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Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity

LSE has been awarded funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to appoint a number of Postdoctoral Fellows for the 2026/27 academic year. The European Institute is looking to support a candidate, who will be based in the department. The scheme is open to both internal and external candidates.

We are interested in hearing from candidates whose research contributes to the study of contemporary Europe. Applicants may come from any discipline in the social sciences, but we offer particular expertise in our four main research themes of political economy, politics and policy, culture and society, and migration. This opportunity is open to applicants who have completed their PhD at a UK research organisation (RO). Applicants must also meet ESRC eligibility requirements (including residency criteria set by UKRI). Applicants are not required to have previously held an ESRC-funded studentship in order to be eligible to apply.

The primary purpose of the fellowship is the consolidation of your research profile soon after successful completion of your PhD. Your application must be focused on consolidating your doctoral work, and no new research projects will be permitted in this round. Applicants must have been awarded a PhD or have passed their viva voce with minor amendments by the application deadline of 1 June 2026, and have been awarded their PhD by the fellowship start date of 1 October 2026.

Applicants must also have no more than 15 months of active postdoctoral experience since passing their viva voce by 1 June 2026.

For October 2026 entry the Fellowships will last up to 9 months (or up to 18 months part-time equivalent). Fellowships are intended to start on 1 October 2026 and full-time fellowships must finish by 30 June 2027. Exceptions will only be considered for part-time awards, parental or sick leave.

Further details about the programme, and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, can be found here.
Interested parties must identify and contact a suitable mentor, and then contact Professor Jonathan White, European Institute Deputy Head (Research), and Carl Ludwig-Campbell, European Institute Manager, at ei.academic@lse.ac.uk with a draft proposal by no later than 23.59 (UK time) on Monday 1 June 2026.

We will support applications approved by an internal panel, which must then be submitted to the School by no later than 23.59 (UK time) on Monday 1 June 2026. Final applications are submitted via LSE to ESRC as part of the DTP competition.

By 1 April 2026Competition launch
30 April 2026Recommended deadline for applicants to contact prospective mentors
1 June 2026, 23:59Application deadline (Please note: Only applications containing all mandatory attachments will be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered.)
3 July to 13 July inclusiveApplicants need to be available on these dates to respond to nominations and to submit their proposals to ESRC (Please note: Applicants may be placed on the reserve list at this stage).
End of August 2026Decisions confirmed to all applicants
1 October 2026Fellowships commence

More information: 'https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/phd-academy/esrc-doctoral-training-partnership/postdoctoral-fellowships