Royal Society University Research Fellowship | Funding for Early-Career Scientists

This program is for new scientists who are starting their research careers and could become leaders in their field. The fellowships are long-term and allow you to focus on growing your research career in the UK or Ireland while working on interesting projects.

About the scheme

The University Research Fellowship (URF) program supports early-career scientists to lead innovative research. Its goals are to help these scientists:

• Build a research career at UK institutions
• Get the time and flexible support for quality research
• Grow as leaders through professional development and networking

Fellowships last for eight years, but for year’s six to eight, you need to show you're making good progress in a review at the start of year four.

The Royal Society values diversity in STEM fields and encourages applications from various backgrounds to boost innovation. They continually update their policies to ensure fairness and inclusion so that all qualified applicants have a fair shot at success.

Scholarship Details

Eligibility Criteria

• You need to have 3 to 8 years of research experience, not counting career breaks, since you earned your PhD by the application deadline; check the scheme notes for details on career breaks.
• You can't have a permanent job at a university or a not-for-profit research organization.
• Also, you shouldn't have had a similar fellowship that allows you to run your own research team and get independent researcher status.
• Your research should fit within the Royal Society’s natural sciences category, which includes biological and biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, math, and physics. For a complete list of supported areas, look at the subject breakdown from the Royal Society.

What does the scheme offer?

Applicants can get up to £1.87 million over eight years.

The funds can be used for:

• Salary for the award holder
• Indirect and estate costs
• Equipment and research expenses, including travel and consumables
• Salary for research assistants and related costs
• Support for a new four-year PhD student
• Relocation and visa costs for the applicants and their families (partner and kids). If needed, the total grant cap can be exceeded to cover these relocation/visa costs with proper justification.

Application Deadline

The last date of application submission is 10th September, 2025.

Apply now