Fellowship Opportunities

Fellowships at the IfA

Fellowships 

The IfA encourages applications to post-doctoral research fellowship schemes to be hosted here.

Short-duration early-career fellowships

• Marie Curie Fellowships (calls typically open around July with deadline expected September/October)
• 1851 Fellowships (calls typically around October)
• Newton International Fellowships for non-UK scientists (deadline 19 March 2024)
• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships for interdisciplinary proposals, (expected deadlines around February)
• Royal Astronomical Society and Norman Lockyer Fellowships (deadline in Autumn)

Longer senior postdoctoral fellowships and grants, typically for researchers more than ~4 years out of their PhD

• Royal Society University Research Fellowships (opens July with deadline September)
• STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships (usually announced in June and opens in July with a deadline mid-Sept. Internal deadline in mid-July.)
• UKRI Hawking Fellowships  (expected to open September with a deadline in Nov)
• UKRI Future Leader Fellowships (internal deadline 05 April 2024, final submission deadline 18 June 2024)
• Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships for researchers who require a flexible working pattern (calls open September, close November)

How to apply

People interested in applying for any fellowship to be hosted at IfA should, in the first instance (and as early as possible) contact a relevant member of academic staff who would be prepared to sponsor any application.

In order to be considered for the RSURF, ERF or FLF senior fellowships listed above, the applicant must then submit a general proposal to the School of Physics and Astronomy Fellowship Panel (see this page for details) by 05 April for the FLF, or by July for fellowships with Autumn deadlines. The fellowship panel selects candidates for fellowships where there is a quota per Institute (e.g., Rutherford and FLF), and ensures that candidates are sufficiently experienced to apply for the RSURF fellowship.   We announce our Rutherford candidate selection by mid-August.

Once approved (by the fellowship panel for senior postdoctoral fellowships, or by your sponsor in the case of early-career fellowships), the School's grants team will then provide support and advice on internal deadlines. You should contact the grants team at least 14 working days in advance of the formal fellowship deadline.  Typically, internal deadlines require submission of an advanced draft for internal review/feedback 10 working days before the deadline.  Where the proposal submission needs to go through the central University, the final proposal will typically need to be submitted 5 working days in advance of the deadline.