Postdoctoral fellowships

The Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) is keen to support applications from early career scholars who have recently completed their doctorate, or are in its final stages, both from the UK and internationally. The applicant’s research area should be within the scope of the Department’s expertise.

Funding scheme deadlines & application processes

For the Postdoctoral Fellowship funding schemes listed on our Research Opportunities webpage, which are very popular and highly competitive, we have annual internal review deadlines. All potential applicants to these schemes must submit an application for internal review by the stated DPIR deadlines, regardless of the scheme’s own deadline.

Other schemes, such as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Fellowship, are considered at DPIR’s discretion and are subject to an internal review process. (Please note the department does not support the Marie Skłodowska Global Fellowship due to the financial complexities of the grant). To be considered for DPIR support, please contact the Research Facilitation team at least eight weeks before any external funding deadline.

All potential applicants (internal or external) must submit an application for internal review and need to contact at least one member of DPIR’s permanent academic staff to explore mentoring arrangements prior to submitting an application.

Please email the Research Facilitation Team with the following information for consideration. Your subject line should read ’Postdoc internal review: [your name]’.

• CV - max 3 pages
• Draft research proposal, maximum of 4 sides of A4, including references with a minimum font size 11. To include:
  • Title
  • Abstract (1 paragraph)
  • Aims and objectives (1/2 A4 page)
  • Case of support (2 A4 pages)
  • Methods (1 A4 page)
  • Outcomes and outputs (1/2 A4 page)

You only need to add the name and date of any citation used in the main body of the text. A full bibliography is not required at this stage.

• Eligibility statement to include:
  • Name and deadline of the scheme you wish to be considered for
  • Statement of how you meet the specific scheme eligibility criteria
  • Name and email address of the proposed DPIR academic mentor

Some postdoctoral fellows come to us as visitors, if you are interested in this please see our Academic Visitor Scheme for further details.