Postdoctoral Research Fellow (EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship)

We are pleased to announce a call for an Engineering, Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Prize funded by the EPSRC Doctoral Training Partnership grant.  The EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship is a prestigious scheme aimed at retaining and recruiting the best doctoral researchers whose PhD studies were funded in part or entirely by the EPSRC.  The University of Exeter will fund the Fellowship for 18 months to support you, as an outstanding researcher, in further developing your research activities following completion of a PhD.  This Fellowship is designed to be your first step towards an independent research career.

The start date of the post is flexible, but anticipated to be 1 Jan 2026.

You are required to write a research-project proposal as part of the application.  Projects are welcomed in any area of research under the EPSRC remit. You can use the Fellowship to:

• undertake significant new work;
• complete key publications resulting from your PhD;
• develop research networks; and
• facilitate knowledge transfer.

We also encourage applications to this scheme where support will progress your independence and research outputs towards the next stages of the impact pipeline, for example: proof of concept projects, commercialisation, market validation, activities targeting policy, business and the third sector.  

About you

Candidates must have been funded for their doctoral studies at a UK institution by the EPSRC in the form of stipend and/or fees in order to be eligible for the EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship. Those funded by other Research Councils are not eligible. The award is intended to support candidates that are committed to remain in academia, allowing promising research to develop in new directions. Consequently, the gap between the end of the PhD or EngD project and the start of the Doctoral Prize Fellowship should not normally be more than 9 months.

The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals; identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in their subject area and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. The successful applicant will also be able to work collaboratively, supervise the work of others and act as team leader as required.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

Further information

For further information please contact Professor Alastair Hibbins or Professor Gino Hrkac, via email a.p.hibbins@exeter.ac.uk or g.hrkac@exeter.ac.uk.

Interviews are expected to take place during the weeks of 20 or 27 October.

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