Grant Schemes for Early Career Researchers
Early career researchers are defined differently between funding bodies.
In the case of research grants, the focus is on the research project and usually a team of researchers coming together under a Principal Investigator (PI), although several of the schemes listed here are designed to give early career researchers their first opportunity to play a role in research leadership.
Please check your eligibility regarding the time since receiving your PhD.
AHRC Responsive Mode: Catalyst Award
Funding: Between £100,000 and £300,000 at 100% full economic costs (fEC). AHRC will fund 80% of the fEC.
Duration: Up to five years in duration
Purpose: AHRC will launch awards to support researchers without prior experience of leading a significant research project, with the aim of accelerating their trajectory as independent researchers and build leadership experience.
The awards will provide applicants with an opportunity to support their own skill development and the skill development of research staff employed on the award.
Eligibility: Eligibility is determined on the basis of funding history at point of submitting your application.
You cannot be a current or former project lead on AHRC or other UKRI research grants or fellowship grants at point of application, except:
- doctoral training awards (any)
- early career fellowships (any)
- AHRC Research Networking (or equivalent)
- AHRC Curiosity Awards
- AHRC Small Grants in the creative and performing arts
- AHRC Research Grants Practice Led and Applied
- institutional lead on a UKRI Impact Accelerator Award (IAA)
- researcher lead/recipient of an AHRC Impact Accelerator Award (IAA)
You cannot be a current or former project lead on research grants or fellowship grants from any other funder, with the exception of awards that reasonably meet the aims of the above list.
Deadline: 30 October 2024
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
AHRC Responsive Mode: Curiosity Awards
Funding: £100,000 at 100% full economic cost (fEC), AHRC will fund 80% of the fEC.
Duration: Up to five years.
Timetable: Application deadlines are four times a year: March, June, September and December.
Eligibility: AHRC welcomes applications from researchers across all career stages, from early career to established researchers. The project lead and any project co-leads must be employed and supported by an eligible organisation for at least the duration of the UKRI support; it is not a requirement that a contract be in place at the point of application submission. It is also not a requirement to have a permanent employment contract to apply for funding.
Purpose: Curiosity awards support early-stage ambitious and novel fundamental research which has the potential to act as a springboard towards new and exciting research agendas. The funding opportunity celebrates the full diversity of the arts and humanities. It is flexible, and applications are welcomed from teams, networks, and solo researchers.
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
British Academy Small Grants
Funding: Between £500–£10,000
Duration: Up to two years
Purpose: Applications can be for funding of individual or collaborative research projects but not exclusively for conference organisation or attendance. This scheme supports the cost of the expenses arising from a defined research project.
Eligibility: You need to have completed your PhD but do not need to be presently in employment at a University.
Deadline: There are two rounds each year with deadlines in early April and early November. The next deadline is 06 November 2024.
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
ESRC Responsive Mode: New Investigator Grants
This scheme operates under a Cambridge internal selection with three internal deadlines in early April, end of June and early December. Calls for expressions of interest will be circulated through departments and faculties.
Funding: Up to £300,000 at 100% full economic costs.
Duration: Grants for a maximum of between 3-5 years (5 years grants need a clear justification of the timeframe). The funding allows for about 2.5 years of full- time employment. Please consult your RGA for details, as the figures change depending on your career stage and time commitment.
Purpose: Your proposal can cover anything from a standard research project through to a large-scale survey, research methodology or infrastructure development (such as the compilation, classification and cataloguing of data). For infrastructure applications you should clearly outline the value for a broad community of researchers or wider audiences.
Applications can be for ‘blue sky’, strategic or applied research. Proposals are assessed for their originality, contribution to knowledge; research design and methods; value for money; outputs, dissemination and impact. Consider also the appropriateness of your mentor, career and skills development and, where appropriate, mobility plan.
Eligibility: Applicants should not have more than four years of post-doctoral experience (career breaks including maternity and paternity leave or pro-rata work can be deducted). Applicants can apply from anywhere in the world but need the agreement of a UK university to host them. Applicants cannot have been previously PIs on an ESRC or other UK Research Council grant. Please check the eligibility criteria BEFORE applying as these may have changed in the meantime.
Applicants need to find a potential mentor at the University (not normally your former PhD supervisor) who commits between 1 and 3 hours per week to supporting the PI in leading the project. The relevant host department needs to approve your application from the outset. For interdisciplinary projects, a Co-Investigator from another discipline is desirable.
Deadline: no deadlines at ESRC; assessment is three times per year in March, July and November with 10-12 awards at each round; please be aware of certain rounds being more competitive than others therefore.
Number of awards: ESRC aims to make around 30-35 awards per annum.
Please contact ESRCNewInv@admin.cam.ac.uk for the current timetable and a link to the internal application system.
ESRC Responsive Mode: Secondary Data Analysis Grants
Funding: Grants between £15k-£300k, funded at 80% full economic costs
Duration: Up to 24 months
Purpose: ESRC welcomes proposals that aim to exploit secondary data from a range of UK and international data resources funded by ESRC and by other agencies. Applicants are required to use at least one ESRC-funded data resource. No primary data collection but data linkage is allowed. ESRC strongly encourages non-academic collaboration and expects research to aim at non-academic impact.
ESRC strongly encourages applications that include a named early career researcher as principal investigator or co-investigator and/or applications that seek to use one or more ESRC funded data resources.
Eligibility: Applicants cannot have more than four years of post-doctoral experience; no present UK university affiliation is required but need agreement of a UK university to host applicant.
Number of awards: ESRC aims to make around 10–15 awards.
Deadline: Open Call
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
ESRC Responsive Mode: Research Grants
Funding: Grants range from £350,000 to £1 million, funded at 80% full economic costs (fEC).
Duration: Up to five years.
Purpose: At the time of application, applicant PIs must either have a contract of employment with their research organisation in place for the duration of the award, or an assurance from the submitting institution that, if the proposal is successful, a contract of employment will be given that covers the period of the award plus an additional 3-6 months.
Eligibility: This scheme lends itself for un-established researchers particularly to apply as co-investigator or postdocs.
Deadline: Applications may be submitted at any time – allowing time for processing. The majority of decisions are announced within 26 weeks of submission.
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
ERC Starting Grant
Funding: Up to €1.5million (with an additional €500,000 available for certain circumstances as a one-off cost).
Duration: Up to five years.
Purpose: ERC Starting Grants are designed to support outstanding early-career researchers in all disciplines who are beginning to create their own independent research team or programme. The aim is to fund projects carried out by individual teams which are headed by a single Principal Investigator (PI) and, as necessary, include additional team-members. The constitution of the research team is flexible.
A competitive Starting Grant Principal Investigator must have already shown the potential for research independence. For example, it is expected that applicants will have produced at least one important publication without the participation of their PhD supervisor. Applicants should also be able to demonstrate a promising track-record of early achievements appropriate to their research field and career stage, including significant publications (as main author) in major international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journals, or in the leading international peer-reviewed journals of their respective field. They may also demonstrate a record of invited presentations in well-established international conferences, granted patents, awards, prizes etc.
Eligibility: Candidates can be any age and of any nationality, though must have obtained their PhD more than two years but less than seven years before the 1st January of the Work Programme year. For researchers who are seven-twelve years post-PhD, the ERC runs the Consolidator Grant scheme.
Deadline: 15 October 2024
Contact Elizabeth Penner for more information.
Wellcome Trust Early Career Award
Funding: Up to £400,000
Duration: Up to five years
Purpose: This scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity. Through innovative projects, they will deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing. By the end of the award, they will be ready to lead their own independent research programme.
Eligibility: At the point you submit your application, you must have completed a substantive period of research training relevant to your discipline. You must have completed a PhD or an equivalent higher research degree or at least four years' equivalent research experience (for example, in the humanities and social sciences).
You may also have some postdoctoral experience in your proposed field of study, but no more than three years unless you can demonstrate how other factors have impacted on your research career.
Deadline: There are three rounds a year in February, May and October. Next deadline is 01 October 2024.
Contact Anna Cieslik for more information.
