Early Career Fellowships and Awards in the Arts and Humanities

The School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture is keen to support outstanding candidates in a number of externally funded research fellowship schemes. We welcome expressions of interest from high quality early-career candidates whose research interests align with those of academics in the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen, and who have checked their eligibility for the below schemes, which are advertised annually. For any informal enquiries please contact the School Director of Research Dr Syrithe Pugh or School’s Research Development Executive Dr Sabine Freitag.

Funder	Scheme	Internal Triage Process	Funder Opening/ Closing Date
The British Academy	Post-Doctoral Fellowship	School Level - Triage details for 2026 below	30 September 2026, 5 pm
The British Academy	International Fellowship	School Level – Triage now closed	Usually opens in March
Wellcome Trust	Early-Career Awards	School level	21 July 2026, 3pm
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)	Catalyst Award	School level	Responsive Mode – always open scheme
UKRI (cap of 4)	UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Round 10	University of Aberdeen triage now closed	16 June 2026, 4 pm
European Research Council	Starter Grant	For further details please contact europe-rg@abdn.ac.uk	External funding \| StaffNet \| The University of Aberdeen
European Research Council	Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship	For further details please contact europe-rg@abdn.ac.uk External funding \| StaffNet \| The University of Aberdeen	External funding \| StaffNet \| The University of Aberdeen

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026-27

The School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture (LLMVC) at the University of Aberdeen invites applications from prospective applicants to the British Academy’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme. The British Academy 2026-27 competition is expected to open for applications on 1^st July 2026, with a deadline for receipt of applications on 30 September 2026. Full details of the scheme are given on the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships webpages. Candidates must be within three years of the award of their doctorate, and must be a UK or EEA national, or have completed their doctorate at a UK university. Applications are expected to have completed their viva voce between 1 April 2024 and 1 April 2027. If you are interested in applying, you must first check that you meet the British Academy’s eligibility criteria which can be found on their webpages.

Each year the School supports a number of applications for projects in all our subject areas and successful applicants will join a vibrant community of postdoctoral research fellows. The University of Aberdeen is fully committed to supporting the scholarship and career development of our fellows, and each will be assigned an academic mentor and will be fully integrated into the life of the School.

For more information about research in the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen, see: The School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture | The University of Aberdeen. The School welcomes interdisciplinary research proposals, particularly within the University of Aberdeen’s 2040 Interdisciplinary Challenge Areas, more details on these can be found here.

Applicants who would like to be hosted by the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture at the University of Aberdeen must submit an outline proposal (Intention proforma, Abstract, and CV) to the School’s Research Development Executive, Dr Sabine Freitag by 4 pm on Monday 8 June 2026, using the forms available to download below:

If you would like to be considered, you are strongly advised to contact your proposed departmental mentor before submitting your proposal. If you cannot yet identify a potential mentor, advice can be sought from Prof Syrithe Pugh School Director of Research, and Dr Sabine Freitag, Research Development Executive, who can advise you as to how to proceed and best make use of the support available. You can also review academic staff profiles and research interests on the School’s webpage.

The competition for the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship is held in two stages. The outline stage is open for everyone within the eligibility criteria. The second stage is invitation only. You can only apply to this competition once, unless specifically invited to re-apply, so it is important to consider if this is the optimal time for any particular individual to apply.

Deadlines:

8 June 2026	Closing date for submission of outline proposals to the School.
15 June – 26 June 2026	A School review panel will undertake their review of applications and inform all candidates of the outcome of the decision.
29 June – 23 September 2026	The selected candidate(s) will be invited to work on their final proposal(s) for submission to the British Academy with support from the School and colleagues from Research & Innovation.
23^rd September 2026	UoA deadline to submit outline application(s) for institutional approval via the University’s Research Award Management system, Worktribe prior to submission through the British Academy’s Flexi Grant System.
30 September 2026	British Academy deadline for outline applications to the Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme.

Due to the volumes of expressions of interest, the School panel cannot guarantee that feedback will be provided to unsuccessful candidates.

AHRC Responsive Mode: Catalyst Award

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. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £300,000. AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC. Funding is for projects up to five years in duration. Further details on the scheme can be found here.

Funding: Up to £100,000 - £300,000 Full Economic Costs.