Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities

Current Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities at UCL SSEES.

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ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship: UBEL DTP

The UCL, Bloomsbury and East London DTP invites applications for five postdoctoral fellowships to be based within departments at the six partner institutions of the UBEL DTP.

The grants provide funding for up to nine months full-time, or up to 18 months part-time, to give fellows time to prepare for a successful career in research either within or beyond academia. This will include consolidating the PhD through developing publications, networks, and research and professional skills. Fellowships do not support new research.

Applicants must have had their PhD awarded by a UK higher education institute by 1 October 2026 and have had no more than 15 months of postdoctoral research experience by 1 June 2026. Fellowships must start 1 October 2026.

Interested applicants must contact Dr Jakub Beneš (SSEES Head of Research) to discuss their application and departmental support.

Application process:

  • Pre-registration completed – 18 May
  • Full application deadline – 1 June

Further details

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships are provided to excellent researchers, undertaking international mobility either to, or between, EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries, as well as to non-associated Third Countries.

The goal of MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships will be open to excellent researchers of any nationality.

Through the implementation of an original and personalised research project, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships aim to foster excellence through training and mobility and to equip researchers with new skills and competences in order to identify solutions to current and future challenges. Postdoctoral researchers are encouraged to engage with society at large to make the results of their research visible to citizens and to involve citizens, civil society and end-users in co-creation of research content when relevant.

Applications are made jointly by the researcher and a beneficiary in the academic or non-academic sector.

Application process

It is essential that applicants make contact in advance with a relevant member of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies academic staff who should agree to be their mentor and jointly complete their draft application, using the templates for this year’s competition, available via the EC Funding & Tenders website. Applicants will be required to confirm their own eligibility, in terms of research experience and mobility, following the criteria set out there. Mentors will be required to provide a statement of support for the application by 3 July 2026. 

Completed applications (PDF download from the EC submissions system) should be submitted by email to Dr Jakub Beneš (Head of Research) (j.benes@ucl.ac.uk), by the internal deadline and to whom any queries may be addressed. Applications should not be submitted in the online system at this stage. 

Deadlines

  • UCL SSEES deadline: 3 July 2026
  • MSCA-PF-2026 deadline: 9 September 2026

Further details

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British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship

The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship offers outstanding early career researchers the opportunity to strengthen their experience of research and teaching in an academic environment. This scheme aims to help develop the award holder’s curriculum vitae and boost their prospects of obtaining a permanent academic post. The primary emphasis is on the completion of a significant piece of publishable research, and the integration of the award holder into the community of established scholars within their field.

The scheme provides funding to cover the costs of a 36-month fellowship at a UK host institution. Applicants must be within three years from the date of their successful viva voce examination. 

The deadline for outline applications is 30 September 2026. Please note, if supported by SSEES, your application will need to be ready for submission before the final funder deadline to allow for internal approval processes.

Applicants must be either a UK/EEA national, or have completed a doctorate at a UK university. Applicants who do not fall into one of these categories must demonstrate a ‘strong prior association’ with the UK academic community.  Full eligibility criteria are given on the British Academy website - applicants are required to confirm their own eligibility to apply to the scheme.

Application process

For the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, applicants must complete the attached application form, based on the online application form in Flexi-Grant, alongside a CV (max 2 pages, A4), which should be emailed to the Senior Research Coordinator at ssees.operations@ucl.ac.uk by the internal deadline

Prospective applicants are required to identify a suitable mentor in SSEES and work together with them on the application. Late or incomplete applications, or those without the agreed support of a mentor, will not be considered.

Deadlines

  • UCL SSEES deadline: 31 July 2026
  • British Academy deadline, including Referee Statement & Institutional Approval: 30 September 2026

Any queries may be directed to SSEES Operations (ssees.operations@ucl.ac.uk) or Dr Jakub Beneš (Head of Research) (j.benes@ucl.ac.uk)

Further Details

The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship

This fellowship is for early career researchers, with a research record but who have not yet held a full-time permanent academic post, to undertake a significant piece of publishable work. 

The Trust places special weight on: 

  • Originality: the research achieves more than the incremental development of a single discipline
  • Importance: the work will enable further research or enquiry
  • Significance: the proposed research has relevance outside a single field, and is able to excite those working in other disciplines
  • Merit: the quality of the research design and methodology, and the suitability of the researchers and institution for the realisation of the proposed research objectives 

Applicants must have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination not more than four years prior to the application closing date. 

The scheme provides funding for 100% of the Fellow’s salary costs, including National Insurance, superannuation and London allowance where applicable, in year 1 up to a maximum of £56,000, and 50% in years 2 and 3 up to a maximum of £28,000 per year. The Fellow may request up to £6,000 per annum in research expenses. Due to the match-funding required, the number of applications UCL can support will be limited.

Internal Demand Management

This scheme requires demand management at both SSEES and Faculty level. The number of applications selected to be submitted to the funder will depend on the provisions of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.

To apply, you will need to submit a Leverhulme Application Form and a Mentor Supporting Statement to SSEES Operations (ssees.operations@ucl.ac.uk) by the internal deadline. Applications will be reviewed by a SSEES selection panel, which will determine progression through to the Faculty competition.

Late or incomplete applications, or those without the agreed support of a mentor, will not be considered.

Timeline

  • UCL SSEES internal deadline: 30 September 2026
  • Faculty deadline: 22 October 2026, 4pm

Resources 

Criteria for SSEES Approval

The School of Slavonic and East European Studies will review draft applications on the quality of the individual applicant appropriate to their career stage (such as peer-reviewed publications), ambition of the research proposal (e.g. is it intellectually exciting, innovative), feasibility of the research proposal (e.g. consideration of risks and mitigations, contingency plans), fit of the project with the applicant’s existing experience and with current SSEES research. 

Following SSEES review, selected candidates will then be mentored through the application process by UCL and SSEES staff. 

Please contact Dr Jakub Beneš (Head of Research) (j.benes@ucl.ac.uk) if you have any questions.