The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships are three-year Fellowship awards made to an annual cohort of outstanding Early Career Scholars

The aim of the British Academy in making these awards is to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in a university environment which will develop their curriculum vitae and improve their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts by the end of the Fellowship. The primary emphasis is on completion of a significant piece of publishable research, which will be assisted by full membership of an academic community of established scholars working in similar fields.

Scheme Timetable - Postdoctoral Fellowships Outline Stage 2016/17

Scheme Opens - 24 August 2016

Deadline for Applicants - 5 October 2016

Deadline for Institutional Approval - 6 October 2016

Deadline for Referees - 13 October 2016

Result of Outline Stage Announcement - January 2017

Eligibility 

• Applicants must be supported by the UK host institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship
• Applicants must be within three years of the award of a doctorate (for the 2016-17 competition this means either already having been awarded a doctoral degree following a viva voce examination held on or after 1 April 2014; or having a reasonable expectation that they will have submitted and had their thesis examined by 1 April 2017)
• Applicants in the 2016-17 competition awarded a PhD following a viva voce examination held prior to 1 April 2014 who are unable to offer extenuating circumstances, such as interruption to their academic career for maternity leave or illness, will not be considered
• Applicants must be a UK or EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university. Any applicant who does not fall into one of these categories must demonstrate a strong prior association with the UK academic community, for example through already having been employed in a temporary capacity (longer than twelve months) at a UK university

Number of Awards  

Up to 45 awards are expected to be offered

Duration of Award  

Awards are for 3 years      

Funding 

Awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing basis. There is no fixed amount awarded for the Fellowships and the value of award will vary depending on the host institution. Awards cover the salary of the Postdoctoral Fellow to work full-time on the Fellowship, small-scale research expenses (up to a maximum of £6,000), costs towards the time of a mentor (equivalent to one hour per month for the 36 months of the Fellowship) and the host institution's estates and indirect costs.  

Referee 

Applicants must be supported by one self-nominated referee. The referee should normally be the external examiner or, if not available, someone else who is as external to the applicant as possible