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Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

The term postdoctoral research fellowship refers to independent sources of funding that you can apply for as an early career researcher to do your own research project. These are prestigious and highly competitive but give an excellent opportunity to focus on research for a period of time without a heavy teaching load.

How to apply

Please browse the below list of prestigious fellowships and, if you are interested, contact a potential mentor from our Academic Staff list via email with your proposal. Please note LSE Fellows cannot mentor research fellows.

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowships

Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowships are intended to assist those at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, and it is hoped that the appointment would lead to a more permanent position for the individual, either within the same or another institution. All candidates must hold a doctorate or have equivalent research experience by the time they take up the Fellowship.

See the Leverhulme Trust website for further details. 

ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships

The call is open to applicants who have completed their PhD at a research organisation that is part of an ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) and who are within 12 months of passing their viva voce. At the submission deadline, the applicant must either have been awarded a PhD or have submitted their thesis and passed their viva voce with minor corrections, with the expectation that the PhD will be awarded by the fellowship start date.

See the ESRC website for further details.

Max Weber Postdoctoral Programme

The MWP is open to eligible applicants who are within 5 years from the completion of their PhD, from anywhere in the world, regardless of nationality and including non-EU citizens. Preference is given to applicants who have only just completed their doctorate and have not had a post-doctoral fellowship before. The Programme attracts circa 1200 applicants per year for 55-60 positions.

See the Max Weber website for further details.

AXA Research Fund Postdoctoral Fellowships

The AXA Fellowship is a funding scheme aiming at supporting young promising researchers on a priority topic aligned with AXA and the Society. Our support should be transformative for the researcher and the advancement of her/his research field.

See the AXA website for further details.

Other ways to find out about fellowships