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Politics and International Studies

Postdoctoral Funding

PAIS is the place to build your career, having been ranked No. 1 for research environment for the second successive REF.

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All rankings taken from The Research Professional News 2021 and Times Higher Education REF 2021 rankings

Please note that anyone interested in applying for early career funding through PAIS should:

  1. Contact a member of academic staff and secure their agreement to act as project mentor. Without a suitable mentor PAIS will not be able to support the application.
  2. Get in touch with the PAIS Head of Department (Matthew Clayton) and the Head of Administration (Rachel Canty). It is imperative that both the Head of Department and Head of Administration are consulted from the outset because the department has financial limits on the number of applications that can be put forward.

    Information on Postdoctoral Funding and Other Opportunities

    ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships Midlands Graduate Centre

    These fellowships are aimed at those in the very early postdoctoral stage of their career, to provide the opportunity to consolidate their PhD through developing publications, networks, and research and professional skills. Applicants must have no more than 12 months of active postdoctoral experience by the closing date of the call. Please contact the PAIS early career research coordinator, Christopher Browning, for expressions of interest and see the Midlands Graduate School ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship for further details.

    The Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP invites applications each year for ESRC funded Postdoctoral Fellowships to be based at one of their partner institutions, which includes the University of Warwick. The call for October 2025 entry is now open. Please click here for all details. The key deadlines are:

    1. Wednesday 15th January 2025 (23:59 GMT)- Applicants must have submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) form via this webpageLink opens in a new window and confirmed support from their host department.

    2. Monday 3rd March (10:00 GMT)- Latest date for draft proposals to be submitted to the assigned contact in Research and Impact Services (RIS) for review. This includes a first draft of the Postdoctoral Fellowship application (the short sections on the application form and Case for Support), an outline of the activities you wish to be costed into the application, and details of the agreed mentor  Reviewed proposals will be returned to you by 11th March.

    3. Wednesday 19th March 2025 (12:00 GMT)- Latest date for final proposals including all costings to be submitted to the assigned contact in RIS for final checks and approvals.

    4. 25th March 2025 (16:00 GMT)- Applicants are then required to submit their completed proposal to the ESRC

    ESRC New Investigator Grants

    New Investigator Grants are specifically aimed at supporting those looking to make the transition to an independent researcher through managing their first major research project. These grants replace the ESRC's Future Research Leaders scheme. The call is open to high-quality candidates from anywhere in the world who have a maximum of four years’ postdoctoral experience and the support of an eligible UK research organisation. Grants ranging from £100,000 to £300,000 full Economic Cost (fEC) can be awarded. There are no fixed closing deadlines, meaning a proposal can be submitted at any time. If you are interested in applying to this award, please do first secure a PAIS mentor and get in touch with Matthew Clayton, PAIS Head of Department, and Rachel Canty, PAIS Head of Administration to let them know of your application. You can also contact PAIS Early Career Coordinator Christopher Browning for expressions of interest. See the ESRC New Investigator page Link opens in a new windowfor details.

    EUTOIPIA-SIF Postdoctoral Fellowships

    The fourth call for EUTOPIA SIF Fellowships is Open from 14th September 2023! The deadline for applications is on 14th December 2023.

    For full details of the call and the application process see the EUTOPIA SIF WebsiteLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window

    • The IAS at Warwick will offer up to four fellowships in the third call.
    • Fellows will be based in the IAS but will also need an academic mentor based in one of the academic departments or centres at Warwick.
    • A support letter from the academic mentor is required in the application as part of the eligibility criteria. Applications without a valid support letter will not be eligible.
    • The IAS is not able to broker connections between applicants and prospective academic mentors. Applicants are strongly advised to contact potential mentors directly to discuss their application. There is also an option to use the Pre-Application Stage described in the Guide For Applicants but please note this does not guarantee any pairing with a host academic mentor.
    • Further information is available in the Frequently Asked Questions or by emailing the IAS.
    • For more information about the fourth call for the EUTOPIA SIF Fellowships please see the Short Guide 

    Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (ECF)

    Update 01/11/24: Following a University-level decision, we are unable to support Leverhulme applications this year. We hope this decision will be rescinded for 2025.

    These Fellowships provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure. The closing date for entry is 22 February 2024. The University of Warwick runs a centralised process to select a limited number of candidates (three candidates from PAIS). This is a two-stage process, firstly PAIS runs its own internal selection process with a deadline of 2 December 2024. In order to be considered for selection by the Department, you will need to submit the following to PAIS Early Career Coordinator Christopher Browning by the December cut-off date:

      1. A proposal of 2 sides, excluding bibliography - to include a statement of proposed research, how the project moves your research on, and some mention of how your work fits with PAIS/your mentor's. Please see here for guidance on the scheme.
      2. An academic CV (2 sides).
      3. A brief email from a suitably qualified mentor in the department who is prepared to support your application.
    British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships

    The British Academy's Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme funds outstanding early career researchers in undertaking a major (3 year) research project that both strengthens their experience of research and teaching in a university environment with the aim of improving their prospects of obtaining permanent lecturing posts at the end of the project.

    The British Academy deadline for this scheme, which is a two stage competitive process, is 2 October 2024. PAIS run an internal selection process for this award scheme, which takes place in September. In order to be considered for selection by the Department, you will need to submit the following to Vicki Squire (Director of Research) and Christopher Browning (Postdoctoral Co-ordinator) by Friday 6 September. The PAIS Early Career Research/Post-Doctoral Funding committee will review these documents in the week commencing 9 September and provide the results by Friday 13 September:

    1. A proposal of 2 sides, excluding bibliography - to include a statement of proposed research, how the project moves your research on, and some mention of how your work fits with PAIS/your mentor's.
    2. An academic CV (2 sides).
    3. A brief email from a suitably qualified mentor in the department who is prepared to support your application.

    Please contact the PAIS Early Career Coordinator, Christopher Browning, for details.

    Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships

    Marie Skłodowska-Curie PostdoctoralFellowships are designed to support researchers’ careers and foster excellence in research. The Postdoctoral Fellowships action targets researchers holding a PhD who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. PFs help researchers gain experience in other countries, disciplines and non-academic sectors. Expressions of interest in these schemes from potential applicants are welcome and should be sent to the post-doctoral co-ordinator. Before making contact potential applicants should check their eligibility for the schemes by going to this website. They should also familiarise themselves with the scheme requirements. Finally, it is imperative that potential applicants make meaningful contact with an existing member of academic staff with whom they wish to develop their application.

    There are 2 types of Postdoctoral Fellowships:

    1. European Postdoctoral Fellowships. They are open to researchers moving within Europe or coming to Europe from another part of the world to pursue their research career. These fellowships take place in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country and can last between 1 and 2 years. Researchers of any nationality can apply.
    2. Global Postdoctoral Fellowships. They fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe. The fellowship lasts between 2 to 3 years, of which the first 1 to 2 years will be spent in a non-associated Third Country, followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country. Only nationals or long-term residents of the EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries can apply.

    For further information see the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships Link opens in a new windowpage.

    Warwick University Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) Early Career Fellowship

    The Warwick University Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) Early Career FellowshipLink opens in a new window scheme is now open.

    Newton International Fellowships

    This fellowship is for non-UK scientists who are at an early stage of their research career and wish to conduct research in the UK.

    To be eligible to apply you must:

    • have a PhD, or will have a PhD by the time the funding starts
    • have no more than seven years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application
    • be working outside the UK
    • not hold UK citizenship
    • be competent in oral and written English

    Please note that from the 2023 round, the Newton International Fellowship have moved to a Full Economic Cost model. For researchers at higher education institutions and UK Research Council supported Research Institutes, the Royal Society will provide funding at 80% of the FEC for Directly Incurred staff costs, Directly Allocated costs and Indirect costs. The Society will fund Independent Research Organisations at 100% Direct costs and up to 25% of Direct costs as a contribution to Overheads. For more details please see the Newton International Fellowships page.

    UKRI Policy Internship Scheme

    This scheme provides opportunities for doctoral students funded by the Research Councils of UKRI to work for three months in one of a selected group of highly influential policy organisations. For further information see here Link opens in a new window.

    ESRC IAA Postdoctoral Impact Fellowship

    As part of its activities, the Warwick ESRC IAA is funding up to six postdoctoral fellowships to support students at the conclusion of their PhD to explore how their research could be applied to the needs and challenges of organisations across different sectors, and to develop plans and programmes of activity to put this into practice.

    Examples of fundable activities fellows might undertake could include (but are not restricted to):

    • The creation of resources to engage specific stakeholders with research and/or to improve their capacity to effectively utilise research
    • Collaborative activities for or with key stakeholders such as workshops, training programmes, or behaviour-change interventions
    • Knowledge exchange events with non-academic stakeholders
    • Activities to inform policy or to engage policymakers with research findings
    • Activities to improve or strengthen research-user engagement
    • Proof of concept and commercialisation activities

    Applicants are encouraged to consider how the fellowship would enable them to utilise their PhD research to respond to clearly identified needs of specific non-academic stakeholders. Non-academic partners or stakeholders might include (but are not limited to): policymakers; businesses and social enterprises; third sector organisations; schools, teachers, their students and communities; service providers and practitioners; community groups; creative practitioners; NGOs and advocacy groups.

    Projects concerned with innovating or creating change in the following areas are particularly encouraged:

    • Policy engagement - particularly that which aligns with University and UKRI/ESRC priorities
    • Work looking to support regional growth and development or ‘levelling-up’

    For further information about this scheme – including award details and eligibility criteria - please visit the webpage. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Social Sciences Impact Team to discuss their proposals. Email us on ESRCImpactAccount@warwick.ac.uk with any questions.

     Please note that this opportunity is going to be launched more formally in January, including information webinars for prospective applicants and their supervisors. The deadline for applications for the 2024/25 cohort (September 2024 start) is 22 March 2024.