British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships: Call for Expression of Interest

The Department of Education is inviting Expressions of Interest from suitably qualified candidates for the prestigious British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship programme.

The fellowship enables early career researchers to work for three years at a UK institution with the aim of developing the award holder’s curriculum vitae and boosting their prospects of obtaining a permanent academic post.

The primary emphasis is on the completion of a significant piece of publishable research, and the integration of the award holder into the community of established scholars within their field. It is expected that up to 40 Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences will be available to start in Autumn 2027.

Applicants can also apply for research costs (£6,000 over the three years), with their initial salary expected to be commensurate with their early career stage and therefore equivalent to posts with similar duties and levels of responsibility within the host institution pay grades.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must:

• Already be of postdoctoral status when the Research Awards Committee meets in Autumn 2026. Applicants who expect to have had their Viva by 1 April 2027 are eligible for consideration but will have to withdraw their application if the examination is not completed on time. Applicants are expected to have completed their Viva Voce examination between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2027.
• Either be British citizens or come from a European Economic Area nation regardless of where their doctorate was obtained, or hold a doctorate from a UK University.
• Not have been appointed to a permanent academic post in a higher education institution at any time during their career, even pre-doctorate.

Expression of interest process

Applicants should complete this Expression of Interest form and send a short Curriculum Vitae (maximum 2 sides of A4, font size 11) and a Case for Support (maximum 2 sides of A4, font size 11) by 12pm on 16 July 2026. We will also require a letter of support (max. 1 page) from your proposed mentor within the Department of Education, University of Oxford. The letter must be sent by the deadline to research.facilitation@education.ox.ac.uk.

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: noon on Thursday 16 July 2026.

Applicants selected to submit a full application will be informed in good time to develop their application with the Research Team, ahead of the submission deadline of 5pm (CEST) on 30 September 2026.

If you have any questions about the process, please email research.facilitation@education.ox.ac.uk.