Externally funded fellowships

Round 11 of the UKRI FLF scheme has been recently pre-announced.

It is aimed at early career researchers and innovators who are looking to establish or transition to independence across UKRI’s remit, which includes theoretical physics and mathematics.

There is no minimum or maximum award value and your project can last for up to four years, with the option to apply to renew for a further three years. We recommend reading further details, including the full UKRI-published eligibility and scheme guidance notes before getting in touch.

We would be delighted to hear from interested candidates who wish to be considered towards our University's quota for Round 11.

Please contact the Centre for Mathematics and Theoretical Physics Reseach Director, Charles Young, or Deputy Director Severin Bunk, and our School's Associate Dean of Research (ADR), Prof. Pandelis Kourtessis, as soon as possible to discuss your suitability for the scheme and support in principle. The UH Research Office can suppy the EOI form (incl a Resume for Research and Innovation CV) that you must submit to the ADR above by noon on March 4 2026 to be eligible for our University-wide internal application sift.

In addition all interested applicants must attend a mandatory information session providing an overview of the Future Leaders Fellowship scheme and selection/ application process at UH with Q&A - on either January 28 or February 5 2026 - please contact the UH Research Office to book a place.

The outcome of the sift will be available thereafter, with full applications from our University quota-selected candidates due 16 June 2026 (funder deadline).

EPSRC has temporarily suspended its fellowship funding; for details and alternative UKRI funding see EPSRC fellowships

Full details of all Royal Society fellowship schemes can be found on their website; the URF is aimed at outstanding early-career researchers with between 3 and 8 years' postdoctoral experience.

The URF scheme typically opens in mid-July. You will need support from UH for your application, so if you are elegible and interested you should contact Director of the centre for MTP research at that time. No quota is applied by the Royal Society.

Full details of the scheme can be found at the Marie Curie Actions website. Please contact members in your area of research well ahead of the deadline to discuss: these fellowships need a good deal of work to prepare for so don't leave it till the last minute.

We particularly welcome applications for this fellowship. Applicants "must be able to demonstrate a current need for flexible support due to personal circumstances at the time of application. This can include current parenting or caring responsibilities (such as raising children or looking after ageing or seriously ill family members), clinically diagnosed health issues or other personal circumstances that create a need for a flexible working pattern". Please contact us to discuss applications for these fellowships.

These fellowships are aimed at scientists "who have had a career break of 2 or more years for family, caring or health reasons and wish to return to research". You can apply for a Daphne Jackson fellowship at any time. With STFC support, these fellowships usually provide two years of part-time work and one year of full-time support. Contact us if interested.

These fellowships, aimed at researchers 4 years or less from their PhD, require the University to provide half the fellow's salary. It is therefore very important that you contact us early to see whether the necessary funds can be found.

Full details of the Leverhulme research fellowship can be found at the Leverhulme website.

A quota for applications for each UK university is applied by STFC. If you wish to apply to hold one of these hosted at the University of Hertfordshire starting in 2026, please see the STFC Website for more information on the scheme and the application process. We will select the applicants to support by an internal evaluation process -- to be considered you should identify a contact person at UH and work with them to prepare draft application materials (in particular the science case for support, but also the CV and publication list required by STFC).