Applications for Research Fellowships

Candidates wishing to select Imperial Particle Physics as their host institution are advised to contact a member of academic staff in their area of interest to discuss your application. You are encouraged to contact us early for initial discussions to maximise the support we can give you and also because this is a two way process and you need to assess if we’re the right fit for you. If you and a member of academic staff agree to put you forward to the Head of Community they will work with you to prepare the required paperwork.

To ensure submission of high quality, competitive proposals, the Department runs a competitive internal selection process with deadlines for Research Communities to submit their supported nominated candidates to the Department. Imperial Particle Physics therefore in turn also has deadlines to consider and select our supported candidates into this process. Requests received after these dates will not be considered.

The Physics Department is committed to being a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone and has put in place a number of measures to promote a collaborative and stimulating culture. Individuals who identify as female and those who consider themselves as underrepresented are particularly encouraged to apply.

We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex or sexual orientation. Further information about how the College strives to create and support an equitable workplace can be found on the equality, diversity and inclusion pages.

We want to make our application process as inclusive and accessible as possible so if you experience any barriers that we may have overlooked please tell us and we can make adjustments.

If you are approved to submit a formal application the Department will assist you throughout the application process. We set internal submission deadlines which are substantially earlier than the sponsor deadlines to allow for sufficient preparation and approval time, you will be advised of this.

The Imperial Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre provides a host of ongoing support from preparing the application to mock interviews available to anyone who is applying through Imperial.  You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this support in conjunction with that from your host Research Group.  For more information applicants should read the guidance on their webpages and contact pfdc-support@imperial.ac.uk.

We’ve successfully supported many research fellowship applications. See Summary of started researcher fellowships in Particle Physics from 1 August 2013.

The common schemes we participate in are listed below. For a currently closed calls the last nomination deadline is given as an indication of when the next might be.


Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, a Program of Schmidt Futures

  • Closed.
  • This scheme is managed by Imperial.
  • Department quota - none
  • College deadline was 20th September 2024
  • This scheme is applied for through the Imperial recruitment system Talentlink, You must have an Imperial mentor to apply but the Department shortlisting is done after the application deadline.

Imperial College Research Fellowships

  • Closed.
  • Physics only accepted applications for ICRFs supported by Schmidt Futures under the AI in Science Theme.
  • Community quota: two
  • Nominations to the Community closed 19 July 2024.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships

  • Closed.
  • Department quota – none.
  • Confirmation to the Department (via phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk) and ECAS Part A completed was 4th September 2024.
  • Imperial participates in the standard European Fellowship mode of the MSCA PF scheme but does not participate in the Global Fellowships mode.
  • Check the Imperial's EU Team webpage with advice and information to help applicants. Some areas of the webpage require an Imperial login, ask your sponsor to share the information. You can also contact the team with questions mscapostdocfellowships@imperial.ac.uk

Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships

  • Closed.
  • Department quota – five.
  • Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
  • Confirmation to the Department (via phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk ) copied to your sponsor was 1st November 2024.

Royal Commission 1851 Research Fellowships


Royal Society Career Development Fellowship

  • Closed.
  • Department quota – none.
  • Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
  • Department nomination deadline  was 21st October 2024.

Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships


Royal Society Newton Fellowships


Royal Society URF

  • Closed.
  • Department quota - twelve
  • Please contact an academic in your area of interest.
  • Nominations to the Community closed 27th June 2024.
  • Nominations consist of your CV, publication list and a Request for Support from Imperial Physics Form-URF.

STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships

  • Closed.
  • Department quota - seven set by STFC
  • Nominations to the Community closed 27th June 2024.
  • Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and a Request for Support from Imperial Physics Form-ERF.

UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowships

  • Closed.
  • The College process to request support from Imperial for Round 10 is expected launch in early 2025.