Chemical engineering final year students and postgraduates are invited to apply for a fellowship in memory of former chemical engineer and Teesside MP Ashok Kumar. Jointly funded by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the Materials Processing Institute, the Ashok Kumar Fellowship provides a three-month placement at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST) with a focus on producing a parliamentary briefing note for MPs on a science and engineering topic. After the placement, the successful candidate will also work with IChemE’s Learned Society Committee to share their learnings and knowledge on policy with IChemE members.
The fellowship is open to engineers who are in the final year, or have completed within the past year, an undergraduate Master’s degree in a discipline related to chemical engineering, process engineering, materials science or applied chemistry, or who have equivalent industry experience. This may include conducting a research project on a related topic. Applications will also be accepted from PhD and EngD students conducting research in a related field with permission from their supervisors to suspend their studies for three months.
Applications to the Ashok Kumar Fellowship are open through April 18, 2022. The three-month placement will take place at a suitable time agreed by the successful candidate and POST and is expected to be between September 2022 and May 2023.
The Fellowship was established in 2010 in memory of IChemE Fellow Ashok Kumar. At the time of his sudden death that year, he was the Labor MP for Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East and the only chartered chemical engineer in the UK House of Commons.
“Just as Ashok Kumar was a pioneering engineer in politics, so through this fellowship we are fostering a greater understanding between scientific experts and political decision makers,” says Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute. “All of the major societal challenges of this century, from climate change to artificial intelligence to pandemic response, require a deft combination of science, engineering and public policy. Ashok Kumar Fellows have the opportunity to make their contribution to this important aspect of public service.”
For more information, visit: www.icheme.org/ashok