Postdoctoral Fellowships

Each year the Leverhulme Trust holds a competition to award Early Career Fellowships to researchers within 4 years of PhD examination, to enable them to undertake a significant piece of publishable work. Fellowships are tenable for 3 years on a full-time basis, with Leverhulme contributing 50% of each Fellow’s total salary up to a maximum of £28,000 per annum, with the host institution expected to support the remaining 50% of the salary. Leverhulme also contribute an additional £6,000 per annum of research expenses if requested.

Eligibility: Applicants must not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK institution, nor may Fellows hold such a post concurrently with the Early Career Fellowship. The Trust will consider applications from candidates whose permanent post does not include any research. Applicants who have existing funding in place for a duration equivalent to or greater than the duration of the Early Career Fellowship should not apply.

Applicants must hold a doctorate by the time they take up the Fellowship. Those who are or have been registered for a doctorate may apply only if they have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination by 4pm on the closing date of 20 February 2025. Applicants must be within 4 years of their PhD examination– hence those who formally submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination before 20 February 2021 are not eligible unless they have since had a career break (maternity leave, family commitments, illness, or other exceptional circumstances).

For full eligibility details please refer to Leverhulme Trust’s website. Applicants should make sure they are eligible to apply to this scheme prior to an application being made to the School.

Submitting an Application: Please check the Leverhulme page for detailed information on eligibility and application process www.leverhulme.ac.uk/early-career-fellowships

The University holds an internal selection process for the Leverhulme competition. 

Applicants must email the following documents to Laura Elliott (Laura.Elliott@newcastle.ac.uk) by 5pm on Wednesday 20 November 2024.

1. A summary of the research project (2 sides of A4 maximum). Please include details of your methodology, timetable and proposed output(s). The summary should take particular note of the following guidance: 'The objective is for Fellows to undertake a significant piece of publishable research during the tenure of the award, and the project put forward should therefore not be a reworking or mere extension of the candidate’s doctoral research project.' The project should also be able to demonstrate strong intellectual fit in terms of our School’s research profile and that of our Faculty more broadly. You should identify an appropriate mentor in our School with whom you’ve spoken in advance: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/research/

2. A CV, including publications, of no more than 2 sides of A4

We expect that applicants will be notified of the outcome of the School competition in the week commencing Monday 9 December 2024.

Please direct any queries to the School’s Director of Research, Anne Whitehead (anne.whitehead@newcastle.ac.uk). 

The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship offers outstanding early career researchers the opportunity to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in an academic environment. This scheme aims to help develop the award holder’s curriculum vitae and boost their prospects of obtaining a permanent academic post. The primary emphasis is on the completion of a significant piece of publishable research, and the integration of the award holder into the community of established scholars within their field.

The Fellowship is tenable for three years, starting Autumn 2024 in a UK-based university or higher education institution. Candidates can only apply once to this scheme. If you have previously applied and failed to reach the second stage you are not eligible to re-apply.

Applicants should make sure they are eligible to apply to this scheme prior to an application being made to the School. For full eligibility details please refer to the BA Website.

We are not currently accepting Expressions of Interest for this scheme. 

The NINE DTP (Northern Ireland and the North East) Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme is designed for early career researchers who have had their viva (and either passed or passed with minor revisions) no later than 25 March 2025. They also may have had no more than 12 months of postdoctoral research experience, measured from the applicant’s viva voce pass date to the application deadline of 25 March 2025. This opportunity will support scholars wishing to consolidate their PhD through developing publications, expanding networks, and enhancing their research and professional skills.

This is a one-year (or two-years part-time) fellowship. A key component of the scheme is the opportunity to be mentored by a permanent member of staff working in language and linguistics at Newcastle (for details, see: https://www.ninedtp.ac.uk/linguistics/).

Please contact your proposed mentor well in advance of the application deadline. The mentor will work closely with you on the application proposal, and the School’s Director of Research in Linguistics (heike.pichler@ncl.ac.uk) will also provide support. For these reasons, we have an internal deadline that is earlier than the NINE deadline. For submissions in 2025, we require that the applicant submit their completed application to SELLL by February 17, 2025.

Submitting an Application: Applicants must have received their PhD from a UK Research Organisation. Please check the NINE website for detailed information on eligibility and the application process: https://www.ninedtp.ac.uk/postdoctoral-fellowship-scheme/