Newton International Fellowships

Applicants must have been awarded their PhD, or have passed their thesis defence, by the closing date. They may have no more than five years of active full-time postdoctoral experience, which counts teaching, research in industry, honorary and visiting posts, and is pro-rated for part-time contracts. Parental and extended sick leave are deducted, with extra time added on top of each period of leave, up to six months more.

The scheme is for people coming to the UK. Applicants must be working outside the UK, must not hold UK citizenship, and must not have lived, worked or done research in the UK in the 12 months before the deadline, apart from short visits totalling less than three months or refugee and humanitarian protection status. Someone employed by a UK organisation abroad is not eligible. Those who did their PhD in the UK must have been based outside it for at least a year, and proposing to go back to a former supervisor needs a strong scientific reason. Nobody can hold the fellowship twice.

Every application is written with a UK sponsor: an established independent researcher on a permanent contract, or a fixed-term one that outlasts the project, at an eligible host. Hosts are UK universities, research council institutes, not-for-profit research institutes and public sector research establishments; companies, spin-outs and government bodies are not. The sponsor mentors the fellow and makes the practical arrangements, but is not a co-applicant and receives no money. The Royal Society will not help anyone find a sponsor.

From 2026 each sponsor may support only one application per round. The head of department confirms in the form that the host will give the fellow proper space, equipment and protected research time, treat them like comparable staff, and limit teaching and administration to about three hours a week in term.

An applicant may ask for up to 280,000 pounds for the two years. It covers the basic salary set by the host with on-costs, research expenses, estate and indirect costs, and relocation and visa costs for the fellow, their partner and their children; the cap may be exceeded for relocation and visas if the application justifies it. The money cannot pay other staff, PhD studentships or the sponsor.

The fellowship lasts two years and must be spent in the UK: remote working from abroad is not allowed, though short fieldwork trips of up to about a month a year are possible. It can be held part-time for health or caring reasons, with provision for parental and sick leave. Fellows who need a visa can use the fast-track endorsement of the Global Talent visa, and after the award they may receive alumni funding for networking with UK researchers.