ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship – FAQs

The Postdoctoral Fellowship call forms part of our strategy to provide additional support for early career researchers. They are available through the DTPs as they have been through a robust peer review exercise, ensuring that the fellows will be embedded within a high-quality environment for research and training, and be supported in their continuing career development.

Applications must be submitted directly to the DTP or CDT where you are planning to hold the fellowship. Please see the ESRC website and call specification for contact details: https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-postdoctoral-fellowships/.

Each DTP or CDT will have their own procedures in place to peer review the proposals and make funding decisions on behalf of ESRC. This might include an Expression of Interest (EOI) stage where only those applicants shortlisted at the EOI stage will be eligible to submit a full proposals by 23 March 2023.

Where the DTP or CDT has an Expressions of Interest (EOI) stage, potential applicants must apply by the deadline for the EOI and abide by the deadlines specified by the DTP/CDT to which they intend applying.

When considering where to apply potential applicants should carefully consider which institution would offer the best fit for their area of research and career aspirations and limit their application to those. Applicants should make the DTP aware if they have applied to another DTP.

The actual number allocated to each DTP will differ so please see individual DTP information. Around 90 awards will be available across the network as a whole.

Fellowships can only be held at research organisations which are part of a DTP and eligible to participate in this initiative. In addition, fellowships must be aligned to accredited pathways. A list of eligible DTPs can be found here:

https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-postdoctoral-fellowships/

No, but you must have completed your PhD at a research organisation that is part of a DTP. A list of these eligible organisations can be found here:

https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-postdoctoral-fellowships/

No, you don’t have to have been an ESRC-funded student in order to apply.

Yes, you can apply if you have either a PhD or a professional doctorate.

If you haven’t yet been awarded your PhD, you must have at least submitted your thesis and passed your viva voce, or passed subject to minor corrections, by the call closing date (i.e. 23 March 2023). We would expect that any minor corrections would be addressed within a three month period and that all applicants will have been awarded their PhD by the expected start date of the grant (1 October 2023).

If you have passed your viva voce with major corrections you will be able to apply to the following year’s call when your PhD has been awarded. This is to ensure that all fellows are able to commence by the annual start date of 1 October.

Please note, the offer of an award will lapse if the PhD is not awarded by 1 October 2023. Start dates cannot be deferred because an award has not been confirmed.

All candidates must have been awarded their PhD by the expected start date of the grant (1 October 2023). As such, if major corrections are required to your thesis then you will not be eligible for this year’s call.

As ESRC is currently commissioning Doctoral Training Partnerships to start in October 2024, this will be the last call under the current DTP structure. We are committed to continuing support for the scheme but the format of future calls is under consideration.

The call is not open to those who are established, permanent members of staff in an academic position with a research component. If you have been employed on a fixed-term contract you are eligible to apply, provided you do not have more than 12 months of active postdoctoral experience since the viva pass date and before the closing date for the competition.

We regard ‘active postdoctoral experience’ as research experience. In the majority of cases this will relate to periods within academia, however some potential applicants may have been employed in research-related posts in non-academic organisations that would have to be taken in to account when considering their eligibility.

Career breaks include periods of maternity, sick leave, or unemployment, and will be disregarded from the 12-month period. Work breaks and disruptions to working patterns due to COVID-19 can also be included. All relevant information must be clearly presented on your CV.

The 12-month period is calculated from the date of passing your viva voce to the closing date of the competition i.e. 23 March 2023.

You can only apply for a fellowship on a part-time basis if that reflects your usual working hours. These fellowships are intended as full working-time opportunities and cannot be held alongside any other employment except in the circumstances outlined below.

These fellowships are intended to be held on the basis of 100 per cent of the fellow’s working time, We recognise that some students may have undertaken their PhD on a part-time basis alongside permanent employment and in those exceptional circumstances part-time fellowships can be considered alongside part-time employment. All other fellows must spend 100 per cent of their working time (whether full-time or part-time) on the fellowship and cannot take any secondary paid employment during the course of the grant. Applicants who undertook their PhD part-time alongside temporary or short-term contracts are expected to apply for a fellowship on the basis of 100 per cent of their working time.

The call is intended to support early career researchers in their career development, which could include gaining a permanent position. As such, those who already have a permanent post are seen as already on a path to career development.

For costing details, please contact the South Coast DTP in the first instance scdtp@soton.ac.uk

There’s no maximum limit but fellowships can only include the following costs:

• salary costs of the fellow
• indirect costs
• estate costs
• up to a maximum of £10,000 for all other costs.

Eligible costs under the ‘other costs’ heading could include mentoring costs, travel and subsistence, conference attendance, networking, training, and fieldwork, etc but the total amount requested must be within the £10,000 maximum.

Where an RO costs infrastructure technicians separately to estate costs, these will not be counted within the £10k limit on other costs.

No, only the fellow can be included.

We expect costs requested to be appropriate and fully justified for the fellowship activities. Costs should be reasonable, and reviewers will assess how appropriate these are based on the proposed work plan.

Any proposals requesting items that would ordinarily be found in a department, for example non-specialist computers, should include justification both for why they are required for the project and why they cannot be provided from the research organisation’s own resources (including funding from indirect costs from grants).

Costs for laptops may be requested if they are not provided by the host organisation and can be clearly justified in terms of the programme of work being proposed. Costs that have not been clearly or adequately justified may be reduced or removed from the award.

Applicants should liaise with their host organisation to identify the most cost effective laptop essential for their fellowship.

We expect fellows to start as close to this date as possible but recognise there might be exceptional circumstances which require a later start (for example, due to illness or parental leave). Start dates cannot be deferred to reflect delays in the PhD being awarded.

You are advised to discuss this with the DTP you are applying to. Any requests for later start dates will be considered by ESRC on a case-by-case basis.

Your planned programme of work needs to arise from your PhD and build upon it, in order to support your longer term career aspirations. The call specification has a list of suggested activities you could include, but these are examples only.

These fellowships aren’t intended to support a significant amount of new research, which is limited to a maximum of 25% of your fellowship’s time. New research work would include, for example, completion of work that was initiated during your PhD but was not included in your final thesis.

If you are looking for a more research-led opportunity, then you should consider applying to our New Investigator grant scheme (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-new-investigator-grant) or early career schemes offered by other funders.

As these fellowships are specifically designed to build upon your PhD experience and develop your skills for a future career in research, only limited additional research activity directly linked to the PhD can be undertaken. New research is limited to 25% of the time commitment of the fellowship. Our New Investigator grant scheme is more suitable for those seeking to undertake a significant new piece of research.

No, they are examples of the types of activities you could undertake. The activities included in your proposal should be specific to you and your career development. It is important that you articulate a realistic and achievable programme of activities; proposals considered to be unrealistic or overambitious are unlikely to be competitive in this process.

The fellowship is expected to be related to the focus of the PhD. If the postdoctoral research is related to the PhD focus, then this would be acceptable. If the postdoctoral research is not related to the PhD, then it would not be suitable for these fellowships and you may want to consider applying to our New Investigator scheme instead (https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/esrc-new-investigator-grant/)  or early career schemes offered by other funders.

Yes ¬– if the organisation would be suitable to collaborate with, will help broaden your networks, or provide training, access to data or resources not available at your host organisation. Extended visits to other organisations must be accompanied by a letter of support outlining the organisation’s support of the visit in principle.

As an early career researcher, your learning stands to be enhanced by the expertise and contacts of an academic mentor who can guide you in achieving the goals and activities of your fellowship, although it will be important for you to demonstrate how you are actively managing your own career development in your application. You are required to have one to two hours’ contact time with your mentor every week, where they can advise on the progress of the fellowship.

Yes, ideally the applicant will have a single mentor based at the same research organisation as the fellow.

Yes, for example secondary mentors can be permitted if the focus of your fellowship is on the borderline between social sciences and another disciplinary area, or to draw on specific expertise beyond your institution. However your primary mentor must be based in your host organisation.

Contact the DTP you wish to apply to, as they may have mechanisms in place to identify and match mentors to applicants.

To encourage your development in this next career stage, we recommend that the mentor should not be your PhD supervisor. This is to broaden your network and be challenged by a wider group of academics than you might have been engaged with through the PhD. We do however recognise that this may not be possible in all cases, therefore in exceptional circumstances the PhD supervisor can be the mentor; however, this needs to be fully justified in the proposal.

The need for more than one mentor must be fully articulated in the proposal. A CV will be required for both mentors and the mentor statement should be completed by the primary mentor, but should cover input from the secondary mentor.

Costs for the mentor’s time can be included under the ‘other costs’ heading. Along with the other funds requested under this heading, there is a maximum limit of £10,000.

You can speak to the DTP as to who would be most appropriate to provide this, but it should be someone at the department, school or faculty level who can guarantee their commitment and support for the fellowship.

There is still place for a bibliography in this type of proposal, and it is also relevant given it is a standard attachment for ESRC funding. In particular, the case for support and workplan may include references to literature. This attachment is simply a reference list, not a bibliographic essay. Speak to your research office if you are unsure.

No, the referee statement is to assist in the assessment process. The referee statement should not be provided by the mentor. The referee can be the PhD supervisor, but if the PhD supervisor is the proposed mentor then the referee statement should be provided by another academic.

Impacts of your research achieved so far and planned impact should be covered in the case for support. Impact should be at the heart of the proposal and woven through any planned activities as the focus of the fellowship is on consolidating the outputs of the PhD.

Your proposal will be assessed by the DTP that you have applied to, by a procedure approved by ESRC. The final date to confirm decisions to applicants is the end of June 2023. Successful applicants will then be required to submit their proposal in Je-S by mid-July 2023 at the very latest (applicants can, and should be, submitted sooner if possible). Guidance for this will be provided nearer the time.

Whilst the DTP will determine who should be nominated to receive an award, in order to receive the funding applicants must submit an application to ESRC who will issue a grant to their host institution.

No. ESRC won’t reassess the application but will check that it abides by the call guidance. This will include that all other costs don’t exceed the £10k maximum, and have been clearly and adequately justified, as well as that attachments do not exceed page limits.

If you application exceeds the page limits it will be returned to you to make the necessary amendments. If your costs exceed the £10K limit, they will be reduced to be within the limit. Not adhering to the guidance may result in a delay of a formal offer letter being issued by ESRC.