The Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) is a research fellowship awarded to outstanding early career scientists in the United Kingdom who are judged by the Royal Society to have the potential to become leaders in their field.[1] The research fellowship funds all areas of research in natural science including life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, but excluding clinical medicine.[1]

Quick Facts Awarded for, Sponsored by ...
Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF)
Awarded forResearch fellowship for outstanding scientists who have the potential to become leaders in their field
Sponsored byRoyal Society
CountryUnited Kingdom
Reward(s)
  • 80% of basic salary[1]
  • 100% of research expenses (within the total award value of £1.83M)[1]
WebsiteRoyal Society Scheme page
Close

The URF scheme provides the opportunity for fellows to build an independent career in scientific research. Fellows are expected to be strong candidates for permanent faculty posts and academic tenure in universities at the end of their fellowships. As of 2023, applicants are permitted to apply for a maximum award value of £1.83 million, over eight years. The fellowship funds up to 80% of basic salary costs for the awardee, with the other 20% usually provided by the University hosting the fellow.

Fellowships are awarded annually. In 2022, there were 28 universities across the UK and Ireland hosting 50 newly appointed University Research Fellowships.[2] In 2015, the success rate of applications was 8%.[3][4]

Notable fellows

As of 2017, examples of current and former Fellows include:

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.