Information for Postdoctoral Fellowship Applicants

*Please note that British Academy are yet to confirm details for the 2024 round, so some details may need to change*

• Deadline for initial expression of interest and mentor statement: TBC
• Notification to the successful applicants who will submit with HCA: TBC 
• ​​Funder deadline: TBC

This three-year fellowship is open to early career researchers who work outside the UK and do not hold UK citizenship.

Applicants are expected to have discussed their application with their mentor in HCA before the first deadline.  For the initial expression of interest deadline, applicants are asked to send a brief outline of their research proposal (which should be no more than 400 words) and their CV to hca-research@ed.ac.uk. HCA mentors are also expected to provide a supporting statement to the same address by this date.  

Details about last year's round can be found on the BA International Fellowship website.

• Webinar about the scheme: TBC
• Deadline for initial applications to HCA Research Office: TBC 
• Funder deadline: TBC

Before you submit the initial application, you should already have identified and discussed your application with an academic mentor within the School.  You should send your CV (2 pages maximum) and a brief outline of your proposal (maximum 800 words) to hca-research@ed.ac.uk by 17 June 2024. The research proposal should explain the choice of HCA as the host venue and focus in particular on 1.1 of the application:

1.1 Quality and pertinence of the project’s research and innovation objectives (and the extent to which they are ambitious, and go beyond the state of the art)

This is an international mobility fellowship, and researchers of any nationality can apply as long as they have spent less than twelve months in the UK in the three years prior to their application. Research proposals are assessed on the basis of academic excellence, and as the pool of potential applicants is so large, standards are very high.  For further information, and to check the eligibility criteria, please see the funder's website. 

• Deadline for initial expression of interest to HCA Research Office: TBC 
• ​​Funder deadline: TBC

Applications for this scheme go through a shortlisting process within HCA.  You should have discussed your application with a mentor in HCA before the initial deadline on 1 August. For the initial deadline, you should send your CV (no more than 2 pages, including a select bibliography) and a brief summary of your research proposal to hca-research@ed.ac.uk.  The research proposal at this initial stage should ideally be a couple of paragraphs (maximum 800 words). A budget is not required for this initial deadline.   

Applicants should be UK or EEA nationals or have a PhD from a UK university. The main selection criteria is academic excellence. For further information and to check the eligibility criteria, please see the British Academy's website. 

Applications for Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships open in January 2025, but our internal process begins in November 2024.

• Deadline for initial applications to HCA Research Office: 11 November 2024
• Notification to the successful applicants who will submit with HCA: By 6 December 2024
• Funder deadline: 20 February 2025

Applications for this scheme go through a shortlisting process within HCA. For this initial stage, you should submit a research proposal and a CV that includes publications.  You should also send us contact details of a referee (who is external to the School) who the research office will contact once we have received your application.  The proposal and the CV should each be a maximum of 2 pages A4. The two-page research proposal should include:

• A detailed statement of the proposed research;
• Research relevant to the proposal being carried out in the host department; and
• Additional reasons for selecting the proposed host department and institution.

The proposal and CV should also both adhere to Leverhulme’s guidelines on formatting: Arial font size 11; margins no smaller than 2cm; and line spacing no smaller than a single line. For eligibility criteria and further information about the scheme, please check Leverhulme's website. For more information about the initial application, please contact our Research Office.