Faraday Discovery Fellowships
Forecasted
Faraday Discovery Fellowships support mid-career research leaders with long-term funding for transformative natural sciences research and team building to tackle intractable scientific questions in the UK.
Funder: Royal Society
Due Dates (Anticipated): February 2027 (Stage 2, invited applicants) | September 2027 (Stage 1 outline)
Funding Amounts: Up to £8 million over 10 years; approximately 8 fellowships annually
Summary: Long-term, investigator-led funding helps mid-career STEM research leaders pursue transformative research and build world-leading teams in the UK.
Key Information: Fellows must spend at least 80% of their time on research and at least 50% on the fellowship.
Description
The Royal Society’s Faraday Discovery Fellowships support outstanding mid-career research leaders undertaking high-quality, original research. Each award goes to a single Principal Investigator to establish an outstanding team and address difficult, intractable scientific questions. The programme aims to attract exceptional researchers from overseas and retain talented researchers and their teams in the UK through stable, long-term support.
There are no thematic priorities. Research must fall primarily within the Society’s natural sciences remit, including biological and biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. Proposals should present an ambitious, transformative vision representing a step change for their field. Collaborations may include overseas researchers, industry and disciplines outside STEM. Translation and commercialisation may form part of the research vision, subject to remit restrictions. Fellows and grant-funded postdoctoral researchers can access mentoring, training and networking opportunities.
