Application process
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships must be held at a UK higher education institution/university in a department that can show it is capable of fully supporting the research project and researcher.
The proposed research project must address one of the research topics outlined in the Applicant guidance notes
There are no nationality and age restrictions for applicants. The host institution is responsible for securing all necessary work permits and related costs for the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows.
Please read the Applicant guidance notes for UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowships for full details.
All applications must be submitted via the Academy’s online Grants Management System (GMS) – applicant must first register with the system and create a profile.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process, please contact the Research Team at research@raeng.org.uk to discuss options.
Selection process
The scheme has a one-stage assessment process. Applications will be assessed by reviewers consisting of the UK government intelligence, security, and defence community members (under the auspices of the Government Office for Science) and Academy Fellows. The reviewers will provide comments against each assessment criteria, the overall quality of the application and make a recommendation on whether the applicant should be funded. The selection panel will consider the reviewers’ comments and select the top ranked candidates for awards.
The assessment criteria include the following subjects:
- Candidate
- Research quality and vision
- Impact
- Research environment
Please read the Reviewer guidance for full details of the selection process.
Post-award guidance
The UK IC Postoctoral Research Fellowship contract will be signed between the host institution and the Academy. The UK IC Postoctoral Research Fellowship grant will be paid directly to the host institution as outlined in the contract.
UK IC Postoctoral Research Fellow will be employed by the host institution and are required to devote all their working time to the Research Fellowship programme of work. The UK IC Postoctoral Research Fellowship must be the Research Fellow’s only source of employment.
Awarded IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows will work with the Academy to identify an Academy Fellow to be their mentor. The mentor will provide expert, independent advice, and support for the duration of the Research Fellowship and will also formally monitor the Research Fellow’s progress for the Academy. In addition, UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows will be assigned an Intelligence Community Advisor (IC Advisor), who will advise the awardee and the University Research Advisor on the research project.
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows must submit a progress report every three months throughout the duration of the fellowship as well as an annual report and expenditure statement at the end of each year. At the annual review meeting the Research Fellow, mentor and Academy staff will discuss the report, progress made and future plans.
The UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be invited to attend the US Annual IC Academic Research Symposium during the period of the Research Fellowship.
Please read the Reporting and Review Meetings guidance for full details of requirements.
If you have any questions or queries, please refer to the FAQ page. If your question is not covered there, then please contact the Research team.
Access Mentoring
The Academy aims to provide additional support to applicants from groups that are persistently underrepresented within UK engineering through the grant application process. This positive action will contribute to improving diversity in the talent pipeline and widening the diversity of applicants and awardees within the Academy’s research grant schemes. Please see specific Access Mentoring guidance for each grant scheme.