Postdoctoral Research Fellow (EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship)

Generous holiday allowances, flexible working, pension scheme and relocation package (if applicable).

Contact: Professor Gino Hrkac, via email g.hrkac@exeter.ac.uk

The start date of the post is flexible but anticipated to be 1 November 2025 on a fixed term basis for 5 months.

There are four positions available.

The post

We are pleased to announce a call for an Engineering, Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) Postdoctoral pathway 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 up to 4 Fellowships for a maximum of 5 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.

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. 

Applicants will be expected to demonstrate how the Postdoctoral Prize will enable them to achieve one or more of the following aims in support of the next stage of their career:

• complete key publications resulting from their PhD;
• develop research networks;
• facilitate knowledge transfer;
• build on collaborations with industry or other research partners
• undertake small-scale pilot or proof-of-concept research leading to a subsequent fellowship or grant application

We will also encourage applications to the scheme where support will progress 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.

Projects will be within the EPSRC remit and will demonstrate alignment with the UK government’s mission to kickstart economic growth. 9 Please tick to indicate you accept that there may be additional monitoring associated with this funding. EPSRC will keep this proportional.

Eligibility; Application and Assessment process

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.

Important information about the application process, including the project proposal, supporting statements from your sponsor and doctoral supervisor, and other required details can be found by clicking the 'Apply' button, above.

Applications that are incomplete or not correctly formatted will be rejected. 

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