ICL-CNRS Fellowships

The applicants are expected to hold a CNRS position (i.e. Directeur or Chargé de recheches), or a University Professorship (i.e. Professeur or Maîtres de Conférences) and be affiliated to a CNRS sponsored research laboratory in mathematics in France. They must commit to spending a significant part of their 6 month fellowship at Imperial College London.

View a list of CNRS-sponsored mathematics laboratories.

Applicants holding a University Professorship have a better chance of getting a fellowship if they have not benefited from a 'delegation CNRS' 2-3 years prior to the intended fellowship.

Applications from female candidates are strongly encouraged.

ICL-CNRS fellowship are intended to strengthen the scientific exchanges and collaborations between the French mathematical community and the Department in all the fields where both are strong. It is expected that the applicants have an international profile with a very strong track record and have established ties with one or several members of the Department. Applicants must be sponsored by one of the ‘hosts’ at Imperial who commit to collaborate with them during their stay and possibly beyond. Ideally, a number of publications co-authored by the awardees and their hosts or other academics from the department should result from the award. To enable a wider impact within the Department and beyond, the awardees will be asked to deliver a 6 to 8 hour course on their field of expertise. This course is aimed at establishing new collaborations with PhD students, Research Associates and Fellows. 

A total of 12 months of fellowships are available each academic year and according to the number of candidates, can be used to support 2, 3 or 4 fellows. 

Department of Mathematics provides travel and accommodation support up to £3,000 per month. CNRS provides teaching buyout money to fellows holding a University Professorship.

Application Deadline for 2025-26 Academic Year Fellowships: 15 November 2024.

Applications must be made by sending the documents listed below in PDF format by email to iclcnrsfellowships@imperial.ac.uk:

• CV of the applicant
• List of publications
• Research programme while at Imperial
• Support letter from the host at imperial

Selection criteria used by the Department of Mathematics Research Committee:

• An international academic profile commensurate to the seniority of the applicant
• Quality of the research project and alignment with research in the department
• Commitment of the host
• Potential returns for the Department beyond the collaboration with the host
• Strategic aspects (including potential joint grant applications or follow ups if relevant)
• Potential for wider collaborations in the UK (beyond Imperial)

The processing of applications is as follows:

• Department of Mathematics Research Committee will assess the applications and select those that are consistent with the scope and scientific level of the programme.
• The selected applications will be ranked by the Research Committee by end of January 2025.
• A support letter from the Head of Department with the ranking of applications/the level of support provided by the Department will be issued and sent to the CNRS Math Directorate, International Relations Office together with copies of the selected applications by 15 February 2025.
• The successful candidates will also be informed by 15 February 2025.
• Those holding a CNRS position will have to follow the CNRS procedures to be granted an 'ordre de mission'.
• Those holding a University Professorship will have to follow the administrative procedures to apply for a Delegation CNRS (normally in October/November). As the procedures and deadlines vary from university to university, the candidates will have to approach their university administration to obtain the process guidance. The final selection will be made by the CNRS Committee (during the spring of 2025) and the hosts will be informed about the outcome of their candidate’s application. The scientific quality of application is the criteria CNRS Committee in Mathematics will use for the selection.