UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND

Fellowship

Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Science

Who can apply

  • Scientists with 3 to 6 years of postdoctoral research experience. Open to nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA), and non-nationals who have graduated from a UK university, or have worked in a UK institution for a minimum of three years.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, and a graduate research assistant or technician, and research expenses for up to 4 years.

  • Administrative and teaching duties limited to 6 hours a week.

Additional opportunities

  • Funding opportunity for short overseas visits

  • Opportunity to work part-time. Commitment of the host institution to support the Fellow's application for a permanent job.

Application deadline

  • Preliminary applications to be sent online before 1 November 2005.

  • Application deadline for final version is 8 December 2005.

Overall budget

  • Budget and numbers of Fellowships depend on the overall quality of the applications.

  • Success rate in 2004 was above 20%.

Fellowship

Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Science

Who can apply

  • Scientists with 5 to 10 years of postdoctoral research experience. The above restrictions regarding nationality apply.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, salary costs for research staff and technical support, and expenses for equipment, consumables, and travel expenses for up to 5 years.

Additional opportunities

  • Administrative and teaching duties limited to 8 hours a week.

  • Opportunity to work part-time. Possibility of renewal for a further 5 years.

  • Commitment of the host institution to try and create a permanent post for the Fellow, or support their application.

Application deadline

  • Budget and numbers of Fellowships depend on the overall quality of the applications

Overall budget

  • 2004 success rate was almost 30%.

UNITED KINGDOM

Fellowship

Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellowship

Who can apply

  • Scientists with 3 to 6 years of postdoctoral experience.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, and salary costs for a postdoc and a technician, and research expenses for 6 years, plus a one-off equipment grant of up to £25,000.

Additional opportunities

Application deadline

  • Deadline for applications is 3 June 2005.

Overall budget

  • Four Fellowships to share between Research Career Development and Senior Research Fellows. Overall budget: £750,000.

  • 2004 success rate was 10%

Fellowship

Senior Cancer Research UK Fellowship

Who can apply

  • Scientists with between 6 and 10 years of postdoctoral research.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, salary costs for a postdoc, a PhD student and a technician, and research expenses for 6 years plus a one-off equipment grant of up to £50,000.

Additional opportunities

  • Renewable for another 6 years.

  • Long-term commitment of the host institution to Fellows’ career expected.

Application deadline

  • Deadline for applications is 3 June 2005.

Overall budget

  • Four Fellowships to share between Research Career Development and Senior Research Fellows.

  • Overall budget: £750,000.

  • 2004 success rate for application was 20%

Fellowship

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) David Phillips Fellowship

Who can apply

  • Scientists with less than 5.5 years of postdoctoral research experience. Open to candidates of all nationalities, to scientists currently working overseas or in industry.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, (£27,000-£30,000 a year) and a one-off support grant of up to £200,000 for technical support, equipment, consumables, and travel expenses, for up to 5 years.

Additional opportunities

  • No administrative duties, and teaching duties limited to 6 hours a week. Possibility of flexible working arrangements.

Application deadline

  • Mid-November 2005.

Overall budget

  • Up to 10 awards each year

  • Overall budget of up to £3,5m.

  • 2004 success rate was about 7%

Fellowship

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Advanced Research Fellowships

Who can apply

  • Scientists who were awarded their PhD less than 10 years ago and have at least 3 years postdoctoral experience.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, for up to 5 years.

Additional opportunities

  • From 2005, Fellows will have the option to apply for research funds with no upper limit to cover for research staff, equipment, and consumables for up to 3 years.

Application deadline

  • Minimal teaching or administrative duties.

Overall budget

  • Up to 49 Fellows in 2005.

  • £15,8m fixed overall budget for salaries. Budget for research expenses to be determined (about £3,9m in 2004).

  • Success rate was about 10% for 2004

Fellowship

Royal Society University Research Fellowships

Who can apply

  • Scientists with between 2 and 7 years postdoctoral research experience.

  • Open to nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA), and non-nationals who have graduated from a UK university, or have worked in a UK institution for a minimum of three years.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, and £13,000 can be spent on staff and research costs in the first year (£11,000 for each following year) for 5 years. Relocation costs met.

Additional opportunities

  • Minimal teaching and administrative duties.

  • Possibility of renewal on two occasions, for up to 10 years.

Application deadline

  • Early January 2006.

Overall budget

  • About 40 Fellowships each year, for a total budget of £15m.

  • 2004 success rate was 8%.

Fellowship

Medical Research Council New Investigator Award

Who can apply

  • Applicants should be senior postdocs with a minimum of 3 years postdoctoral experience, or academic staff within 3 years of their first appointment.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, (if necessary), and salary for a technical or research post, research and travel expenses, of up to £300,000 over 3 years.

Additional opportunities

  • Commitment of the host institution to offer the Fellow a permanent job.

Application deadline

  • Preliminary applications (intention) should be submitted by 29 April 2005. Application deadline for final version 27 May 2005.

Overall budget

  • At least 30 awards for 2005.

Fellowship

Medical Research Council Career Development Award

Who can apply

  • Scientists with 3 to 6 years postdoctoral experience.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary for fellow, and salary for research support staff, research and travel expenses, and an overseas allowance if applicable. Up to £500,000 can be awarded over 4 years.

Additional opportunities

  • Possibility of gaining research training in another research centre within or outside the UK, or in industry.

Application deadline

  • The timetable for 2006 will be available from June 2005

Overall budget

  • 7 to 10 Fellowships are awarded each year.

  • Success rate approximately 10%.

IRELAND

Fellowship

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA)

Who can apply

  • Scientists working in research fields that underpin biotechnology and information and communications technologies (ICT) who have received their PhD within the last 5 years.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Covers salary costs for a research team (including the applicant’s salary, if necessary), and funding for equipment, consumables, travel, and collaboration for 5 years.

Additional opportunities

  • Awardees are eligible to apply for additional funding through SFI Supplement Awards.

Application deadline

  • Candidates may not apply directly, and should approach a host institution to nominate them. Nominations will open in Autumn 2005 and the deadline for receipts of nominated application will be January 2006.

Overall budget

  • Up to 10 awards annually, worth up to €1.2m each.

  • 2005 PIYRA budget of €1.25m.

  • 2004 success rate was 17%.

Fellowship

SFI Investigator Programme Grants

Who can apply

  • Scientists working in research fields that underpin biotechnology and information and communications technologies (ICT) with at least 3 years postdoctoral experience.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Salary costs for a research team (including the applicant’s salary, if necessary), and funding for equipment, consumables, travel, and collaboration for 4 years.

Additional opportunities

  • SFI Investigators are eligible to apply for additional funding through SFI Supplement Awards.

Application deadline

  • Applications must be endorsed by a host institution. Applications throughout the year.

Overall budget

  • About 22 fellowships Awarded.

  • SFI Investigator Awards range from €100,000 to €250,000 per year.

  • Overall 2004 budget was €5.6 m.

  • 2004 success rate was 28%.

Fellowship

Health Research Board Research Project Grants

Who can apply

  • Scientists with more than 3 years postdoctoral experience. Scientists with less experience may also apply, but will have to demonstrate their ability to supervise a PhD student.

  • Open to all nationalities.

What the funding offers

  • Salary costs for a postdoctoral researcher (the applicant’s if necessary), technical assistance or PhD stipend, and funding for small items of equipment, consumables, travels and training for up to three years.

Additional opportunities

  • Possibility of applying for a start-up fund of up to €15,000 for consumables and small pieces of equipment.

Application deadline

  • November 2005 – check Web site.

Overall budget

  • About 50 Fellowships.

  • Success rate is about 20%

Note: Readers wanting to apply for a forthcoming round of awards should check for updates with their funding body.