Application process
UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships must be held at a UK higher education institution/university or at a UK research organisation that is eligible to receive UKRI funding that can show it is capable of fully supporting the research project and researcher. However, organisations represented in the UK Intelligence Community for this scheme are excluded.
The proposed research project must address one of the research topics outlined in the Applicant guidance notes.
Only citizens of Australia, Canada, the EEA, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK or the US can apply. 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 [email protected] to discuss options.
Please note, a basic security check is required as part of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship scheme. By applying to this scheme the applicant is agreeing to be security checked prior to the start of the Research Fellowship providing the required information (full name, date of birth, nationality and current address) to the funder/relevant governmental organisation who will perform the check. If the Research Fellow does not meet or complete the security check requirement, the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship award will be withdrawn.
Access mentoring support
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.
To be eligible for Access Mentoring support, applicants must meet the eligibility criteria of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellowships scheme and must be either:
- women
- Black people (including any mixed ethnicity groups that include Black ethnic backgrounds)
- disabled people
The Academy accepts applicants’ self-declaration on the above identified underrepresented groups.
Access Mentoring is a resource-limited opportunity. Applicants do not need to wait until the deadline to submit and early submission is encouraged. Mentors will be assigned on a first come first served basis. For more information on Access Mentoring please see guidance and how to apply
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.
It is important to note that the scores and comments from the topic authors carry significant weight in the evaluation process. A project may face challenges in securing funding if the topic author provides a negative assessment, as their expertise is closely tied to the relevance and feasibility of the proposed work.
The selection panel will consider the reviewers’ comments and select the top ranked candidates for awards. To ensure both diversity and excellence, awards will be distributed across the different topics.
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 grant agreement 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 grant agreement.
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.
The IC Advisor is the government representative for each topic. They are the responsible party from the government to track that the research of the UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellow is in line with aims of the research topic.
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 Intelligence Community (IC) Tech Week during the period of the Research Fellowship. However, due to security restrictions in place at the venue, only citizens from Five Eyes (FVEY) countries can attend.
Please read the Reporting and Review Meetings guidance for full details of requirements.