精东传媒

The School of Chemistry seeks to support fellowship applications from outstanding individuals who are at a career stage where a prestigious independent fellowship will offer the opportunity to develop an independent research profile and become a research leader of the future. 

The School offers a supportive and collaborative environment on which to build an independent career. The School has a strong tradition of nurturing and promoting independent research fellows, and many key members of current staff have come through this route.

The requirements of the individual schemes below are listed with specific deadlines for internal competitions. To express speculative interest in any of the schemes listed below in advance of any deadline or for advice on which fellowship may be most suitable, contact both Professor Sharon Ashbrook (Head of School, chem-hos@st-andrews.ac.uk) and Professor Andrew Smith (Director of Research, chemdor@st-andrews.ac.uk) and include a CV and a separate outline of your proposed research interests and area (two pages).

When assessing your application for any fellowship and/or expression of interest for support, the School considers:

• your track record
• the research that you propose to carry out and where that fits within the School strategy
• your career stage, experience and why you would benefit from this fellowship at this stage in your career.

As part of its policy, the School actively promotes the fair treatment of all staff and students irrespective of sex, sexual orientation, age, race, belief, disability, pregnancy and maternity or relationship status. The School of Chemistry holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award and encourages expressions of interest from highly motivated candidates of any self-identifying group.

Fellowship schemes

The School is looking to support exceptional candidates in the following schemes:
 – Early career, post-doctoral researchers of any nationality with between three and eight years of actual research experience since their PhD (i.e. date on which the degree was approved by the board of graduate studies) by the closing date of the round (September 9^th 2026).

School deadline for applications: Tuesday 18^th August 2026 (5pm UK time), and we hope to shortlist and carry out a virtual “interview” process between the 24^th and 28^th August 2026.

 – offers a recognised first step into an independent research career for outstanding scientists at an early stage of their research career who require a flexible working pattern due to personal circumstances, such as parenting or caring responsibilities or health-related reasons. Open to applicants at an early stage of their research career, who have either completed their PhD or have no more than six years of actual research experience since their PhD (i.e. date on which the PhD thesis was accepted in its final form and approved by the board of graduate studies) by the closing date of the round (October 28^th 2026).

School deadline for applications: Wednesday 30^th September 2026 (5pm UK time), and we hope to shortlist and carry out a virtual “interview” process between the 12^th and 15^th October.

For both URF and Dorothy Hodgkin competitions, candidates are asked to supply the following information (this mimics the full proposal to the Royal Society if you receive School support):

1. A personal statement (max 500 words)
2. A list of key and relevant publications (max 1000 words)
3. Abstract(max 400 words)
4. LaySummary (max 250 words) 
5. Research proposal -Your research proposal should provide a detailed five-year project plan alongside a broader eight-year vision and strategy  (4 sides of A4 only, do not use a text size smaller than 10 Arial).

URF_Dorothy_Hodgkin_2026_call.docx (Word)

 – Call date to be finalised but expected to be January 2026 for a fellowship starting in 2026. An expression of interest should be submitted to the Director of Research (chem-dor@st-andrews.ac.uk) by the middle of November 2026 (date to be finalised). Expected internal University application deadline (usually one candidate accepted from the School) is middle December 2026.

 – these opportunities are available all year but are often linked to specific research priority areas. Details can be found in the EPSRC fellowship guidance (PDF) .

s - This is a very attractive and competitive Fellowship that allows successful candidates to start their independent academic career.  Although the details have not been released it is expected this call will be released in January/February 2027. It offers a long term (4 + 3 years) fellowship with a transition to a lectureship appointment. 

More details about the scheme, including eligibility criteria, can be found in the attached guidance and on the  Details of the call will be released when the University competition is announced.

Broom-McIntyre School of Chemistry Diversity Fellowship

this offers a prestigious 3-year independent fellowship programme to support early-career (postdoctoral) researchers from backgrounds that have been historically under-represented in chemistry research and academia in the UK (e.g., women, minority ethnic, LGBTQI+, disabled, low income backgrounds). The Fellowship aims to provide a supportive and collegial environment for early-career researchers to develop their research and prepare themselves for future independent roles in academia and beyond. With all applications assessed on merit, we especially seek candidates from diverse under-represented backgrounds, who have completed a PhD in Chemistry, or a closely related subject, and can demonstrate the potential for independent research and a future academic career. The Broom-McIntyre Research Fellow will be associated with an existing research group within the School such that they benefit from existing technical support and infrastructure. They will also be paired with a mentor to provide support and advice and connected to networks within 精东传媒 to ensure that the fellow has an excellent peer support group. The first call for this fellowship was held in July 2024 and further calls will be advertised here and on social media (expected next call in early 2027).