UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships

• To develop, retain, attract and sustain research and innovation talent in the UK.
• To foster new research and innovation career paths including those at the academic/business and interdisciplinary boundaries, and facilitate movement of people between sectors.
• To provide sustained funding and resources for the best early career researchers and innovators.
• To provide long-term, flexible funding to tackle difficult and novel challenges, and support adventurous, ambitious programmes.

• Substantial investment over four years, with the ability to extend to up to seven years, will enable the next generation of researcher and innovators to benefit from outstanding support to develop their careers, and to work on difficult and novel challenges.
• The FLF scheme has funded fellowships from £300,000 to over £2m, and there is no preference for lower or higher cost proposals.
• This includes support for applicants from diverse career paths, including those returning from a career break or following time in other roles.
• The support offered is long-term and flexible, with seven years of support available on a 4 (+3) model.

UWS will offer substantial additional support to successful applicants, including:

• Funding to recruit a full-time PhD student
• Mentoring and Support from Faculty and Professional Services e.g. bid writing support.

These fellowships are for early career academics and innovators who are transitioning to or establishing independence.

Applicants are expected to hold a doctorate by the start date of the fellowship OR to be able to demonstrate equivalent research/innovation experience and/or training.

There are no eligibility rules based on years since PhD or whether the applicant currently holds a permanent/open-ended academic position or job role. However, individuals who currently hold a permanent position should:

• show that their current position does not demonstrate that they have achieved research/innovation independence and thought leadership
• provide a clear rationale why a Future Leaders Fellowship would be different to their current role
• clearly state that all their working time costed to the fellowship would be dedicated to that fellowship to focus on research/innovation, shielded from other professional commitments
• demonstrate that a Future Leaders Fellowship would be the best way to support their long-term career goals and chosen career route. Applicants who have already achieved research/innovation independence (for example, by securing funding aimed at this career stage) will not be competitive. Senior academics and innovators are not permitted to apply.

First, please complete an Expression of Interest at https://forms.office.com/e/Spc6rmEyfe.

We also request that you complete an EDI monitoring form at https://forms.office.com/e/myvKGLjGSh. The information provided on the EDI monitoring form is anonymous (use Incognito/Private browsing tab) and will not be used for selection purposes.

Completed Expression of Interest forms will be sent to the appropriate Dean of School within UWS. Information on UWS Schools can be found at https://www.uws.ac.uk/about-uws/academic-schools/. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a proposal to UWS for consideration. UWS is limited to two submissions to Future Leaders Fellowship Round 10, so an internal selection process will be held to decide the UWS hosted proposals to be submitted to UKRI. Note that an invitation to submit a proposal for consideration does not guarantee that your proposal will be approved for submission to UKRI.

The closing date for submission of Expressions of Interest is 19th March 2025 and you will be notified of the outcome within one week.

Expressions of Interest are welcome from anyone whose research interests fit within the remit of UKRI. In practice, this means any Early Career Researcher can apply.

However, the FLF scheme is very competitive and as such, applicants MUST have an outstanding track record relative to their level of experience. Your accomplishments should therefore be beyond the level normally expected of someone of your career stage.