Research Fellowships

Applying for Research Fellowships at CEB

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse research environment.

We particularly encourage and welcome applications from those who are under-represented in our field and within academic roles at Cambridge – including, but not limited to, women and individuals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

Application restrictions and selection processes

Independent Fellowships:

We are constantly searching for outstanding early-career researchers who wish to apply for Independent Fellowships, allowing them to establish their own research group in the Department or for Junior Fellowships hosted by our established academics. But, due to physical space and resource limitations, we can only support some of those aiming to apply for Independent Fellowships, and therefore, we run an internal selection process. We run a Departmental competition once a year to select the applicants we will support for submission to the funders.  

Junior Fellowships:

No restrictions or selection processes are implemented for Junior Fellowships. 

How to apply

If you want to apply for a Junior or Independent Research Fellowship, please follow the instructions detailed below.

If you are unsure whether a particular scheme falls under the Independent or Junior Fellowships categories, please contact us at research.fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk.

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, and UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

These are restricted calls with dedicated selection processes and deadlines.
Please see the relevant information below. 

Independent Fellowships

We consider the category of Independent Fellowships to include those that allow successful candidates to establish their own research group as Principal Investigators, supervise PhD students, recruit post-doctoral researchers, and independently apply for external funding. The duration of these fellowships typically equals or exceeds five years. A non-comprehensive list of schemes that we consider as Independent Fellowship is provided below:

• Royal Society University Research Fellowship
• Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship 
• MRC Career Development Award 
• Wellcome Trust Career Development Award
• ERC Starting Grant
• Cancer Research UK Career Development Fellowship
• Royal Academy of Engineering Green Future Fellowship

Independent Fellowship restrictions

Unfortunately, the number of candidates interested in applying for Independent Fellowships exceeds our capacity in lab and office space and resources, hence we can only support some of the applicants. We run a Departmental competition once a year to select the applicants we will support for submission to the funders.  

Independent Fellowship Expression of Interest (EoI)

Prospective applicants for Independent Fellowships should submit an expression of interest (EoI) by email to research.fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk, which must include:  

• CV and publications list (up to A4 2 pages)  
• A research proposal (up to A4 2 pages) including: i) a clear indication of which scheme (or schemes) you intend to apply for; ii) a brief description of the project and estimated resource requirements (space, staff, equipment, facilities, consumables; iii) fit with the Department; iv) vision for establishing your independent research programme.  
• Three letters of reference. Each must be emailed directly by the referee by the EOI deadline and not the applicant

Unless you propose significantly different projects for each sponsor, only one Expression of Interest is needed for each application round, regardless of the number of schemes you wish to be considered for. We are particularly keen on candidates who align with and strengthen our strategic impact areas of Sustainability and Healthcare and are willing to participate actively in Departmental activities. We encourage both candidates internal to the Department or University and those aiming to join us for the first time.  

Independent Fellowship Expression of Interest Deadline

The Expression of Interest must be submitted by 1 April (17.00) for schemes that have a funder deadline between 1 July of that year and 30 June the following year.

Applicants are responsible for checking their eligibility for each Fellowship scheme and funder deadlines to determine when to submit their EoI.  

Expressions of Interest will be considered and ranked. We aim to complete the shortlisting process within four weeks of the EoI deadline, but timeframes may vary depending on urgency. Short-listed applicants may be invited to the Department to deliver a seminar. We cannot provide extensive feedback to unsuccessful candidates due to application volumes, but a brief feedback statement can be provided upon request. Please note that the number of candidates the Department selects for each scheme may vary depending on resources, strategic considerations, and strength of the applicant field. This may result in no candidates being supported for specific calls. Candidates applying for multiple schemes may be selected for some and not for others. 

For successful candidates, we will support them with the preparation of their application to the funder, completing internal steps (i.e. costings), and preparing for external interviews.   

Please note that the Department cannot guarantee an established position for successful candidates when their Fellowship ends.

Junior Fellowships

Any Fellowship duration of 3 years or less is considered a Junior Fellowship, as these posts do not warrant independent group-leader status but are hosted by existing groups. Relevant schemes include (but may not be limited to):  

• BBSRC Early independence Fellowship
• MRC Early independence Fellowship
• Wellcome Early-Career Awards
• Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellowships
• Royal Society Newton International Fellowship
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Ernest Oppenheimer Early Career Fellowship (Cambridge-based)
• Herschel-Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship (Cambridge-based)
• Cambridge College (Junior) Research Fellowships 

Contacting a Host PI

Junior Fellowship candidates interested in applying for these schemes should directly contact relevant academics in the Department to act as their Host Principal Investigator (PI). Please refer to the CEB Academic Staff Directory. 

Host PIs agreeing to support Junior-Fellowship applicants are responsible for guiding the candidate through the application process, including overseeing costing, complying with internal administrative deadlines, sourcing support letters and providing feedback on the application package. The Host PI will also ensure sufficient support is made available to the Fellow in case of success, including lab and office space, financial resources, and scientific and career mentoring.  

The Department does not run screening or pre-selection exercises for Junior Fellowships. We, however, strongly encourage applicants or Host PIs to notify research.fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk of their applications to meet the four weeks’ notice requirement and inform them of the subsequent outcome.  

Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowships

This is a Junior Fellowship that requires Host PI approval to prepare an application. In 2026 there will be a two-stage application process, with the first stage deadline in June 2026. The funder restricts Cambridge to two applications, or four if the third and fourth are from groups considered by the funder to be underrepresented in engineering. Departments are required to rank candidates and submit them for University selection. Interested candidates should submit the following information and documentation to research.fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk by 12.00 on Tuesday 7 April 2026:

• Applicant's name and email address
• PhD certificate date or date of unconditional approval 
• Whether the applicant wishes to self-declare that they belong to an underrepresented group in UK engineering research (the funder has identified the following groups as underrepresented in UK engineering research: women; black people, including those with any mixed ethnicity with Black ethnic background(s); disabled people)

• Project summary (800 words) for each applicant, addressing the following points in line with the assessment criteria:

Goals and Objectives: Please state the goals and objectives for your research project. You should include details on how novel, realistic, and ambitious the project is as well as its timeliness (i.e. why it is important and why it should be conducted now) and how you will embed diversity and inclusion in your research, collaborations and team development. 

Beneficiaries and Impact: Identify the main beneficiary groups and describe how they could benefit from your research outcomes. You should outline credible routes through which outcomes could be used, adopted or translated beyond academia, and describe how you will communicate your work and engage with audiences outside the academic community.

• Applicant’s brief CV (max. 3 pages). 

Applicants are asked not to include personal information in the CV (e.g., gender, date of birth, nationality).

The CV should include a list of publications that are most significant/relevant to the proposal. DORA principles should be considered when presenting research outputs.

• A draft support letter (please do not yet request signature) from the Head of Department confirming their support for the project and agreement to host the grant – please work with the Host PI to develop this draft letter.

Department ranking and University selection will be based on the funder’s criteria:

•  Candidate: the quality of the applicant’s research track record; the potential of the applicant to become a future leader in their chosen field and the potential to act as an ambassador and advocate for engineering research.
• Research Quality and Vision: the quality of the applicant’s research vision and their potential to establish an independent research career in their chosen field; the quality of the proposed research programme including timeliness, novelty, vision, and ambition that are achievable within the five-year research timeline; consideration of diversity and inclusion in research and team development.
• Beneficiaries and Impact: extent to which beneficiaries will benefit from the proposed research and the potential to translate research outcomes into societal and economic impact.

Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship  

This is a Junior Fellowship that requires Host PI approval to prepare an application.
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship  requires match funding from the host institution, which in Cambridge is awarded competitively through the multi-step selection process outlined here for candidates pre-approved by the Department.

Potential candidates interested in the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship should submit their expression for interest in October 2026 (exact date to be confirmed).

Applications should include the following and be submitted to Research.Fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk:

• CV (maximum two sides of A4)
• Details of current and past research (maximum 250 words)
• Detailed statement of proposed research, including aims, objectives, methodology, and outcomes (e.g., publications) (maximum two sides of A4)
• List of publications under three headings: In preparation; Submitted; and Published (maximum one side of A4)
• Two letters of reference. Each must be emailed directly by the referee.

Please note that we can only support two exceptional candidates a year. Interested candidates in this fellowship should contact the Department at the earliest opportunity to explore their suitability for this programme.

UKRI Future Leader Fellowship (FLF) 

The Department is not inviting expressions of interest for Round 11 of this scheme.

If you have questions about the application process for Research Fellowships, please contact us at research.fellowships@ceb.cam.ac.uk