POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
We are pleased to announce that we have received confirmation from the ESRC that this competition is now open.
WHAT IS A POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP?
A Post-Doctoral Fellowship (PDF) is intended to provide an opportunity for early career researchers to consolidate their PhDs through developing publications, their networks, and their research and professional skills and preparing them for the next stage of their research careers.
New research cannot be funded through these awards. Potential applicants who wish to apply for research funding should consider applying to the ESRC’s New Investigator grant opportunity.
WHAT IS ON OFFER?
Successful applicants will receive funding for a PDF for up to nine months full-time or, in exceptional circumstances, up to 18 months part-time (0.5FTE).
Part-time grants are intended for applicants whose normal working hours are part-time and not for applicants who wish to hold the Fellowship and continue other employment. The exception to this is applicants whose PhD was undertaken on a part-time basis alongside permanent part-time employment. Applicants in this position can continue to hold their part-time employment alongside the Fellowship.
PDF awards include paying the Fellow a salary for the duration of their award and providing up to £7,500 to support their work (e.g. funding for attending conferences). The awards also cover other costs (e.g. office space and IT support) which are paid directly to the Fellow’s home university.
AM I ELIGIBLE FOR A SENSS ESRC-FUNDED PDF?
Please check your eligibility carefully, as this call is only open to those who meet all the following criteria:
1) Completed their PhD at a UK university; AND,
2) Have been awarded a PhD or have passed their viva voce with minor amendments by the application deadline of 1 June 2026and have been awarded their PhD by the Fellowship start date of 1 October 2026. If major corrections are/were required to your thesis, you will not be eligible this year unless you can show that your corrections have been submitted and approved by the call closing date; AND,
4) Have no more than 15 months of active post-doctoral experience. This is measured from the applicant’s viva voce pass date to the application deadline of 1 June 2026 (at full-time equivalent and allowing for career breaks).
Fellowships cannot be undertaken remotely. Fellows are expected to reside within a reasonable travelling distance of their RO for the duration of the Fellowship, except when on research visits.
WHICH UNIVERSITIES CAN I APPLY TO?
You may only make ONE application to ONE Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). All DTPs will share their applicant lists (the applicant’s name and the university which awarded their PhD) to ensure that this is complied with. If an applicant submits applications to more than one DTP, all of their applications will be rejected and they will not be permitted to compete in this competition
If you chose to apply to the SENSS DTP, you may only submit ONE application to ONE SENSS university. The SENSS Doctoral Training Partnership consists of eight universities across the south and east of the UK. Click here to find out which universities are part of SENSS.
WHICH THEMES OR DISCIPLINES CAN I APPLY FOR?
SENSS offers awards across all its six inter-disciplinary Themes. Click here for more information about these Themes.
HOW DO I APPLY FOR A PDF?
SENSS has a two-phase application process: phase one consists of an expression of interest phase (outlined below), the deadline for which is 9am Tuesday 21 April 2026. If applicants are successful in phase one, under phase two they will be invited to put in a full application, the deadline for which is Monday 1 June 2026 (23:59). This deadline is set by the ESRC and cannot be changed. After this deadline, the review process will begin. Those who are shortlisted for interview on Thursday 25 June 2026 will be advised of this by Thursday 18 June 2026. If you are applying for a PDF, please hold Thursday 25 June 2026 in your diary as this is the only day on which interviews will be held.
HOW DO I FIND OUT MORE?
The SENSS Director, Professor Fragkiskos Filippaios, will be holding two webinars for potential applicants and mentors. These will be conducted on:
Expression of Interest phase (phase one): Tuesday 7 April 2026 1pm - 2pm, Registration link: https://essex-university.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6Sgh91TgRaa94J6dFGKjpw
Main application phase (phase two): Wednesday 6 May 2026 1pm - 2pm, Registration link: https://essex-university.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__h-gKSOjQzSMnDvKFxuZCg
PHASE ONE OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS
Step one: read the ESRC’s documents (see below) carefully and ensure you are eligible to apply for a PDF.
Step two: if you are eligible, start thinking about your topic and programme of work.
Step three: at the same time, identify an academic you think would be best suited to being your primary mentor, and make contact with them. The ESRC requires Fellows to have a mentor based at the university at which they will hold their Fellowship, but please note that your PhD supervisor cannot be your mentor.
Step four: submit your expression of interest (EoI) to SENSS via HEIApply by 9am GMT on Tuesday 21 April 2026. We require you to submit an EoI by the deadline so that we can gauge demand and, most importantly, support you in your application, including working with you on your PDF costings. We anticipate that the EoI phase of this competition will open on Friday 27 March 2026.A document which gives an indication of the questions asked in the EoI will be available here soon.
Please note the following:
If you do not submit an EoI by Tuesday 21 April 2026, you will be automatically excluded from the remainder of the competition.
You may only make an application to ONE Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) and only ONE application to ONE SENSS university. All DTPs will share the details of their applicant lists to ensure that this is complied with. If an applicant submits an application to more than one DTP or to more than one university within that DTP, all of their applications will be rejected.
If you are invited to put in a full application, you will be advised of this by Monday 8 June 2026.
You will be expected to start your PDF on 1 October 2026.
OUTCOME OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST PHASE
After the deadline of Tuesday 21 April 2026, the university to which you have applied will review your EoI and, if your application is deemed sufficiently strong when viewed against the selection criteria set out by the ESRC, you will be contacted and invited to submit a full application.
ESRC PDF APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
The ESRC Call Specification - this sets out what is included in a PDF award, what the eligibility criteria are, and what is required in the application etc.
The ESRC PDF FAQs - this provides answers to common questions around PDF awards.
The ESRC PDF application form - please note that SENSS will only accept online applications via its online portal HEIApply. The SENSS application differs slightly from the ESRC template form in that it asks for some additional information. The ESRC template is ONLY included here to give you an idea of what is required of you should you be invited to submit a full application.
The following SENSS-specific guidance documents will be provided here in due course to support those making a full application, following progression from the EoI phase:
Guidance for the Head of Department.
Guidance for the Primary Mentor in writing their supporting statement.
An example of an excellent PDF application.