BBSRC Discovery Fellowships 2022

Apply for a fellowship to carry out independent research within a host laboratory and gain leadership skills.

You must show that you have the potential to become a future research leader.

Your project must be within BBSRC’s remit.

The full economic cost of your project can be up to £500,000. BBSRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

This is the only Discovery Fellowship opportunity open in 2022. We will fund up to 15 fellowships this year.

You should be able to demonstrate appropriate and relevant research or innovation experience. This could be through:

• recent completion of a PhD or other higher qualification
• relevant employment within a research or innovation environment.

You must also be able to evidence reasonable scientific and technical skills and competencies, in line with the ambitions of the Discovery Fellowships scheme.

Applicants currently studying for a PhD are eligible if they are expecting to have passed their PhD viva before 30 November 2022.

Holders of postdoctoral training fellowships such as the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions can apply. Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkins Fellows who meet the research experience eligibility requirement may also apply

You should not hold, or have held:

• an academic position at lecturer level (or the equivalent in an institution other than a university)
• an equivalent competitive fellowship that allows you to establish an independent research group, and therefore independent researcher status.

In addition, you should not have been offered such an appointment before taking up a Discovery Fellowship. This applies to both fixed-term and permanent positions.

If you hold a fellowship where you are eligible to supervise PhD students or submit research grants as a principal investigator (PI), we consider that equivalent to a lectureship. As a result, you are not eligible to apply.

Examples of these fellowships include, but are not limited to:

• Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowships
• Medical Research Council Career Development Awards
• Natural Environment Research Council independent research fellowships.

If you have previously applied for BBSRC grant funding as a PI or co-investigator, you are also not eligible to apply.