Early career researcher funding

Our aim is to support the development of all research staff and to nurture our Early Career Researchers (ECRs). We know how daunting it can be applying for funding and navigating your way through the call guidelines. *To help our ECRs, we have put together a table of funding that highlights the funding opportunities relevant to ECRs.

The table includes links to the funders’ web pages, eligibility, call deadlines, what the funding covers and whether our ECRs can apply based on the University’s finance model. If you have an interest in a fund showing as not able to apply, get in touch and we’ll see how we can make this work for you.

Please note that we have included all the funding opportunities open to ECRs. Before progressing with any application, please contact RIFS for advice and support. We can help you to:

  • obtain the institutional support and approval that you require through Pure Award Management
  • liaise with your faculty accountant to ensure you have the correct finances/costings
  • understand the timeline you need to adhere to for submission

If applying for a grant or fellowship is not yet for you, there are other ways of building your research career through partnering with colleagues with a stronger track record on a project or through consultancy with industry or other external partners.  Get in touch to discuss these options.

You can find the University’s definition for an Early Career Researcher here

To help you find discipline-specific funding opportunities and develop your bid writing skills, we run training workshops and events for ECRs as part of the Research Development Programme.

*We are currently in the process of updating the table of funding for our ECR community.