Fellowships
Are you an early-career researcher looking to start an independent career in the chemical sciences? Do you have a cutting-edge research idea you’d like to get funded? Do you want to work in the dynamic environment of one of the UK’s top 10 Chemistry departments?
At the Department of Chemistry, we pride ourselves on attracting the very best scientific minds by supporting Early Career Researchers to develop their career. We're a large department, but it's our people who make it one of the best places to study chemistry in the UK. The Department is home to around 80 academics, of whom 120 are postdoctoral researchers and 250 postgraduate research students.
Why apply for a Chemistry Fellowship at Manchester?
Choosing a fellowship at Manchester means joining a world-renowned institution with state-of-the-art facilities and a supportive, collaborative environment. Our department boasts numerous cutting-edge research centres and a commitment to nurturing the careers of talented fellows.
We offer a Mentorship and Support Scheme designed to help talented Early Career Researchers set up an independent career with us. As part of this, we will:
- Provide you with experienced mentor from the Department to help you develop your proposal, and to identify and apply for suitable funding schemes;
- Help you identify the resources you will need to carry out your proposal, and our Pre-Awards team will work with you to cost your applications;
- Offer you a bespoke support package including appropriate research space, access to facilities, and a funded PhD studentship (subject to approval).
We will support you for a minimum of one year, extendable by mutual agreement if needed.
Express your interest
To ensure the submission of high-quality proposals, it is crucial for interested applicants to express their interest and contact us well in advance of the funder deadlines. Early engagement allows us to provide tailored support and align your application with our funding schemes and departmental goals.
Applications will be reviewed at six-month intervals at the end of May and end of November, to align with major funding opportunities. To apply, please email a CV and an outlined research proposal (maximum of two A4 pages) to our fellowship management team.
Post-doctoral Fellowships
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships
The goal of the Individual Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of experienced researchers wishing to diversify their individual competence in terms of skill acquisition.
Fellowships take the form of European Fellowships or Global Fellowships. European Fellowships are held in EU Member States or Associated Countries and are open to researchers either coming to Europe from any country in the world or moving within Europe.
The researcher must comply with the rules of mobility in the country where the European Fellowship is held.
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship
This scheme - funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science - provides the opportunity for highly qualified young researchers to conduct cooperative research with leading research groups in universities and other Japanese institutions.
The scheme provides subsistence funding as well as a settling-in allowance, a return air ticket and insurance cover.
JSPS will provide funding for visits of 12-24 months.
Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships
Research Fellowships are open to experienced researchers, particularly those who are or have been prevented by routine duties from completing a programme of original research. Awards are not limited to those holding appointments in higher education.
Applications are subject to a university-wide selection process.
Newton International Fellowships
This scheme is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.
Royal Society Career Development Fellowship
The Career Development Fellowship (CDF) is a four-year, postdoctoral research fellowship that aims to support the retention in STEM of researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. Fellowships will provide funding to conduct high-quality research and a comprehensive programme of mentoring, training and networking opportunities to support award holders in establishing a successful research career in the UK.
BBSRC Fellowship
Apply for funding for three years to carry out independent research within a host laboratory and gain leadership skills. You must provide strong evidence of working towards this goal, demonstrating an upward trajectory to pursuing independent work within a host organisation. You must show high potential to become future research leaders.
For more information about the BBSRC Fellowships scheme please visit the following link:
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (the Academy) offers Research Fellowships each year to outstanding early-career researchers to support them to become future research leaders in engineering.
Note: applications are subject to a university-wide selection process.
For more information please visit the link below:
Tenure-track Fellowships
Royal Society University Research Fellowship
This scheme is for outstanding scientists who are in the early stages of their research career and have the potential to become leaders in their field. These long-term fellowships provide the opportunity and freedom to build an independent research career in the UK and pursue cutting edge scientific research.
Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship
This scheme is for outstanding scientists in the UK at an early stage of their research career who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances such as parenting or caring responsibilities or health issues.
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships
Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) support talented people in universities, businesses, and other research and innovation environments. They also allow universities, research institutes, independent research organisations and businesses to develop their most talented early career researchers and innovators or to attract new people to their organisations, including from overseas.
Note that UKFI FLF applications are subject to a university-wide selection process.
ERC Starting Grant
Researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal can apply.
Find out more about the ERC Starting Grant on their website.
Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellowships
The flagship Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Research Fellowships are aimed at outstanding scientists and engineers at an early stage in their academic careers. Fellows should show a high level of creativity and ambition in their ideas and want to develop potentially transformative research. We anticipate up to 10 of these prestigious Fellowships to be offered annually. Each Fellowship is for an initial 5-year period. The Fellowship is an excellent stepping stone to establishing an independent research career and gaining a full time permanent academic position.
The Fellowship is managed at Faculty level and applications are submitted via Jobtrain.