This is a list of some of the funding opportunities available for Early Career Researchers. Basic information about each grant is available below.
For more detailed information, click on the name of the award which links through the relevant page on the funder’s website.
Early Career-Specific Funding Routes
Funding Opportunities Accordion 1 accordion
Scope: Arts and Humanities
Deadline: Open Call
Duration of Award: 6-18 months
Funding:
£50,000-£250,000
Cost of mentoring (one hour per month)
Eligibility:
Applicants must be actively engaged in postdoctoral research and be of postdoctoral standing
University will need to confirm it has identified the applicant as a research leader or potential research leader
Applicants must have at least two years of post-doctoral experience in an academic/research environment and a track record of research publications and/or other research outputs as appropriate.
Scope: Arts and Humanities
Deadline: Open Call
Duration of Award: up to a limit of 60 months
Funding:
£50,000-£250,000
Cost of mentoring (one hour per month)
Eligibility:
Applicants must be within 8 years of the award of PhD or within 6 years of first academic appointment
Scope: Biological Science
Deadline: Applications in response to time-limited call
Duration of Award: 3 years
Funding:
Up to £375,000
Cost of mentoring (one hour per month)
Eligibility:
Applicants should have a PhD or be expecting to have undergone successful PhD viva prior to the start of the project
Applicants should not exceed five years in active postdoctoral research employment prior to announcement of the awarded FLFs.
Scope: Humanities and Social Sciences
Deadline: Two stage call – usually October and March deadlines
Duration of Award: 3 years
Funding:
No fixed amount (varies depending on host institution)
Covers full-time Post-Doctoral Fellow salary; small-scale research expenses (maximum £6000); costs towards mentor time (one hour per month) and host institution’s estates and indirect costs
Eligibility:
Applicants must be supported by the UK host institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship
Applicants must be within three years of the award of a doctorate
Applicants must be a UK or EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university.
Scope: Any field of research
Deadline: Grants can only be submitted in response to a yearly Call for Proposals
Duration of Award: Up to 5 years
Funding: Up to €1.5 million
Eligibility:
Researchers of any nationality with2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD
Applicants must have a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal.
Scope: Engineering and Physical Sciences
Deadline: Open Call - assessment panels meet in March, July and November
Duration of Award: No cap on duration
Funding: No cap on funding
Eligibility:
Applicants should not have previous experience of leading an academic research group or grant
Applicants with fixed-term appointments are eligible providing their contract extends beyond the end date of the proposed research
Applicants in a staff post on a research grant are not eligible unless they hold an academic fellowship.
Scope: Engineering and Physical Sciences
Deadline: Open call but projects have to link to current thematic priority areas.
Duration of Award: Up to 3 years
Funding:
100% salary costs
Other non-staff costs associated with the research
No staff costs covered
Eligibility:
Applicants are expected to hold a PhD by the start date of the fellowship or have equivalent research experience
There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience or whether the applicant holds a permanent academic position
Applicants have to meet the Fellowship person specification.
Scope: Engineering and Physical Sciences
Deadline:Open call but projects have to link to current thematic priority areas.
Duration of Award: Up to 5 years
Funding:
100% salary costs
Other staff and non-staff costs associated with the research
Eligibility:
Applicants are expected to hold a PhD by the start date of the fellowship or have equivalent research experience
There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience or whether the applicant holds a permanent academic position
Applicants have to meet the Fellowship person specification.
Scope: Social Sciences
Deadline: Open Call - assessment panels meet in March, July and November
Duration of Award: up to 5 years
Funding:
£100,000-£300,000
Cost of mentoring has to be met by the applicant’s institution
Eligibility:
Applicants should have a maximum of four years’ academic research experience following the submission of their PhD
Applicants cannot be current or former PIs on ESRC or other Research Council grants
The call is open to applicants with or without a permanent academic post.
Scope: All disciplines except medicine
Deadline: Usually 1st March of each year. Lancaster University runs an internal competition for prospective applicants.
Duration of Award: 3 years
Funding:
The Trust will contribute 50% of each Fellow's total salary costs up to a maximum of £25,000 per annum and the balance is to be paid by the host institution
Each fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000
Eligibility:
Applicants must not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university.
Candidates must hold a doctorate
Applicants must either hold a degree from a UK HEI or must hold an academic position in the UK for which the contract duration at the time of appointment was no less than 9 months.
Scope: Medical Research
Deadline: The competition is held twice a year and application deadlines can be found on the website
Duration of Award: Up to 5 years
Funding:
Full personal salary costs, support for research staff, consumables expenses, travel costs and capital equipment
Eligibility:
There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience
To be considered suitable for the scheme, applicants should be able to clearly demonstrate that their skills and experience at the time of their application match those of the transition to an independent career stage
Applicants are normally expected to hold a PhD.
Scope: Medical Research
Deadline: Research board application deadlines are usually around January, May and September.
Duration of Award: 3 years
Funding:
MRC salary contribution commensurate with the time attributed to the NIRG, capped at a maximum of 50% of the applicant’s total contracted working time
Salary for hours directly attributable to the project of and Co-Is
Support for additional research or technical posts
Consumables and equipment
Travel costs
Data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs
Eligibility:
There are no eligibility rules based on years of post-doctoral experience
The minimum formal qualification required is a graduate degree e.g. PhD or MD
Applicants should be able to clearly demonstrate that their skills and experience at the time of their application match those of the transition to independence career stage
Applicants can hold a lecturer appointment, a junior fellowship, or be in another research staff position.
Scope: Environmental Science
Deadline: Call with deadline - 2017 call opened in June and closed in October
Duration of Award: 5 years
Funding: No funding limit but applications generally request £500,000 total funding
Eligibility:
Applicants must hold a PhD or have their PhD awarded before the start of the project
Applicants for NERC IRFs must have a maximum of eight years of full-time postdoctoral experience
Applicants should not have a permanent academic position.
*Please note that NERC has introduced demand management measures on this funding strand which are administered at an institutional level.
Scope: Environmental Science
Deadline: Annual closing dates in late January and July
Duration of Award: Up to 5 years
Funding: £65,000-£800,000
Eligibility:
Eligibility is restricted to those Investigators at the outset of their independent scientific career
Applicants must be within five years of first becoming eligible for NERC funding as a Principal Investigator and must not have received competitive research funding from any source
Scope: Astronomy, physics, technology and research infrastructure
Deadline: Annual call with specified deadline
Duration of Award: 5 years
Funding: Provides funds to cover salary, personal travel and minor equipment costs
Eligibility:
Applicants must have a PhD and a minimum of five years’ research experience including a minimum of two years’ postdoctoral experience.
Scope: Health-related humanities and social sciences
Deadline: Applications twice a year with preliminary application deadlines in early January and July
Duration of Award: Up to 3 years
Funding: Salary costs and research expenses
Eligibility:
Applicants should have been awarded a PhD before they apply
Applicants should be a postdoctoral researcher who wants to carry out an extended period of research on their own project.
Standard Grant Funding Routes for Early Career Researchers
Funding Opportunities Accordion 2 accordion
Scope: Primary research in the humanities and social sciences
Deadline: One call per year usually in early September
Duration of Award: Up to 24 months
Funding:
Costs of expenses arising from a defined research project (salary payments, computer kit or teaching replacement costs are not funded)
Eligibility:
Awards are open to postdoctoral scholars (or equivalent)
Applications require the approval of the applicant's employing institution
Eligible applicants will already be employed by the eligible institution
Applications can be submitted by those holding contract research posts provided that their appointment continues for a period at least equal to the span of the requested award
Up to three co-applicants from the same or different institutions may also be included.
