Research Fellowship Opportunities
This page provides information about research fellowship opportunities.
Finding Fellowship Funding
As a researcher, the opportunities to apply for your own research funding can seem limited, however, they do exist and in most cases provide an excellent opportunity for you to either begin to establish your career as an independent researcher or allow you to dedicate time and resources to a specific research project.
Common fellowship funders are the research councils, government departments and agencies, learned societies and some of big charitable trusts including Leverhulme and the Royal Society. These organisations usually have very specific funding streams and well defined eligibility criteria. Fellowship opportunities can be broadly grouped as follows:
- small grants for new researchers having recently completed their PhD;
- fellowships for mid career researchers wanting to establish their first research team;
- fellowships for senior researchers wanting time to dedicate time to a specific research project or publication of results;
- travel bursaries to fund travel to conferences, etc.;
- visiting fellowships to promote national or international collaboration.
Tips for Identifying Fellowship Funding
There are a variety of ways in which you can identify fellowship funding opportunities which suit your circumstances:
- www.researchresearch.com is an online subscription resource outlining research funding opportunities. The University of Stirling is a member.
- The Research Councils UK (RCUK) provides a list of links to research council websites: http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/default.htm where you can find full details of their fellowship programmes.
- Speak to colleagues in your department to find out about funding opportunities in your discipline.
- Scan newspapers and subject-related magazines and journals.
- Register with notification services and alerts relevant to your subject area.
- Talk to your departmental Business Development Manager in the Research and Enterprise Office.