Opportunities for postdoctoral fellowships

Details about our postdoctoral fellowships, including 'Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship Scheme' and 'British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowships'.

British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowships

British Academy (BA) have just opened this year’s Postdoctoral Fellowships competition.

See below for our internal and BA deadlines.

The scheme offers opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their CV and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship.

The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields. Applicants must be within three years of the award of their doctorate. It is a prerequisite that you have already established a relationship with an academic mentor at Moray House before application. It should be noted that the scheme is highly competitive. Further information is available from the BA website.

Scheme eligibility

The British Academy's guidelines state that:

1.       British citizens and any nationals from the European Economic Area 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. This typically means a current significant period – with a minimum period of one year, which will need to be completed prior to your application being submitted – of employment at a UK institution in either a teaching or research position which is not permanent. Postgraduate degrees (MA or MSc) do not count.

2.       Early Career Status: There is no age criterion for these awards. Instead, eligible applicants are expected to be at an early stage of their career. This is defined as being within three years from the date of your successful Viva Voce examination.

3.       This period extends from 1 April 2021 to 1 April 2024.

• Exemption from this criterion may be granted for reasons occurring after the date of the viva voce examination such as: maternity leave, illness, family commitments etc. If you wish to apply for exemptions, please email posts@thebritishacademy.ac.uk where the British Academy will review your case for an exemption on a case-by-case basis.

4.       The applicant must already be of postdoctoral status at the time when the Research Awards Committee meets. Applicants who expect to have had their viva by 1 April 2024 are eligible for consideration, but will have to withdraw their application if the examination is not completed on time.

5.       No applicant who has been appointed to a permanent academic post in an institution of higher education at any time in their career, whether in the UK or overseas, will be eligible. This includes positions held before the award of a doctorate.

• Exemption from this condition will generally be granted if an applicant has held a permanent role of less than 0.5 FTE. Email at posts@thebritishacademy.ac.uk to apply for an exemption.

6.       The British Academy does not allow for resubmissions for the Postdoctoral Fellowship. If you have previously applied and failed to reach the Second Stage of the competition, you are not eligible to re-apply. Previously unsuccessful applicants will only be able to submit another application if specifically invited to do so by the British Academy.

It is important for those considering an application to think carefully about whether they and their proposed project are at a sufficiently advanced stage to be submitted to such a competitive scheme.

Our timetable for submission

Contact our RKEI Office

Given the highly competitive nature of the scheme and high number of University of Edinburgh applicants expected, the School will be operating an internal sifting process where we ask prospective candidates to complete a two-page summary of their proposed research along with a two-page abbreviated CV and name of confirmed mentor and send it to MHSES-RKEI@ed.ac.uk, copying your confirmed mentor into the email, by 5pm on Wednesday 23 August 2023.

Your summary of research should note your name, project title and confirmed mentor, and should include aims and objectives, proposed methods and expected outputs and impact of the research (no more than two sides A4, font size 11). Please ask your mentor to review your summary of research and incorporate their feedback before you submit. Please contact MHSES-RKEI@ed.ac.uk  with any queries.

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship Scheme 2023