Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Funding type:
Fellowship
Total fund:
£6,000,000
Publication date:
3 June 2026
Opening date:
3 June 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
30 September 2026 4:00pm UK time
STFC offers up to 10 Ernest Rutherford Fellowships (ERFs) to applicants on an upward trajectory to pursuing working independently and developing research leadership are encouraged to apply if your research focus is within the remit of STFC core science programme.
You must:
* hold a PhD or have relevant experience
* be hosted by a research organisation with an STFC ERF quota
* show clear plans for establishing your own research niche that enables a step-change towards independence
We will fund your application at 80% of its full economic cost for up to five years. The host research organisation must agree to fund the rest.
Who can apply
This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. .
Who is eligible to apply
Ernest Rutherford Fellowships (ERFs) are open to applicants who hold a doctorate or who can evidence equivalent research experience and are aiming to establish their own research niche and independence.
This fellowship is open to a diversity of research and innovation staff, including researchers, innovators, research technical professionals and research software engineers, who can meet the aims of the funding opportunity. We value intellectual, methodological and technical career paths and there are no time-bound eligibility criteria, for example years of postdoctoral experience.
You must:
* evidence skills, experience, career development and productivity across past appointments
* have your own research plans that do not significantly overlap with those of others
* have the support of an eligible UK organisation
If you secure an academic position at lecturer level prior to the offer of a fellowship, you will be ineligible to hold the fellowship.
Eligible institutions
Fellowships may be held at any eligible UK research organisation that holds a STFC ERF application quota.
Who is not eligible to apply
You are not eligible to apply if:
* you have applied for another UKRI Early Independence Fellowship that will realise equivalent outcomes to this fellowship, and your award is being assessed
* you have been awarded another UKRI Early Independence Fellowship that will realise equivalent outcomes to this fellowship
* you have been awarded a comparable fellowship supporting early independence or a new investigator award from any organisation where you have secured grants as Project Lead, that includes support for and leading of research staff such as postdoctoral research associates as this would indicate that you have already made the step-change to independence
* you are not eligible to apply if you hold or have held a post or position at lecturer level (or equivalent in an institution other than a university) that has enabled you to establish a research niche and independence
* you are not eligible to apply if you have applied for another UKRI fellowship and your application is being assessed
If you are unsure of your eligibility status, please email to confirm before you apply.
Years of experience
STFC does not define eligibility for ERFs in terms of a minimum number of years of experience. Instead, you should read the assessment criteria to determine if you have the skills, knowledge and experience to apply.
ERF research organisation quota
You are advised to contact your proposed host organisation, before the application deadline, to determine if they hold an ERF application quota.
Research organisations may have internal processes to select which candidates to support and the deadlines for these may be several weeks in advance of the STFC ERF closing date. Host organisations should not expect you to accept an offer to be hosted before 17 July 2026.
STFC sets a strict limit on the number of applications that each research organisation may submit. Therefore, it may not be possible for a host to support all interested applicants.
Please see the list of research organisation, contacts and internal deadlines. Any applications submitted through research organisations who do not have an ERF application quota will be rejected.
Any research organisations who exceed their limit will be required to withdraw the excess applications. It is therefore very important that you seek assurance from your proposed host organisation that your application can be accommodated within its limit.
Host organisation equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) Statement
Host organisations must provide a statement describing the inclusive process they have used to select their chosen candidates by completing an online survey by 30 September 2026. Submission of the ED&I statement is a mandatory requirement for research organisations submitting an ERF application. ERF applications that are submitted from a research organisation that has either failed to submit or submitted an inadequate ED&I statement will not be considered until an adequate statement has been received.
ED&I Statements will be assessed by a sub-panel of the Education, Training and Careers Committee (ETCC) to ensure satisfactory processes are in place. The outcome of the assessment will have no bearing of how applicants are scored, unless an inadequate score for the ED&I statement is given.
The intention of this survey is to better understand the process by which host organisations are selecting candidates and to identify examples of best practice. The statement should describe the process used to identify potential candidates. It should not include personal details of potential candidates nor any details that may enable them to be identified.
A complete list of the survey questions is provided in the Additional Info section.
Choice of organisation
We recognise that mobility is not the only means to acquire the skills and experiences necessary to build a research career. We also recognise the need for having a fixed institution to provide unique facilities or opportunities, and other circumstances where moving would be unsuitable, such as domestic arrangements.
To demonstrate a commitment to the development of ERFs, we expect you to have agreed host organisation support with the Head of Department. This should be evidenced in the ‘Host Organisation Support’ section of the application
Resubmissions
You can apply to the ERF 2026 fellowship round if you were previously unsuccessful with the same, modified or a different fellowship application from a previous ERF round providing that you still meet the eligibility criteria.
If you are resubmitting the same, revised or new project, you should ensure that any relevant feedback provided by the panel has been addressed. STFC reserve the right to reject an application if the panel’s comments have not been addressed.
Please note, STFC’s ERF resubmission policy is under review, and we may not accept uninvited resubmissions in future opportunities.
Other funding
You should not be in receipt of duplicate funding for the same or similar application from more than one funding agency. Details of similar applications that have been submitted to other funding agencies must be added in the ‘Other funding support’ section of the application. You must advise STFC if a successful funding decision is made by the other funding agency.
International researchers
Fellowships are open to applicants of any nationality. Where applicable, you will need to comply with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requirements and hold a work permit prior to taking up the Fellowship. Work permits are a matter for direct negotiation between the institution, UKVI and the Home Office.
All successful applicants who require a visa to work in the UK will be eligible to be considered under the Global Talent visa route.
In line with the highly prestigious nature of the award, this visa route is designed for people who are internationally recognised as world leaders or potential world-leading talent in the fields of science and the arts and enables the holder to be both adaptable and flexible during their research in the UK.
The grant of any visa is always subject to the standard Home Office general grounds for refusal of a visa. UKRI is able to provide additional guidance regarding the appropriate evidence required to complete the visa application process under the Global Talent visa route.
Applications are welcome from candidates who intend to use the Fellowship as a means of re‐establishing themselves in the UK following a period overseas.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
* job shares (contact us for further guidance)
For this funding opportunity, joint applications on a job-share basis are permitted. If your application is a proposed job-share, please state this where relevant in your application and set out your proposed arrangements in the ‘Applicant Capability to Deliver’ and ‘Career Development’ sections. Both applicants for any joint applications will be able to list themselves as the fellow.
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Full or Part-time
Fellowships can be held either on a full‐time or a part‐time basis by applicants wishing to combine their fellowship with caring responsibilities. We will also consider requests to hold the fellowship on a part-time basis to allow the fellow to reduce their overall working time (full-time equivalent).
A part‐time award can be held at 50% or above of full‐time equivalent. A part‐time fellow may not hold another part‐time position in conjunction with the fellowship. The period of award for fellowships held on a part‐time basis can be extended on a pro rata basis following discussion with STFC.
What we're looking for
Demand management
Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘additional information’ section.
Aim
This is an Early Independence Fellowship, as described in the, to support you to establish your own research niche and independence.
Scope
This scheme supports excellent investigator-led research across the breadth of our remit.
STFC is offering up to 10 ERFs to exceptional researchers at an early stage of their career. Applicants on an upward trajectory to pursuing working independently and developing research leadership are encouraged to apply.
The project must afford scope for original work and align to STFC strategic objectives and core business areas:
* astronomy, solar and planetary science
* particle physics
* particle astrophysics
* nuclear physics
* accelerator science
* computational science
* quantum technologies
We welcome multidisciplinary applications that cross into other research council areas but expect the primary focus of your work to fall within STFC remit. We welcome projects of all types of research activity. This includes those that develop original theoretical and analytical outputs and those that design and build cutting edge experiments, instrumentation or software development that fundamentally underpin and further research in STFC core business areas.
We work with other research councils to ensure that applications close to remit boundaries are assessed by the most appropriate lead council.