Royal Society Industry Fellowship 2025/2026 (up to £168,000)

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About Royal Society Industry Fellowship

The Industry Fellowship scheme is open to academic and industrial researchers from early to senior career stages based in the UK. 

The aims of the scheme are to:

• Support the mobility of excellent academic or industrial researchers between the two sectors in the UK, across the natural sciences.
• Enable the Industry Fellow to develop and establish collaborative links between the academic and industrial organisations, which may lead to longer term collaborations.
• Support the career development of the Industry Fellow, and their team, through the cross-sector collaborative research experience afforded by the fellowship.
• Enhance knowledge exchange in science and technology between industry and academia.

• Sponsor Organisation: The Royal Society

Benefits of Royal Society Industry Fellowship

Awards can be for any period up to two years full-time or a maximum of four years pro rata (i.e. an award could be held at 50% part-time for four years), enabling Industry Fellows to maintain links with their employing institution more easily.

Funds can cover:

• The applicant’s basic salary while on secondment. The employing organisation will continue to pay national insurance and pension contributions.
• Research expenses which may be claimed up to the value of £4,000 per year, and may be used to support summer studentships. 

They provide flexibility to accommodate personal circumstances including part-time working, sabbaticals and secondments. There is provision for maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoptive or extended sick leave, as well as financial support for childcare costs that arise from attending conferences and research visits.

Royal Society Research Fellows also have the opportunity to access a range of career development and engagement opportunities including training on leadership, science communication and public engagement, and activities coordinated by our science policy and schools engagement teams.

Royal Society Industry Fellowship Requirements

This scheme is for you if: 

• You have a PhD or are of equivalent standing in your profession
• You hold a permanent post or have an 'open-ended contract' in either a university, not-for-profit research organisation or industry in the UK
• You are at a stage in your career when you would particularly benefit from establishing or strengthening personal or corporate links between academia and industry, as a foundation for long-term collaboration and development
• Your research is within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences, which includes but is not limited to biological research and biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. For a full list, please see the breakdown of subject groups and areas supported by the Royal Society.

Applicants can be of any nationality and those requiring a visa are eligible to apply for a Global Talent Visa under the fast-track process of endorsement.

These fellowships are aimed at supporting new collaborations between academic and industry organisations. If you are applying to support an ongoing collaboration with an industry partner or UK University, or not-for-profit research organisation, you will be required to submit a new project involving a different university/industry department.

You should clearly state how the fellowship will benefit the not-for-profit research organisation and the industrial partner, including any potential to lead to longer-term collaboration.

Application Date and Process

• Click on the link to the application website to get started.

Application Deadline

09 April, 2025

Scholarship Application Portal

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