FAQs

The Royal Academy of Engineering offers Research Fellowships each year to outstanding early-career researchers to support them to become future research leaders in engineering. The scheme's objectives are to: 

• support the best early-career researchers in establishing their independence and international reputation 
• provide long-term support enabling the pursuit of an ambitious programme of engineering research and impact 
• develop ambassadors for the Academy and advocates for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines 

The funding includes directly incurred costs (e.g. salary, travel and subsistence, other costs), directly allocated costs (e.g. estates) and indirect costs.  

Each application is capped at a maximum contribution from the Academy of £800,000 over a five-year period at 80% of full economic costs (total project costs up to £1 million). The host institution is responsible for covering the remaining costs.  

There are limits to the costs that can be requested, e.g. no computer should cost more than £3,000 and no single item of equipment or upgrade to existing equipment should cost more than £10,000. For further details, please refer to the 'Resources requested' section in the applicant guidance notes. 

Applications are welcome from any engineering discipline, including multidisciplinary fields. Engineering is defined in its broadest sense, encompassing a wide range of diverse fields, including computer science and materials.  

Broad engineering categories are listed in Appendix A of the applicant guidance notes and can also be found under the ‘List of Panels’ on the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Fellowship page. 

Yes, candidates with a permanent position who meet all other eligibility criteria are able to apply for the Research Fellowship and will be assessed on the same basis as other candidates.

No, this is not a requirement. The research independence is assessed in terms of the candidate's research profile and track record, and the support provided by the host institution and its appropriateness for the proposed research programme.   

The new two-stage application process entails submission of an expression of interest form followed by a full invited application. For the 2026/27 round, the expression of interest stage is open from 5 May 2026 to 25 June 2026 and will be a short application form of around 2,000 words. Applicants should proceed with any internal selection process at their host institution at the expression of interest stage.

Following the expression of interest stage, there will be a full invited application stage from October to December 2026 where applicants will submit more detailed technical descriptions of their proposal as well as full costings.

From this round, the award value has increased, covering projects of up to £1 million (funded at 80% fEC) with a maximum Academy contribution of £800,000.

Access Mentoring is a positive action initiative that matches applicants from underrepresented groups with mentors to support them with their application. The following groups are eligible to apply for Access Mentoring: 

• Women 
• Black people (including any mixed ethnicity groups that include Black ethnic backgrounds) 
• Disabled people 

For the 2026/27 round, only applicants from the above groups that make it to invited application stage can then apply for Access Mentoring. 

Collaborators who will be contributing financially or in kind to the Research Fellowship must provide a letter of support detailing their contribution at stage two: invited application. Please note that letters of support are not required at stage one: expression of Interest. 

Letters of support must be collated into a single PDF document and each letter must meet the following requirements: 

• Be on headed paper and no more than two pages in length 
• Be from external collaborators i.e., people and organisations not working at the host institution and its affiliates 
• Be signed by an authority at the organisation who knows the applicant, with the signatory’s name and position stated clearly 
• Explain why they are interested in the project and how the collaboration will be beneficial 
• Provide details on the nature of the collaboration and the form it will take 

As reviewers will assess the plans for collaboration, aim for quality over quantity and keep the letters short and concise to enable the reviewer to identify the salient information. A bullet-point list of contributions is a highly effective format. 

Letters of support need to be submitted by the closing date and cannot be added or updated once the application has been submitted. In cases where an application refers to a collaborator who is contributing to the grant, but no letter of support is provided to corroborate the collaboration, this will be considered as 'sought after' rather than agreed.

The assessment criteria for the expression of interest are as follows: 

1. Candidate quality  

• Quality of the applicant’s research track record 
• Potential of the applicant to become a future leader in their chosen field 
• Potential of the applicant to act as an ambassador and advocate for engineering research 

2. Research vision  

• Quality of the applicant’s research vision and their ability to articulate their near, mid, and long-term goals 
• Applicant’s potential to establish an independent research career for themselves, in their chosen field 

3. Beneficiaries and impact 

• The extent to which stakeholders and partners will benefit from the proposed research 
• The candidate’s planned pathways to translate their research outcomes into societal and economic impact. 

Applications that are successful at the expression of interest stage and invited to submit a full application will then be assessed on the quality, ambition, feasibility and technical strength of the proposed research, alongside the applicant’s ability and potential to deliver the Fellowship successfully.

If you are successful, your funding will be awarded under the RD&I Terms and Conditions found on the Academy’s website.

This agreement has been developed to ensure funding aligns with our Academy values, is used for the purposes for which it was awarded and is managed in compliance with our own funders’ agreements, UK legislation and funding best practice. 

Successful awardees will be asked to submit an initiation report to confirm they have started. After this initial report, at the end of each year of the fellowship, awardees will have a formal review meeting with their mentor to go over their progress against their objectives for that year and will submit an annual report covering the progress for that year. Awardees will also be asked to provide a yearly expenditure statement to track their spending in the eligible cost categories across the award. 

There are various changes allowed over the course of the fellowship. These include a virement of one budget category to a different one, a no-cost extension, maternity/paternity leave, suspension, part-time working request, and transfer of host institution to another eligible UK host institution. Unfortunately, costed extensions are not allowed (aside from a reimbursement from paternity/maternity leave). 

It is imperative when requesting any of these changes to check with the Academy team before doing so as you will need to provide relevant documents before we can process these changes. 

Although there is an expectation that a permanent position will be offered to an awardee at the end of the funding period, this is not a contractual requirement of the host institution.

Please reach out to [email protected] with any additional questions or if you would like to make a request for reasonable adjustments. 

Frequency of award cycle 

Applications are open for expressions of interest, opening 5 May 2026 and closing on 25 June 2026. The second stage of invited applications (which will only be successful applicants from the expression of interest stage) will be open from October to December 2026. 

Please refer to the applicant guidance notes for information on the key dates.  

Start date of award 

Research Fellowships must start between 1 August and 31 October, unless otherwise advised by the Academy. Please refer to the applicant guidance notes for information on the key dates.  

Duration of award 

The duration of a Research Fellowship is five years full time, calculated on a pro-rata basis for part-time awards. Research Fellowships cannot be held for less than five years as they are intended for projects of significant scope only. Requests for a shorter Research Fellowship are not accepted.

There will be 12 awards made for the 2026/27 round.

If you are awarded a Research Fellowship, you will gain access to the Academy’s Awardee Excellence Community. 

The community brings together awardees from across the Academy’s programmes from all career stages and disciplines to share their expertise, collaborate, and contribute new perspectives to the Academy’s work. You can meet, learn from and support other awardees beyond your immediate cohort, as well as a broader cross section of Academy Fellows through a programme of events and opportunities to connect in person and online. Benefits include: 

• access to the Awardee’s Area, which is home to our awardee directory and community noticeboard. Here you can meet, connect with and support other awardees beyond your immediate cohort 
• a monthly newsletter that keeps you up to date with news from the Academy and other awardees 
• exclusive access to community events including the Academy CAFÉ, online networking and our in-person flagship event 
• shaping the Academy’s work through opportunities to join Academy committees, speak at our events, and informing our policy work 
• support from the Academy to organise your own activities and events.