Postdoctoral fellowships

There are research fellowship opportunities for both external and internal candidates across a range of our research areas.

External Fellowship Candidates

If you’re an external candidate interested in applying for a Fellowship, to be hosted at Heriot-Watt University, you must apply initially via the Heriot-Watt University Fellowship College. The Fellowship College does not provide funds - successful applicants to the Fellowship College ultimately apply to one of the many external funders who fund fellowships e.g. UKRI, Royal Society, British Academy.

Your first step should be to identify a suitable mentor at Heriot-Watt University and start discussing your proposed research and the scheme(s)/funder(s) you wish to apply to.

You then submit a short outline application to our Fellowship College which will be reviewed by a panel of senior academics. There may also be an informal interview stage which most applicants find extremely valuable.

If approval is given for your full application to proceed, you’ll be supported by your Mentor and the Research Development Team to prepare your full application/budget for internal approval and submission to the funder.

Preparing a quality Fellowship application is a significant undertaking – we strongly recommend outline applications from external candidates should be made to the Fellowship College at least 6 months in advance of the funder deadline, but earlier applications are welcome.

Please get in touch with fellowships@hw.ac.uk if you have any questions.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships

If you wish to apply for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, to be hosted at Heriot-Watt University, please follow this guidance:

The funder’s deadline is 10 September 2025. As a first step you should identify and discuss a submission with a Heriot-Watt supervisor. Together, you will prepare an outline application for submission to the Heriot-Watt University Fellowship College, for the internal deadline of 27 May 2025.

For further information about the Fellowship College, dates for our regular briefing sessions or to be emailed an application pack please, email fellowships@hw.ac.uk and cc your mentor (or supervisor if a MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship).

Postdoctoral Pathways

More information on EPSRC postdoctoral pathways can be found here.