UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships

Information for potential applicants
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UK Research and Innovation's Future Leaders Fellowship scheme is a fantastic opportunity for us to develop those early career researchers who are ready to transition to or establish their research independence. Not only is this an opportunity for us to support our rising stars, but it is also an opportunity for external candidates to join the research community at the University of Plymouth. The fellowships are open to applicants from varied backgrounds and career paths, and we welcome all applications, including those who are looking to return to research after a break or time in other roles.
Round 9 of this scheme closed on on 18 June 2024 and Round 10 will open in February 2025. The FLF scheme is demand managed by UKRI so we are limited on the number of applicants we can support. Therefore we are running an internal competition to identify the strongest candidates, both at the University of Plymouth and elsewhere. The deadline for applications to the internal competition is 09:00 Monday 6 January 2025.
Please note that applications to UKRI where the fellowship is intended to be held at the University of Plymouth must be made via the process outlined below to ensure you have approved support from the proposed host Department.
Call Information Sessions
Wednesday 27th November 2024 at 12pm
Wednesday 4th December 2024 at 11.30am
We will be running 2 x 1 hour zoom sessions to provide an overview of the scheme, support available and allow for questions. Sessions will be run by the Research Funding Managers.
If you would like to attend, please email the Research Funding Managers at researchadvice@plymouth.ac.uk and a calendar invite will be sent through to you.
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Please expand the sections below for information on how to apply to the competition for both prospective internal and external fellowship candidates.

Institutional support
Internal applicants are encouraged to secure the support of their Faculty’s Associate Dean for Research (ADR) before submitting to this sift, so please arrange appropriate discussions with your ADR in advance of your sift application.
External applicants please contact someone in your relevant research area ahead of your sift application, to ensure support from the relevant department that would be hosting your fellowship. You can browse our current research activity, institutes and departments on our Research and expertise pages. If you are unsure who best to contact, please email researchadvice@plymouth.ac.uk and we will be happy to guide you.
The Faculty of Science and Engineering have specified some research areas of interest around which we would particularly welcome applications that align with these topic areas. This is not at the exclusion of others, but applications around these themes would fit particularly well with the Faculty's research strategy:
  • Maritime decarbonisation
  • Marine conservation
  • Marine and terrestrial autonomous sensing
  • Maritime cybersecurity
  • Offshore Renewable Energy
  • Environmental health and governance
  • Sustainable food production systems
The Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business has also identified specific research areas of interest, particularly encouraging applications that align with the Faculty's theme of addressing global challenges through the lens of place . This is not at the exclusion of others, but applications around the following themes would fit particularly well with the Faculty's research strategy:
  • Place, community and creativity
  • Heritage and Digital Innovation
  • Health, Community and Well-Being
  • Environment and Sustainability
  • UK in a Changing World

Eligibility
This scheme is for early career researchers and innovators who are either:
  • looking to establish or transition to independence
  • developing their own original and ambitious plans within a commercial setting
Applicants are expected to hold a doctorate by the start date of the fellowship OR to be able to demonstrate equivalent research/innovation experience and/or training.
There are no eligibility rules based on whether you currently hold a permanent or open-ended academic position or job role. You can find more information about eligibility rules on the Round 10 call page for this opportunity and the Round 10 Guidance for Academic-hosted Applicants.

How to apply
Interested applicants should complete the University of Plymouth FLF Internal Sift Application by 09:00 on Monday 06 January 2025.
You can refer to the previous round's call guidance and specific ‘Vision & Approach’ advice listed on page 12 of the call guidance for academic applicants to ensure your proposed project meets the required assessment criteria.
There is no requirement to submit a CV, UKRI have moved to the 'Capability to Deliver' model of narrative CV for applications, and we have included relevant questions around this within the sift application form.
EDI Monitoring
As part of our internal sift process, we will be reporting (to UKRI) on anonymised EDI data throughout the whole process. This will enable the University to meet UKRI’s requirements on providing an ‘inclusive selection process statement and supporting data’. Please complete the survey

Assessment and decisions
Decisions on the supported applicants will be made after panel assessment, representative membership from each Faculty and Research & Innovation will be ensured. When applicants have received confirmation of support for the full application, there will be further communications on internal deadlines for a draft of the full application, to ensure time for feedback and peer review.
There are resources available on our webpages to help applicants prepare their proposals – see guidance resources. Please ensure that you have read the FLF round 10 UKRI information for applicants.