Scholarship Description: The new UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship scheme (FLF) is now available to develop, retain, attract and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK. This scheme aims to support excellent and high potential future research and innovation leaders.
Scholarship Provider: The UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship scheme (FLF) aims to develop, retain, attract and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK.
UK Research and Innovation brings together nine Councils including STFC into a single organisation that aims to be the best research and innovation organisation in the world.
Degree Level: Fellowships are available to pursue research.
Available Subject: Applications can be submitted in any area of research or innovation covered by the Research Councils and Innovate UK.
Scholarship Benefits: The support offered will be long-term and flexible and will provide comprehensive package of support, including the fellow’s salary and justified research, staff and training costs, with seven years of support available on a 4+3 model, with a review in year four. The case for support should make clear the long-term aims of the programme, and why they matter – while providing more specific plans and costings for the first four years.
- For business applicants, those in the user community or other applicants, four years’ support may be sufficient and there is no need to apply for a further three years of funding if this is not required. Successful applicants will have the intellectual and financial freedom to develop and change direction over this period.
Eligibility Criteria: To be eligible for this scholarship you must meet the following requirements:
- Applicants are expected to hold a doctorate by the start date of the fellowship or to be able to demonstrate equivalent research experience and/or training.
- These fellowships are for early career academics and innovators who are transitioning to / establishing independence. Senior academics and innovators are not permitted to apply. There are no eligibility rules based on years since PhD or whether the applicant currently holds a permanent/open-ended academic position or job role2. Applicants should use the person specification (below) to assess and justify their suitability for the scheme with reference to the objectives of the programme.
- Applicants must have significant support from their hosting organization (s), described below in section 3. Host organisations are also encouraged to use the scheme to bring outstanding individuals to the UK from abroad.
- Applications are welcome from those returning to research or innovation from a career break or following time in other roles; there are no time limits in respect of time spent outside a research or innovation environment.
- Fellowships may be held on a part-time basis in order to combine research/innovation with personal responsibilities. Applicants can propose to hold a fellowship on a part-time basis for four years or can choose to request a part-time fellowship over a longer time period which would have equated to four years full-time as they wish; job shares are also possible.
- It is expected that fellows’ full working time will be committed to these fellowships or activities related to the fellowship from the start of the award. Therefore, those with substantial ongoing research commitments as a result of participation in other grants are ineligible to apply. Awardees will have the flexibility to develop a breadth of experience and partnerships, and secure further research/innovation funding later in the award, but should ensure that these other activities do not compromise their focus, or achievement of the aims of the fellowship.
Application Procedure: There will be six calls for these fellowships; two calls per year between 2018-19 and 2020-21 (financial years), typically awarding at least 100 fellowships per call across UKRI’s remit (with the initial round being smaller, aiming to award ~50 fellowships).
This is a single scheme across the entire UKRI remit, with no ringfenced budgets for specific areas and no barriers to interdisciplinary or cross-sector research.
First round
It is mandatory for the first round of this call that host organisations submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for each of the applicants they intend to submit to the first round, by 7 June 2018.
Full applications must be submitted via the Joint Electronic Submission system Je-S by 16:00 BST, 3 July 2018 for the first round.
Full details are available in the Overview of the scheme and completing the application form documents below.
The second round will close in October 2018.
Scholarship Link
Deadline: July 3, 2018