaken by successful fellows in the following academic year. Fellows will then present their research at an end of year celebration event.

Submit your Oxford Brookes University Teacher Research Fellowship application form by the 30 June 2025.

Key benefits for Oxford Brookes University fellows

  • Access to an action research planning template to help structure their project.
  • Access to a seminar series supporting action research within professional development in teaching.
  • Access to the Oxford Brookes University Children and Young Person (CYP) research seminars.
  • Access to the Oxford Brookes University Teaching and Learning conference in June 2026.
  • Funding of up to £500 to be paid to the school and to be used in direct support of the project.
  • The opportunity to attend a fellowship celebration event at the end of the fellowship to present their research to an interested network of teachers and researchers.

Eligibility criteria

  • Applicants must be currently employed in a state school or college in the UK and have the support of their school or college to undertake the fellowship.
  • Priority will be given to applications from schools or colleges with a high proportion of students from groups currently underrepresented in higher education (for example; students from areas of higher socio-economic deprivation, students from ethnic minority groups, care experienced and estranged students).
  • Priority will be given to action research proposals that relate to attainment raising, or the disadvantage attainment gap.
  • Priority will be given to proposals that align with the research themes of the Children and Young People Research Network.
  • We welcome applications from across the UK, but particularly from schools and colleges in Oxfordshire and our surrounding region.

How to apply

Interested applicants should discuss their proposal and the details of the fellowship at a senior level within their school or college before submitting an application for the Oxford Brookes University fellowship. You should complete the application form by 30 June 2025. 

The proposal will need to include the following key details: 

  • a named senior contact within their school/college who supports their application
  • a brief outline of how the project will be particularly relevant to their school or college or region’s context
  • details of how the £500 funding would be used to deliver the action research project.

Fellowship places are limited, so all applications will be considered by a panel of Oxford Brookes staff, and fellowships will be awarded based on the extent to which they meet the criteria outlined above.

Terms and conditions

  • Oxford Brookes University Teaching Fellows must undertake an action research project to be completed within the duration of the fellowship by 31 July.
  • Oxford Brookes University teaching fellows must have senior support from their school or college to undertake the action research project.
  • Teaching fellows must share the findings of their research at an end of year event with other fellows at the end of the academic year.
  • Teaching fellows must contribute to the evaluation of the scheme.
  • Teaching fellows must use the £500 funding from Oxford Brookes University to directly support their action research project (for example, for staff time or other project related  resources). 
  • Any teaching fellow who wishes to withdraw from the fellowship must give written notice to schools.liaison@brookes.ac.uk at which point they will be given instructions on how to reimburse the £500 funding from Oxford Brookes University.

For any further questions about the teaching fellowship, please contact schools.liaison@brookes.ac.uk

Teacher and advisor webinar series

You may also be interested in our teacher and advisor webinar series.

This activity support Gatsby benchmarks 7. 

View how our activities support the Gatsy Benchmarks. 

Webinar #1

Snakes and Ladders and Students: Helping Students Learn How to Play the Higher Education Game

Webinar #2

Diversity and inclusion: sharing insights across educational sectors

Webinar #3

Reflections of school leadership in a post pandemic

Webinar series 2020-21

The three Rs in 2021: Reflect, Recover, Refresh: Reimagining learning and teaching in a changing world

Webinar #1: Reflections on a Recovery Curriculum

A conversation with Barry Carpenter, Professor of Mental Health

How do children cope with loss? How can anxiety impact their ability to learn? And how can we reignite children’s motivation to learn, in a world that is dramatically changing?

Join experts from Oxford Brookes' MA Education programme to explore the Recovery Curriculum, a relationships-based approach to developing mental wellbeing in children. We'll examine how a curriculum can respond to children's emotional needs - and make sense of their experiences. And in a world where our students - and indeed ourselves - are coping with untold stress, we'll look at how we can prioritise emotional wellbeing across whole school communities.

With Jonathan Reid, MA Education SEND Strand Leader and Senior Lecturer in Child Development, SEND and Inclusion at Oxford Brookes University.

Barry Carpenter, Professor of Mental Health, Oxford Brookes University.

Learn more about the Recovery Curriculum

Learn more about the importance of compassion in Education

Webinar #2: Teaching art for student wellbeing | with Keith Brymer-Jones

How can children and teens manage anxiety in uncertain times? How can we proactively support student mental health? And how can we change the future of teaching, to put wellbeing front and centre?

Join Keith Brymer-Jones from the Great Pottery Throwdown to explore art as a means to combat stress and anxiety. In a world where students are encountering untold stress, we’ll look at the restorative effects of practising art - and the evidence base behind this.

We’ll also look at how you can easily integrate art into your teaching - and how this can immediately benefit your students’ wellbeing.

We’ll be joined by experts from the Oxford Brookes MA Education programme and students from Bexhill College.

Speakers

  • Keith Brymer-Jones, World-renowned British potter and ceramic designer
  • Dr Rachel Payne, Principal Lecturer in Student Experience, Oxford Brookes University

Webinar #3: Schooling after the pandemic

What education system do we want?

After a year like no other, we’re asking ourselves:

1. How will school change post-pandemic, and what should teaching and learning look like?

2. How can we harness this moment to imagine an education system that is equitable, innovative, and that truly supports all children?

In this online discussion, we’ll explore a better new normal for education. We’ll explore issues like:

  • The future of virtual learning and digital technology in schools
  • ‘Lost learning’ and the challenges with this concept
  • The structure of schooling: school buildings, school days and year groups
  • The future of high-stakes assessments like GCSEs and A-Levels
  • Emotional and mental good health - supporting and nurturing wellbeing
  • Changing parent perspectives on learning

Join us to shape the debate on the future of learning - and how to build the education system we want.

Speakers
  • Dr Patrick Alexander, Director of the Centre for Educational Consultancy and Development, Oxford Brookes University
  • Dr Rachel Payne, Principal Lecturer in Student Experience, Oxford Brookes University
  • Dr Roger Dalrymple, Associate Dean for Student Outcomes, Oxford Brookes University

This webinar ran on Thursday 24 June 2021.

 To get more information on this webinar, please contact schools.liaison@brookes.ac.uk

A student thinking about her schooling after the pandemic

Contact us

Outreach Base

+44 (0) 1865 534900 option 2

schools.liaison@brookes.ac.uk


Note: All information in these webinars were correct at the time of recording.