Career Development Fellowship
Career Development Fellowship supports early-career Black heritage researchers with curiosity-led natural sciences research and career development to build successful research careers in the UK.
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Funder: Royal Society
Due Dates: November 18, 2026, at 3:00 PM UK time (Application deadline) | May 12–13, 2027 (Interviews) | June 30, 2027 (Decision by)
Funding Amounts: Up to £703,800 over four years, with justified relocation and visa costs permitted above the cap
Summary: Supports early-career Black heritage researchers with curiosity-led natural sciences research funding and career development in the UK.
Key Information: Applicants must have less than 24 months of full-time-equivalent postdoctoral experience at the deadline.
Description
The Royal Society’s Career Development Fellowship is a four-year postdoctoral scheme supporting talented Black heritage scientists and engineers as they move from PhD study into early postdoctoral research. It funds high-quality, curiosity-led research within the natural sciences and combines research support with tailored mentoring, training and networking to help fellows build successful research careers in UK institutions.
The scheme is a pilot designed to improve retention of underrepresented researchers in STEM and strengthen the UK scientific workforce. It is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and Royal Society charitable funds. A partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society supports an additional fellowship for research directly relevant to dementia, excluding clinical and interventional studies on humans.
