Fellowships

The University of Reading takes pride in a strong track record of career building and career development for researchers, of which an important strand is hosting Research Fellowships. These provide opportunities to build research independence. Some schemes promote international mobility, some provide training or support the transition to a new research field, whilst others can support returning to work after a career break. There are schemes to support candidates at a range of different career stages.

The University of Reading supports applicants to a range of externally funded Research Fellowships.

Some Fellowship schemes require institutional support or are limited in the number of applications that an institution can submit. For these schemes, the University holds a process for all applicants to identify the strongest candidates to support. Details of the current internal processes can be seen below. Details of discipline-specific Fellowship schemes can be found in the Sciences, and Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences sections.

If you are interested in applying to hold a Fellowship at the University of Reading, please do get in touch via fellowships@reading.ac.uk.

There is also a list of the fellowships schemes eligible for the University of Reading's new incentive for successful applicants.

 

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) - Round 10 (2025)

The UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships aim to support early career researchers and innovators with outstanding potential in universities, businesses and research institutes to make the transition to or establish independence.

The Future Leaders Fellowship scheme is for applicants of outstanding potential. Applicants will need to demonstrate the “added value” UKRI’s investment will have on their career and how the funding will enable them to become a leader within their field.

TIMELINE FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

• Candidate Expressions of Interest deadline: 13^th January 2025 12:00
• UKRI Full application deadline: 18^th June 2025

This is a highly competitive scheme. In order to administer the scheme in a timely manner, UKRI have introduced a cap to the number of applications each institution can submit. Under this cap, the University of Reading can submit up to 4 applications. Therefore, to identify the strongest applications, there will be an internal selection process.  Information on the process can be seen in the Future Leaders Fellowships page.

 

Fellowships in the Environmental and Physical Sciences

The University of Reading operates an internal review process, based on Expressions of Interest (EoI), to support candidates who are interested to apply to any of the following four fellowship schemes:

• STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship
• NERC Independent Research Fellowship
• Royal Society University Research Fellowship  
• Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowships

Interested applicants are asked to contact the dedicated email address fellowships@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible so that we can register your interest and direct you to the Research Development Manager who will be supporting you through the fellowships application process, and who will provide you access to resources which can support your application. Eligible candidates will then be asked to complete the pro forma document, and send this to their allocated Research Development Manager contact no later than 3rd June 2024.

 

British Academy (BA)

The BA Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme supports research within the Humanities or Social Sciences, and the primary emphasis is on the completion of a significant piece of publishable research. Applicants must be at an early stage of their research career with no more than 3 years' experience from their PhD viva. They must be an EU or British citizen or hold a doctorate from a UK university and must not have held a permanent post in a university.

The competition is in two stages - the outline stage is open to anyone satisfying the eligibility criteria and closes in October; the second stage is by invitation only with a February deadline.

Eligibility requirements

The applicant must be a researcher from the humanities and social sciences and be based at an eligible university or research organisation. Suitable institutions include any UK university or recognised research organisation based in the UK. British citizens and any nationals from the EEA are eligible, regardless of where their doctorate was obtained. Anyone of any nationality who has a doctorate from a UK university is eligible. If an applicant does not meet the prior categories, they may be accepted if they can demonstrate ‘strong prior association’ with the UK academic community. Applicants must be of Early Career Status, meaning they must apply within three years from the date of their successful viva voce examination. For this round of competition, applicants are expected to have completed their viva voce between 01/04/2023 and 01/04/2026 (for the 2025 round).

Duration: 3 years.

Maximum funding limit: Salary and a maximum of £6,000 for research expenses.

Application Deadline: 2025 dates will be posted when published but is likely to have a closing date in mid October.

Internal process for applicants:

There is no institutional limit on how many British Academy Post Doctoral Fellowships can be submitted, however, individual Schools may limit the number of applications that they will support because of the associated academic time commitment required for review and mentorship. Please contact fellowships@reading.ac.uk to express your interest and be advised of internal processes. Research Services arrange an information session with candidates to cover all aspects of the submission process.

 

The BA Mid-Career Fellowship scheme is designed to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences. The primary rationale of the scheme is to free successful applicants from their normal academic and administrative for a period of six to 12 months, to devote to the completion of a major piece of research. 

Eligibility requirements

Candidates must be employed at a UK-based university and are usually no more than 15 years from the award of their doctorate. Due allowance will be made for career breaks and for established researchers who do not have doctorates.

Duration: 6-12 months.

Maximum funding limit: maximum award £152,000.

Application Deadline: expected August 2025.

 

Royal Society Career Development Fellowships

This is a four year postdoctoral fellowship which aims to support the retention in STEM of researchers from underrepresented backgrounds; initially a pilot will be run with researchers from Black heritage. If successful, it may then be broadened to include other underrepresented groups. 

Please be aware that there are very specific eligibility criteria, as follows: 

Research must be within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences.

To be eligible to apply for the pilot scheme, you must: 

• Self-identify as being from a Black heritage including mixed Black background; and 
• Have a PhD or will have one by the time the funding starts; but have less than 24 months post-doctoral experience

 

The scheme offers: 

• Up to £690,000 over four years to cover salary, overheads (at 80%) and research expenses 
• A high-quality programme of training, mentoring and engagement to support career development 
• Flexibility to accommodate personal circumstances including part-time working, with provision for maternity, paternity, adoptive or extended sick leave 
• Relocation and visa costs for researchers and their dependents (partner and children) in addition to the grant cap of £690,000 over four years 

The scheme is open to both UK and non-UK domiciled researchers but the research must be undertaken in the UK. 

For further information, please read the Scheme Notes and FAQs. 

Application deadline: 19 November 2024, but interested applicants are asked to email fellowships@reading.ac.uk as soon as possible so that we can direct you to the Research Development Manager who will be supporting you through the fellowships application process, and who will provide you access to resources which can support your application.

 

Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship

This scheme is for experienced academic researchers who would benefit from a period of full-time research without teaching, administration and pastoral care duties. It is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Research must be within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences, which includes but is not limited to biological research, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. Note that the Royal Society does not cover clinical medicine (such as patient orientated research and clinical trials), social sciences or humanities, other than when working in partnership with organisations.

To be eligible to apply, you must:

• have a PhD or equivalent
• hold a permanent post at a UK university or not-for-profit institution
• be at a stage in your career when you would particularly benefit from a period of full-time research

The award lasts between one term and one academic year. The applicant’s employing institution will be reimbursed for the full salary cost of a teaching replacement (up to the equivalent of the minimum point on the lectureship scale as paid by the host university). Research expenses up to a maximum of £2,500 are available to cover the costs of consumables, equipment, travel and communicating science.

Visit the Leverhulme Trust Senior Research page for more information.

Application deadline: 20 November 2024.

 

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

NIHR has four Fellowship schemes which have been designed to support individuals at various points of their career to become leading researchers. The NIHR also partner with several charities to offer jointly funded Partnership Fellowships at both Doctoral and Advanced levels. 

NIHR Doctoral and Advanced Fellowships Round 11

NIHR Doctoral Fellowship Round 11 Guidance Notes 

Closing date: 01 February 2024.

The NIHR is launching the 11th round of Doctoral and Advanced Fellowships as part of the NIHR Fellowship Programme. The Advanced Fellowship is for those at a post-doctoral level and can be utilised at several specific points of a researcher’s career development. Whilst the NIHR Doctoral Fellowship is a three year full-time award that supports individuals to undertake a PhD in an area of NIHR research.

Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE) round 10

Development and Skills Enhancement Award DSE

Closing date: 29 March 2024.

The Development and Skills Enhancement Award (DSE) is a post-doctoral level award aimed at supporting NIHR Academy Members to gain specific skills and experience to underpin the next phase of their research career. Applicants need to demonstrate what new skills and experience they hope to gain through the award, and how it will benefit their future career in health and care research. The award runs three times a year, opening in January, May and September and will support a mixture of researcher-led applications and applications from areas of strategic importance. The current themes are:

• health data science
• clinical trials
• entrepreneurship and working with industry

 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Fellowships are on offer via the following routes:

EPSRC postdoctoral fellowship (Recommended if you have not previously held a significant grant (usually defined as those which included PDRA time, capital equipment or were in excess of £100,000 FEC)).

EPSRC synthetic biology postdoctoral fellowship

EPSRC open fellowship

Applications for Open Fellowships can be across any topic in the EPSRC portfolio. Post‐doctoral opportunities will vary across themes.

Projects can focus on discovery science, innovation, instrumentation/technique development or software engineering, or a combination of these. The Open Fellowships have an optional Plus component, for when the applicant plans to spend 20‐50% of their time on the fellowship to create positive culture change in the research community beyond their proposed scientific project and research group e.g. fellowships with a significant industry collaboration, knowledge exchange or impact element (examples provided in document annex).

Applications can be submitted at any time and are processed on a rolling basis at a prioritisation panel after peer review. Submission should be timed to have the best chance of being assessed at a forthcoming prioritisation panel (please refer to the fellowships guidance for full details).

Duration: You can apply for up to three years of support for post‐doctoral awards, and up to five years of support for open awards.

Maximum funding: None.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (European Commission)

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships aim to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral mobility. The scheme is open to excellent researchers of any nationality.  MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships also encourage researchers to work on research and innovation projects in the non-academic sector and is open to researchers wishing to reintegrate in Europe, to those who are displaced by conflict, as well as to researchers with high potential who are seeking to restart their careers in research.

Through the implementation of an original and personalised research project, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships aim to foster excellence through training and mobility and to equip researchers with new skills and competences in order to identify solutions to current and future challenges. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to reach out to society at large to make the results of their research visible to citizens.

The EU portal call webpage provides all official EC call documents. 

An unofficial applicant Handbook, prepared by MSCA-NET (network of MSCA National Contact Points), may also prove useful.

Duration: European Postdoctoral Fellowships 12-24 months, Global Postdoctoral Fellowships 12-24 months + 12 month return phase

*An additional period of up to six months can be requested for a placement, at the end of the project, in an organisation from the non-academic sector.

Maximum funding: n/a - budget calculated based on unit costs, multiplied by the requested person months

Application deadline (annual scheme):  Closing date expected September 2025.

Interested candidates should contact Ioanna Theophanous

Internal screening process via RDLs applies for this scheme.

Cut-off date for accepting new applications: TBC August 2025

Internal deadline (for finalised application):  TBC August 2025

 

Faraday Discovery Fellowships

Faraday Discovery Fellowships are funded by the Royal Society and are prestigious long-term awards to support emerging research leaders to undertake high-quality, original research. The programme is aimed at outstanding mid-career STEM researchers and will provide grants of up to £8m over a 10-year period to support the development of world-leading research in the UK.

Duration: 10 years

Maximum funding: up to £8 million.

An internal screening process is in place. A completed Expression of Interest form together with a CV (of no more than 3 pages) must be submitted to Tristan Glenn copying in your RDL by noon on 6 August 2024.

GET IN TOUCH

If you are interested in applying to a Fellowship scheme not listed above, please email fellowships@reading.ac.uk with details of: the scheme you wish to apply to, a 2 page CV and a brief (1 page) summary of your proposed research. Please do also get in touch if you have any queries on the information listed on this page.