Postdoctoral Fellowships

The School of Physics and Astronomy welcomes applications from candidates interested in applying for personal fellowships at the University of Edinburgh.

Fellowship opportunities

To provide transparency and efficiency in the management of applications, the School operates an internal review process for the following fellowship opportunities:

• Royal Society University Research Fellowships
• STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships
• EPSRC Open and Postdoctoral Fellowships
• UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships
• Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships
• Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships
• Stephen Hawking Fellowships
• Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship 

Applications for other fellowship opportunities are welcome. Please contact relevant members of academic staff or the director-of-research [at] ph.ed.ac.uk (Director of Research) directly to discuss prospective applications.  The School of Physics and Astronomy is committed to advancing equality and diversity, welcoming applications from everyone irrespective of gender, ethnic group or nationality. We particularly encourage applications from female and/or BAME candidates.

How to submit a preliminary application

If you would like the School to support your application for one or more of these fellowships, please submit  the following documentation is a single pdf to: fellowships-panel [at] ph.ed.ac.uk. You are encouraged to develop your proposal with the active participation of a member of academic staff. Once outline  proposals are received academic supporters will be asked to submit a short email to fellowships-panel [at] ph.ed.ac.uk.

Internal Deadlines

In general (except UKRI Future Leaders), cases for support need to be ready two weeks before funder deadline for internal peer review. Full cases including costing need to be ready one week before funder deadline for final checks. Please submit these to grants [at] ph.ed.ac.uk as soon as ready.    

 Documentation

 For all Fellowships except UKRI Future Leaders, Stephen Hawking Fellowships, Daphne Jackson Fellowship and UoE Innovation Fellowships :

• CV  (2 pages). This should include the following data: number of years since PhD (excluding career breaks);
   total number of refereed journal publications; h-index and database used.

• Research Statement/Proposal  (maximum 3  A4 pages,  minimum font  size 11) – this should  comprise:  a statement of Fellowships to be considered for; a summary of research to date and a statement of proposed research including which research area the proposed research fits into (see below for STFC ERF relevant themes and RSURF subject areas); and the name of a current Edinburgh academic staff member who is happy to support and help develop your application.

• A list of your best 4 publications, together with a short statement of your contribution to each paper.

For UoE innovation Fellowship application:

• Directly submit application to funder (here)
• Name of a current Edinburgh academic staff member who is happy to support your application
• Contact grants [at] ph.ed.ac.uk as soon as possible 

For Daphne Jackson Fellowship application:

• Directly submit application to funder (here)
• Name of a current Edinburgh academic staff member who is happy to support your application
• Contact grants [at] ph.ed.ac.uk as soon as possible 

For UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships outline application:

• 4 page Case for Support (template)
• CV (FLF format, download here)
•  1-page work plan (template)
• Name of a current Edinburgh academic staff member who is happy to support your application
• Contact grants [at] ph.ed.ac.uk as soon as possible 

For Stephen Hawking Fellowships:

• Email name of a current Edinburgh academic staff member who is happy to support your application
• Email Case for Support for internal review as soon as ready

Themes for STFC ERF

Applications must fall within the remit of the STFC core Science Programme (astronomy, solar and planetary science, particle physics, particle astrophysics, cosmology, nuclear physics, accelerator science) and afford scope for original work.

Physics and Astronomy  Subject Areas for RSURF

Astronomy, Astrophysics, Biophysics, Computational Physics, Condensed Matter (incl. soft matter, liquids and nano-materials), Cosmic Radiation, Cosmology, Crystallography, Elementary Particle Physics, Gravitation, Interstellar Medium, Lasers and Optoelectronics, Low Temperature Physics, Magnetism, Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, Mathematical Astronomy, Mathematical Astrophysics, Mathematical Cosmology, Mathematical Gravitation, Nuclear Atomic and Molecular Physics, Planetary Science, Plasma Physics, Quantum Theory, Semi-conductors, Solar Physics, Statistical Physics, Physics (Applied), Physics (Experimental).

Themes for EPSRC Open Fellowship

Open Fellowships are open across the whole of EPSRC’s remit.

Further information on various Fellowships

University of Edinburgh Innovation Fellow

Daphne Jackson Fellowship

STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships

EPSRC Open and Postdoctoral Fellowships

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships

UKRI Stephen Hawking Fellowship

Royal Society University Research Fellowships

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship

Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship

RAS Fellowships

Newton International Fellowships

Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship

Contact details

Application submission email address: fellowships-panel [at] ph.ed.ac.uk.

Contact for further information: director-of-research [at] ph.ed.ac.uk