The aim of this scheme is to give early career scientists or engineers of exceptional promise the opportunity to conduct a research project of their own instigation. The scheme is open to applicants working in any of the physical, biological sciences or applied sciences, maths or engineering. Candidates must be in possession of a recent PhD or equivalent (with no more than 3 years postdoctoral experience when the fellowship would start the following October) or be in the final stages of their PhD studies. Extensions can be granted for exceptional circumstances (for example part time working, career breaks etc). The scheme is open to applicants of all nationalities.
Awards are for 3 years and should be held at a different institution from the one where the candidate's PhD research was undertaken. The funder appreciates that in some exceptional cases, applicants not be able to move institutions (for example for family or caring responsibilities) and exemptions can be applied for however applicants should move research groups as a minimum. Funding is for the Fellow's salary plus £10k per annum of research expenses per year. A letter of acceptance from the Head of Department, and institutional administration is required to be submitted with your application. We only support the 'employed' variety of the scheme.
Applications are made through the funder's application funder's application portal; applicants must supply two references: neither should be from the host institution, and one should be from your PhD supervisor. Further information is available on the funder's website.
Deadlines and timescales (2025 call)
The 2025 call deadline will be announced shortly and is expected to be in early January 2025 for fellowships starting October 2025. Each year the Department runs an internal selection process as outlined briefly below to select candidates to support to make an application with Oxford Physics as host. The internal selection deadline is Wednesday 23rd October 2024.
Interested candidates are asked to submit an expression of interest (EOI) by sending their CV, publications list and 1 page summary of their proposed research project to fellowships@physics.ox.ac.uk by the internal selection deadline. In particular the outline should emphasise the way in which the proposed project is different from previous research.
You will require a sponsor for your application (an academic based in Oxford Physics who supports your application). Please ensure you secure an Oxford Physics sponsor prior to submitting your EOI and cc them in to your EOI submission email.
If there are extenuating circumstances you would like the panels to be aware of for the exemptions listed above (to the scheme requirements of moving institutions and no more than 3 years post PhD research experience), please let us know when you submit your EOI.
Due to the low number of awards made nationally each year by the funder we will be capping the submitted applications to 1 per sub-department, with candidates selected by internal sub-department academic panels. Following discussions with the funder we are aware that their selection for these fellowships is made by a multidisciplinary group who jointly consider the shortlist derived from expert assessment therefore please consider a multidisciplinary audience when writing your proposal. Candidates should show ‘compelling ability, research momentum and personal vision’.
Please keep these factors in mind when submitting your expression of interest.
The department is welcoming of EOIs from all applicants, and individuals from underrepresented groups in physics are particularly encouraged to apply. Should any candidates have difficulty in securing a sponsor within the department or need further guidance on this please contact the facilitation team and we will endeavour to support you. Similarly, if there are any additional factors or circumstances that you wish to be considered during our assessment of your EOI – this might include (but is not limited to) career breaks, caring responsibilities, part-time working, disability etc – or if you are likely to need any specific support or accommodations during the application process, please communicate this to us (in confidence if required): fellowships@physics.ox.ac.uk.