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Postdoctoral opportunities

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The department has a strong record of hosting successful postdoctoral researchers and welcomes applications from prospective candidates. Applications are considered by our Research Committee and projects should be aligned with our research clusters.

The department does not fund postdoctoral fellowships. All postdoctoral fellows hosted in the department are funded by external grants. You can see a list of organisations that fund postdoctoral fellowships below. If your application is approved by the department, our Research Office will support you through the application process for the fellowship award.

All postdoctoral fellows are expected to undertake some teaching in the department to support their career development, and to ensure they are ingratiated into our research environment.

Deadlines

To apply for the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme candidates must contact a departmental mentor by 30 April. The final application deadline is 1 June 2026.

For consideration for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship and the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship candidates should apply to the department by 18 May 2026. Outcomes for candidates who apply to be hosted in the department by this deadline will be communicated by 1 June 2026. If you application is approved, our Research Office will support you through the application process for the fellowship.

For other schemes, be aware that the process to apply to be hosted at LSE can take some time so to be considered you must apply to the department well in advance of any funding deadlines (a minimum of 2 months). Contact gender.research@lse.ac.uk with any questions about specific scheme deadlines.

How to apply

Applicants should review our Academic Staff profiles to see if there is a suitable departmental mentor for your work. As part of the application process you should approach a mentor with an outline of your project to request their support for your application.

Applicants must complete and submit the Application Form to gender.research@lse.ac.uk. The Research Committee will review all applications.

To apply to the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme, applicants should follow the linked linked and apply to LSE directly.

Postdoctoral funding schemes

Applications for ESRC funded postdoctoral fellowships commencing October 2026 has now been announced.

Applicants need to ensure that they will be available to be contacted between 3 July to 13 July 2026 to respond to nominations and submit their proposals to the ESRC. Decisions will be confirmed to all applicants in by end August. Appointments will start on 1 October 2026.

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 (listed below) 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

You can find a guide to the application process here.

This funding opportunity supports outstanding early career researchers in the humanities or social sciences with a full-time, three-year award towards the completion of a significant piece of publishable research and integration into the community of established scholars within their field.

The department typically sets its internal deadline for late August or early September.

See the BA website for further details.

The British Academy runs a prestigious competition for two-year international postdoctoral fellowships. Usually, the final application date is in mid-March.

LSE internal sift for the scheme is over (30 January 2026) and we can no longer support applications for this round.

Applicants usually must have a PhD, be working outside of the UK, not be UK citizens, and have less than 7 years of postdoctoral experience. Please find and check further details about eligibility on the British Academy website.

European Fellowships are for researchers relocating within or to Europe for 1-2 years; all nationalities can apply.

Global Fellowships fund 2-3 years research outside Europe, with a mandatory 1-year return phase; only EU nationals or long-term residents can apply.

See the MSCA website for further details.

Due to the requirement of match funding, the department is not currently participating in the Leverhulme scheme. See the Leverhulme Trust website for more information on their fellowships.

This scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity. Through innovative projects, they will deliver shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing.

By the end of the award, they will be ready to lead their own independent research programme. The award usually lasts for 5 years, but may be less for some disciplines, such as humanities and social science.

See the Wellcome website for further details.

This grant scheme supports new researchers at the start of their careers to become independent researchers through gaining experience of managing and leading research projects and teams.

Grants range from £100,000 to £300,000 for a period of up to five years. Funding is based on the full economic costs of the research, with ESRC providing 80% of the cost and the research organisation covering the balance.

Proposals can cover any research area, but the social sciences must represent more than 50% of the research focus and effort.

Find out more here.

Researchers of any nationality with 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD, a scientific track record showing great promise and an excellent research proposal can apply for this scheme.

ERC grant applications can only be submitted in response to a Call for Proposals. Calls are published on the European Commission’s Funding and Tenders Portal and in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Find out more here.

Awards to support researchers without prior experience of leading a significant research project to accelerate their trajectory as independent researchers, to unlock their potential and build leadership and convenor experience.

Awards are available for projects between £100,000 and £300,000 (full economic cost) and AHRC will fund 80% of this. Funding is available for projects up to five years in duration.

Ensure your proposal is suitable for AHRC funding

Find out more here.

The BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 months, are provided to cover the cost of the expenses arising from a defined research project.

Find out more here.

This programme provides UK-based early career researchers, active in any discipline within the humanities or the social sciences, with the opportunity to develop and lead international and interdisciplinary research projects.

It aims to support projects which engage with questions concerning the relationship between expertise, public understanding and policy delivery internationally, and highlight the importance of collaboration between communities of practice, disciplines, capacities and borders.

The call supports international collaborations between early career researchers in the UK and elsewhere on internationally focused research projects of an interdisciplinary nature involving the humanities and social sciences.

Find out more here.

This programme provides support for UK-based early career researchers working with international partners wishing to develop ODA-eligible interdisciplinary projects involving both the humanities and the social sciences.

The scheme is focused on enabling UK-based early career researchers to work with early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.

Find out more here.