British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunities

The College of Arts and Law at the University of Birmingham encourages outstanding postdoctoral researchers to apply to the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, for Fellowships hosted at Birmingham starting in the 2027/28 academic year. These three-year fellowships are intended to enable scholars in the arts and humanities and social sciences to complete a major piece of publishable research and to establish their profile within their field and across the wider academic community. 

Ranked 76^th in the QS Rankings for Arts and Humanities, the College of Arts and Law is home to a thriving research culture across five Schools: Birmingham Law School; English, Drama and Creative Studies; History and Cultures; Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music; and Philosophy, Theology and Religion. Research facilities include our outstanding collections and libraries, the Barber Institute of Fine Art, and eye tracking, motion capture, digital media, VR, AR, data processing, and corpus linguistics laboratories dedicated to arts and humanities researchers. Further information about the College can be found here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/artslaw. 

Applications are welcomed from colleagues with strong research proposals who are eligible for the Fellowship because they: 

• Have completed their Viva Voce examination between 1st April 2024 to 1st April 2027 
• Are a UK/EEA national or completed their doctorate at a UK university or have a strong prior association with the UK academic community 
• Have not yet held a permanent academic appointment
• Have not previously applied for the BA Postdoctoral Fellowship.

The College of Arts and Law will select prospective applicants for the Fellowship based on the quality of the proposal and fit within the College. To enable this selection processes, candidates must send the following information by email to Samantha Taylor, Research Support Officer for the College of Arts and Law (s.l.taylor.1@bham.ac.uk) by 5pm on Monday 20th July 2026 (there is no leeway/margin to go over on page number or word count): 

• A description of their proposed project (max. 2 A4 pages, limited informative images and brief references can be on a third page but are not required)
• A copy of their CV (max. 2 A4 pages)
• A summary of why the University of Birmingham and the relevant School are a good fit for the project (max. 300 words)
• In the body of the email:
• The name of their proposed mentor and confirmation they have agreed to act as mentor for the application and fellowship, please also cc the mentor to the email
• The name of their proposed referee (this cannot be the mentor, the supervisor or the internal examiner)
• The date of the Viva Voce
• Confirmation that they have not yet held a permanent academic role AND that they have not previously applied for a BA Postdoctoral Fellowship
• That they are eithera UK/EEA national or did their PhD in a UK university 

Any exemptions/clarifications from the above (including if eligibility is based on ‘strong prior association’) need to be confirmed by the applicant with the British Academy and the email included or forwarded to us (this can be after the July deadline but ineligible applications or refused exemption will result in the EOI being withdrawn). Incomplete/incorrect expressions of interest will not be considered, please check everything carefully. 

Selected candidates will be supported by their mentors and the University’s Research Strategy and Services Division to develop their full proposal, which must be submitted to the British Academy by 5pm on 30^th September 2026. 

Appointments at the University of Birmingham are dependent on the award of the Fellowship.  

We know that diversity strengthens our research community and actively encourage applicants from diverse career paths and all backgrounds.  

For more information on the scheme’s aims and eligibility criteria, please click the above 'Apply' button.

For general enquiries about the scheme or working at the University of Birmingham, please contact Samantha Taylor at s.l.taylor.1@bham.ac.uk.  

Closing Date: 20/07/2026 @ 5 pm