Fellowships & Funding

Fellowships and funding provide you with the opportunity to develop your own independent programme of research, and to sustain your research beyond your PhD. There are many different types of fellowships and funding opportunities, read on to:

  • Learn more about fellowships and funding
  • Access resources to help you explore fellowships and funding opportunities
  • Hear advice from fellowship holders and senior academics 

A fellowship provides you with funding to develop or sustain your own, independent programme of research. There are several different types of fellowships and funding, and each will have their own eligibility criteria, guidance on what they will cover and expectations from the host institution.  

Cambridge and Oxford Junior Research Fellowships are aimed at those who are coming to the end of, or have recently completed their PhD, providing support from a College to enable you to initiate new lines of enquiry and develop your own research further. 

There are other early-career fellowships aimed at individuals who have recently completed a PhD (usually in the last 3-7 years) which enable you to apply for smaller pots of funding to cover research costs, these may cover some, or all of your salary and some of the more substantial early-career fellowships may enable you to hire a postdoc or research assistant to support your research. You may be eligible and ready to apply to some of these fellowships immediately following your PhD, however this is less common for individuals in science, technology, engineering and social sciences subjects than for those in the arts and humanities.  

There are a variety of fellowships and awards which provide more significant levels of funding, usually for a longer duration that are aimed at supporting individuals to transition to independence and build their own substantial programme of research, including the ability to hire postdocs and research assistants to support this work.  

Some fellowships have a specific requirement to be mobile, you cannot apply to conduct your research at the same institution you’re completing your PhD at or currently working in. There are also fellowships aimed at specific groups e.g. individuals returning to academia after a career break or period away from academic research. 

  • As an introduction to fellowships, watch this video exploring topics from what a fellowship is, how do you know if it’s right for you and what to do if you don't get one (4 minutes).
  • Watch our Introduction to Junior Research Fellowships (7 mins) to learn more about what they are and how they fit with other post-PhD options in academia
  • Read through further funding and fellowships resources for STEM postdocs and AHSS postdocs to begin exploring common funding and fellowship opportunities related to your discipline  

To apply for fellowships and funding, you will need to have a well-developed research idea and a plan for how you would like to undertake this work. This is a central part of the application process, but it will also enable you to identify appropriate fellowships that will enable you to take forward your research plans. You don’t need to wait for someone to tell you to apply, and don’t put it off waiting until you are 100% ready! If you have a good idea, go for it!  

Applying for funding and fellowships can be a lengthy process, with some awards being made over a year after the applications open. Start to research fellowship opportunities before you think you may be ready to apply so that you can familiarise yourself with the opportunities available, application process and the timelines you will be working towards. 

Before applying, you will usually need to have the support of a host department or research institute and they will need to confirm that they are willing to host you as part of the application process. Develop your research ideas and start those conversations with prospective hosts early as some opportunities are ‘restricted calls’ meaning an institution or department is limited in how many individuals they are able to put forward.  

  1. Whether a fellowship is right for you
  2. Whether to move host institutions
  3. How to understand the host PI
  4. How successful applicants managed the application process 
  • Find out about schemes and plan which would suit you best.  Look ahead at opportunities by searching the Research Professional database - an online research funding tool available while you are at Cambridge and a great place to search for funding opportunities.
  • Watch this video on the features and functionalities of Research Professional (40 minutes)
  • Visit our pages on Academic Applications and Interviews for specific support if you’re actively applying for funding.
  • If you are considering a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), watch our video on JRF applications (10 mins).  Find further details about the application process on our Junior research fellowships page.