Postdoctoral Fellowships

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2025-26

The English Department is inviting applications from outstanding scholars for the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowships. The Academy’s webpage British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships provides full details of the application procedure. During their tenure, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellows are expected to complete a significant piece of publishable research. 

Applicants must:

• be supported by the host UK university or research institution in which they wish to hold the Fellowship;
• be within three years of the award of a doctorate, i.e. are expected to have completed their viva voce between 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2026. Applicants awarded a PhD before 1 April 2023 can apply given extenuating circumstances that occurred after the viva, e.g. maternity leave, care commitments, illness, etc.  If, for any reason, your viva happens after 1 April 2026, your application must be withdrawn.
• be a UK or EEA national or have completed a doctorate at a UK university, or be able to demonstrate in some other way that they have a strong association of some kind with the UK academic community;
• not hold, or previously have held, a permanent academic post at a higher education institution;
• be aware that they may only apply once in the three years they are eligible, i.e. those who are unsuccessful at the outline stage may not reapply. Those who make it to the second stage but are not ultimately funded may reapply if they are still in their period of eligibility.  

Applicants should contact a member of academic staff to discuss their proposed project and the possibility of applying through the Department, This member of staff will, if both parties agree, act as the applicant’s mentor.

With support from your proposed mentor, please complete a project outline on the British Academy’s online application site and, without submitting it, send it as a PDF to Stephen Cadywold, Department Manager by Wednesday 13 August 2025 for consideration by the Head of Department and the Chair of the English Research Committee.

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships 2025-26

We welcome applications for the Leverhulme Trust’s Early Career Fellowship funding round. 

Prospective applicants should note the information on the scheme, eligibility criteria and the application process provided on the faculty’s Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships webpage.

We recommend applicants then take a look at the list of our academic staff and identify the person who would be the most suitable mentor for the project.  

Applicants should contact the prospective mentor directly by email with their CV and research proposal.

Applicants are requested to submit their application, using the form below, to the Department Manager, Stephen Cadywold, s.cadywold@ucl.ac.uk, by Friday, 24 October 2025, 5pm:

A departmental panel chaired by the Head of Department will consider applications and forward those shortlisted for review by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.  

Applicants will be informed of the Faculty’s decision by a date to be confirmed in December 2025.