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For other uses of "Fellow", see Fellow (disambiguation).

In academia, a fellow is a member of a group of learned people who work together as peers in the pursuit of mutual knowledge or practice. The fellows may include visiting professors, postdoctoral researchers and doctoral researchers. It may also indicate an individual recipient of a graduate-level merit-based form of funding akin to a scholarship.


Research fellow[edit]

See also: Research fellow

The title of research fellow is used to denote an academic research position at a university or a similar institution.

Teaching fellow and fellow at a university[edit]

The title of teaching fellow is used to denote an academic teaching position at a university or similar institution. The title fellow can be bestowed to an academic member of staff upon retirement who continues to be affiliated to a university in the United Kingdom.

Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin [edit]

At colleges of the ancient universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, fellows form the governing body of the college. They may elect a council to handle day-to-day management. All fellows are entitled to certain privileges within their colleges, which may include dining at High Table (free of charge) and possibly the right to a room in college (free of charge).


Graduate school fellowships[edit]

See also: Scholarship

In the context of graduate school in the United States and Canada, a fellow is a recipient of a fellowship. Examples are the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rosenthal Fellowship and the Presidential Management Fellowship.

Academia administration[edit]

Harvard University[edit]


Cambridge and Oxford Colleges[edit]


Secondary education[edit]

Teaching fellows in the US[edit]

The term used, in the United States, the high school and middle school setting for students or adults that assist a teacher with one or more classes.[1]

Learned or professional societies, or speciality training[edit]

Fellows are the highest grade of membership of most professional or learned societies (see for example, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators or Royal College of Surgeons). 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 a fellowship is acquired varies for each society, but may typically involve some or all of these:

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

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

Honorary fellow[edit]

Main article: Honorary fellow

Appointment as an honorary fellow in a learned or professional society can be either to honour exceptional achievement and/or service within the professional domain of the awarding body or to honour contributions related to the domain from someone who is professionally outside of it. Membership of the awarding body may or may not be a requirement.

US medical training[edit]


Industry and corporate[edit]

Large corporations in research and development-intensive industries (IBM, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Google or Apple in information technology, Bell Labs or L3 Communications in telecommunications, and Boston Scientific in Medical Devices for example) appoint a small number of senior engineers and scientists as Technical Fellows. Technical Fellow is the most senior rank or title one can achieve on a technical career, though some fellows also hold business titles such as vice president or chief technology officer.

Nonprofit organizations and government[edit]

The title fellow can be used for participants in a professional development program run by a nonprofit or governmental organization. This type of fellowship is a short term work opportunity (1–2 years)[2] for professionals who already possess some level of academic or professional expertise that will serve the nonprofit mission. Fellows are given a stipend as well as professional experience and leadership training.

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ "Home". Teaching Fellows. Retrieved 2013-12-04. 