Fellowships
The ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø 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 ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø 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 ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, please do get in touch via fellowships@reading.ac.uk.
There is also a list of the fellowships schemes eligible for the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø's new incentive for successful applicants.
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (FLF) - Round 11 (2026)
The 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: mid-January 2026 (to be confirmed)
- UKRI Full application deadline: June 2026 (to be confirmed)
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 ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø 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.
UKRI Metascience AI Early Career Fellowship
This is open now. Please contact your RDM if you are interested in applying to this (or email fellowships@reading.ac.uk).
The UK Metascience Unit will fund a cohort of early career fellows to build our understanding of how the growing adoption of AI is changing the research landscape, including what metascientific, ethical, epistemic, and socioeconomic questions this raises, and how governments, industry, and funding organisations should respond.
Fellowships can be up to £260,000 full economic cost (fEC) for up to 2 years. They will be funded at 80% fEC.
UKRI deadline: the 2025 opportunity has now closed.
Fellowships in the Environmental and Physical Sciences
The ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø 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:
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. This opportunity has now closed for 2025, but will reopen in 2026.
British Academy (BA)
The 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: submission deadline to BA is 01 October 2025. REIO deadline is 17 September 2025.
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 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: 2025 dates are not yet available.
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 and .
Application deadline: 2025 deadlines will be added as soon as they are available, 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 page for more information.
Application deadline: submission deadline is 12 November 2025. REIO deadline is 05 November 2025.