Future Leaders Fellowships

Email all material to grants [at] ph.ed.ac.uk by noon on  the 5th of April. More information on the fellowship can be found here. Below a list of all material needed for the internal selection:

-  Identify local academic who will support the application and identify host institute. 

Candidate information: Case for Support in line with UKRI requirements: which should address the following

• Summary (up to 550 words) – this should be suitable for a variety of readers
• Vision and Approach (up to five sides of A4, single spaced in paper in 11-point Arial (or equivalent sans serif font) with margins of at least 2cm). NB: one of the 5 pages allocated to Vision and Approach should be a diagrammatic workplan, for example, PERT or Gantt chart illustrating the full duration of the project with project-specific timelines and milestones clearly and accurately shown.
  • What are you planning to achieve with your proposed work?
  • How are you going to deliver your proposed work?
• Applicant capability to deliver (up to 1650 words)
  • Why are you the right individual to successfully deliver the proposed work?
• Career development (up to 1000 words)
  • Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others?
• Host organisation support (up to 1000 words)
  • How will the host organisation support your fellowship?
• Resources requested (up to 1000 words – note that formal costings are not required for the College review stage)
  • Indicate what you will need to deliver your proposed work.

Further information on ECR eligibility criteria

• Career stage UKRI has a very broad definition of ‘early career’ e.g. it does not specify a particular number of years of experience, but candidates must have a PhD or equivalent experience
• Current job status There are no eligibility rules based on holding/not holding a permanent or open-ended academic position or job role.
• Other UKRI Fellowship applications Candidates cannot have any other UKRI Fellowship application under consideration at the time of submission, unless expressly permitted in the other Fellowship call documentation

The scheme is for early career researchers. But what is an early career researcher? There is no quantitative answer, and it’s up to the applicant to make it clear to the reviewers how this fellowship will have transformative added value for their research and career. Applicants are encouraged from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds, career pathways and disciplines; including those who have changed disciplines, had career breaks, and time in other roles. Demonstrating how the fellowship will support the transition to independent researcher will provide strong justification, whereas applicants who have already achieved research independence – as evidenced by, for example, a portfolio of grants aimed at this level as project lead - will not be competitive unless they can make a compelling case – for example, that they are moving into a new field.