Research Fellowships in the College of Medical and Dental Sciences
There are many opportunities to grow your research and further your career within a successful and supportive environment at the College of Medical and Dental Sciences.
We welcome new researchers to the University of Birmingham and support our existing researchers to launch their independent careers by applying for Fellowship funding. For example, the UKRI’s flagship fellowship known as Future Leaders Fellows or similar opportunities from other major funders such as the Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute of Health and Social Research (NIHR), Wellcome, Cancer Research UK (CRUK), British Heart Foundation (BHF) and European Research Council (ERC).
The College is ideally positioned within the University campus, alongside several key NHS partners and the nearby life science research park. The partnership opportunities are second-to-none and state-of-the-art research facilities, world-leading experts and access to patient groups enable our scientists and clinicians have a real impact on improving patient treatments and outcomes.
Dr Anne Hanley, Historian of Medicine and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow (Round 5), explains why she chose the University of Birmingham for her fellowship.
Dr Anne Hanley
“It is important that my work on historical sexual health is relevant to current health policy, clinical practice and patient activism, so the opportunity to be based in a medical school was a significant draw. Having already established an enthusiastic and supportive network in the Institute of Applied Health Research (IAHR), I knew it would be an excellent home for my Future Leaders Fellowship and my research portfolio. The IAHR has been a uniquely enriching place for collaboration and has enabled the type of interdisciplinary research innovation that the UKRI prioritises.”
Colleagues from the College of Medical and Dental Sciences are shaping the future of health and medicine through exceptional research, evidenced by our Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care areas being ranked in the top 10 in the UK for 4* research during the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.
We take pride in having an excellent track record in supporting early career researchers to become independent group leaders and secure permanent academic positions. We provide a comprehensive support framework for applicants to win fellowships.
External candidates who are interested in a Fellowship hosted within the College should initially get in touch with the contact for their research area, with a CV and an outline of their research proposal:
Open calls
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships
Managed external call, open to both internal and external candidates.
This highly-regarded scheme is for early career researchers and innovators with outstanding potential, to tackle challenging research and develop their own careers.
Aimed specifically at researchers:
- looking to establish or transition to independence
- developing their own original and ambitious plans within a commercial setting.
The scheme offers funding across UKRI’s remit. Fellowships will be funded for four years initially, with a possible further three years. The scheme is particularly attractive because it also ensures an open-ended employment contract with host institution.
The fellowship offers flexibility to support talented, driven individuals:
- from diverse career backgrounds
- returning from a career break or time in other roles
- wishing to work part-time or in job shares
- coming to the UK from abroad.
Watch this short video from UKRI to find out more about the scheme.
UKRI: Future Leaders Fellowships: The Next Generation of Researchers.
Full scheme details can be found on the UKRI web page
Selection process
There will be an internal selection process to determine which applications the University of Birmingham puts forward. Both internal and external candidates will be considered at this point.
Next steps
External candidates interested in applying for the Future Leaders Fellowship through the College of Medical and Dental Sciences should contact the relevant Institute for their area for research well ahead of the 4th April 2023 as this is our internal deadline for considering submitted applications for this call.
Internal candidates will need to confirm the support of their Institute Director.