Research fellowships

Applications for Research Fellowships

Candidates wishing to select Imperial Physics as their host institution are advised to contact the relevant Research Community to discuss their application. You are encouraged to contact them early for initial discussions to maximise the support we can give you and also because this is a two-way process and you need to assess if we’re the right fit for you.

To ensure the submission of high-quality, competitive proposals, the Department runs a competitive internal selection process.  The deadlines for Research Communities to submit their supported nominated candidates to the Department are given below and you will need a member of the academic staff to act as an internal sponsor during the application process. Requests received after these dates will not be considered.

The Physics Department is committed to being a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone and has put in place a number of measures to promote a collaborative and stimulating culture. Individuals who identify as female and those who consider themselves as underrepresented are particularly encouraged to apply. 

We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex or sexual orientation. Further information about how the College strives to create and support an equitable workplace can be found here.

We want to make our application process as inclusive and accessible as possible so if you experience any barriers that we may have overlooked please tell us and we can make adjustments.

If you are approved to submit a formal application the Department will assist you throughout the application process. We set internal submission deadlines which are substantially earlier than the sponsor deadlines to allow for sufficient preparation and approval time, you will be advised of this.

The Imperial Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre provides a host of ongoing support from preparing the application to mock interviews available to anyone who is applying through Imperial.  You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this support in conjunction with that from your host Research Community.  For more information, applicants should read the guidance on their web pages and contact pfdc-support@imperial.ac.uk.

We’ve successfully supported many research fellowship applications. See the summary of started researcher fellowships in Physics from 1 August 2013 - Fellowships Physics (updated 25.07.23).

Research fellowships

Calls

 

Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, a Program of Schmidt Futures 

  • Open.
  • This scheme is managed by Imperial.
  • Department quota - none
  • College deadline 20 September 2024
  • This scheme is applied for through the Imperial recruitment system Talentlink, You must have an Imperial mentor to apply but the Department shortlisting is done after the application deadline.
  • Research Associate ENG03173 and Research Fellow ENG03174

 EPSRC Doctoral Prize fellowships

  • Closed
  • This scheme is managed by Imperial.
  • Department quota - two
  • Please contact a Research Community in your area of interest.
  • Department nomination deadline 3 August 2023.
  • Nomination paperwork is College required documents (Case for Support, CV, Letter from PhD supervisor)

EPSRC Postdoctoral & Open Fellowships

Imperial College Research Fellowships

  • Open. Physics is only accepting applications for ICRFs supported by Schmidt Futures under the AI in Science theme.
  • Community quota: two
  • Please contact a Research Community in your area of interest. Applicants should check our webpage and consider a potential Departmental sponsor from among our academic staff
  • College deadline to submit is 19 August.
  • General enquiries can be directed to phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships

  • Open
  • Department quota – none.
  • Confirmation to the Department (via phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk) and ECAS Part A completed 4 September 2024.
  • Imperial participates in the standard European Fellowship mode of the MSCA PF scheme but does not participate in the Global Fellowships mode.
  • Check the Imperial's EU Team webpage with advice and information to help applicants. Some areas of the webpage require an Imperial login, ask your sponsor to share the information. You can also contact the team with questions mscapostdocfellowships@imperial.ac.uk

NERC Independent Research Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Department quota – none
  • Nomination deadline 15 September 2023
  • The Grantham Institute at Imperial is providing support for candidates to apply for the 2024
  • Applications within any NERC remit will be considered. Eligible candidates will first need to be nominated by a co-host department at Imperial.
  • Nomination deadline TBC 

RAEng UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Department quota - none
  • Department Nomination deadline 29 March 2024 
  • Nominations consist of CV, publications list and a one page outline.

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Department quota - two into the College selection process
  • Please contact a Research Community in your area of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 7 May 2024.  
  • Nominations consist of a College application form and any (optional) letters of support.to be sent to phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk

Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships 

  • Closed (will open again in 2024).
  • Department quota: five
  • Please contact a Research Community in your area of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 26 September 2022.
  • Nominations consist of CV, publications list and a one page outline.

Royal Commission 1851 Research Fellowships 

Royal Society Career Development Fellowship

  • Closed
  • Department quota – none
  • Please contact a Research Community in your area of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 4 December 2023.
  • Nominations consisted of your CV, publications list and a one page outline.

 Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships

  • Open (call opens 2nd September 2024)
  • Department quota – none
  • Please contact a Research Community in your areas of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 29th August 2024 
  • Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and an EOI form (Imperial Physics Request for Support - Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship).

Royal Society Faraday Fellowships

  • Closed (Stage One call opens 14 August 2024)
  • Department quota - none
  • Departmental deadline 25 September.
  • Please contact phys_ra@imperial.ac.uk to express your interest in applying before the end of June 2024.

Royal Society Newton Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Department quota – five
  • Please contact a Research Community in your areas of interest.
  • Nominations to the Department closed 1 February 2024.
  • Nominations to the Department consisted of your CV, publications list and a one-page outline

Royal Society URF

  • Closed
  • Department quota – 12 
  • Please contact a Research Community in your areas of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 4 July 2024
  • Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and an EOI form (Imperial Physics Request for Support - URF 2024).

STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Department quota – 7 set by STFC
  • Please contact a Research Community in your areas of interest.
  • Department Nomination deadline 4 July 2024 
  • Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and an EOI form (Imperial Physics Request for Support - ERF 2024).

UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowships

  • Closed
  • Round 9 was only open to Imperial Physics academic/proleptic staff
  • College deadline was 18 March 2024

    Further Info

    If you are at Imperial, you can register for the online funding news service Idox ResearchConnect.

    If you are looking for information on how to write a narrative CV, please check out these resources:


    If you have any general questions about the fellowship process, please contact our Research Operations Team (Louise Hayward). Note that you have to contact the Research Groups to find a sponsor. 

     

    Things to remember

    Before applying, please keep in mind...

    • Timeliness of Fellowship at this point in your career
    • Independent Researcher
    • Current standing within the national / international community
    • Referees & their comments
    • Quality, originality and potential impact of proposed research
    • Broader context surrounding the research 
    • Abilty to plan and manage resources 
    • Ability to communicate to a generalist audience 
    • Potential to fulfil the wider responsibilities of an academic career (teaching, public engagement etc) and evidence of leadership ability
    • Appropriateness of the Group with whom you want to work with
    • Alignment with the strategic priorities of the research council/sponsor

    Fellowships Elsewhere

    Group Information

    Some of the Research Groups have Fellowship opportunities pages with their Group information: