SEDarc Postdoctoral Fellowships

The SEDarc Doctoral Training Partnership has been awarded funding from the ESRC to host four Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDFs) for October 2025 entry.  The scheme is aimed at providing a career development opportunity for those in the immediate postdoctoral stage of their career, to consolidate their PhD through developing publications, their networks, and their research and professional skills.

What is on offer?

The PDF grants provide funding for up to one year full-time, or up to two years part-time.  In exceptional cases, applicants can apply for a Fellowship for up to 18 months, however, this must be fully justified by the programme of activities being proposed.

Fellowships cover:

• The Fellow's salary costs
• Indirect costs
• Estate costs
• Up to a maximum of £10,000 for all other costs (to include costs such as mentoring costs, travel and subsistence, conference attendance, training, and fieldwork, for example)

Who is eligible for a SEDarc ESRC-funded PDF?

This call is open to those who have:

1) completed their PhD at a UK Research Organisation (RO) and must be held at a RO that is part of a Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) eligible to participate in this initiative and aligned to an accredited subject area; and

2) been awarded a PhD or have passed their viva voce (or passed with minor corrections) by the application deadline of 25 March 2025 16.00 GMT and have been awarded their PhD by the Fellowship start date of 1 October 2025; and

3) have no more than 12 months (full-time equivalent) of active postdoctoral experience.  This is measured from the applicant's viva voce pass date to the application deadline of 25 March 2025.

Please note, if you have passed your viva voce, but with major corrections, you will not be eligible for this year’s call.

If you have any queries please contact: esrcdtp@royalholloway.ac.uk or SEDarc@rhul.ac.uk

Which pathways or disciplines can I apply for?

Your proposal can be from a single discipline or a combination of disciplines, but social sciences must make up at least 50% of your Fellowship activities.

SEDarc offers Postdoctoral Fellowships across 5 interdisciplinary Pathways:

• Living Sustainably
• Healthy, Thriving Communities
• Inclusive Economic Growth
• Secure, Effective and Trusted Organisations
• Transformative Technologies for Society

SEDarc PDF awards are available in the following subject areas at Royal Holloway:

How do I apply for a PDF?

Please read the ESRC’s documents (see below) carefully, and ensure you are eligible for a PDF.

If you are eligible, start thinking about, and drafting, your topic and programme of work.

At the same time, consider who would be best suited to mentoring you during your PDF, and contact your mentor or the Pathway Lead listed above.  A secondary mentor is permitted, particularly in interdisciplinary areas or where the Fellow will be spending time at an overseas institution.  The mentor would usually be based in their home institution and should have the skills and experience relevant to the aims of the Fellowship.  They should not normally be the applicant's PhD supervisor.

All applicants must submit an expression of interest (EoI) form, together with a 2-page CV to SEDarc.

To obtain a copy of the EoI form email esrcdtp@royalholloway.ac.uk

Stages of competition:

1) Submit your expression of interest and CV to SEDarc by 23:59 GMT on 15 January 2025.

2) There will an internal review of EoIs to select our two institutional nominees: if you are successful following this first review phase, you will be invited to complete a full, costed application by 6 February 2025.  Our Research Services team in Research and Innovation will assist with the costings.

3) The deadline for full applications is 16.00 GMT on 25 March 2025.  SEDarc will then peer review the applications with a central team and make funding decisions on behalf of the ESRC, to a maximum of four awards, by 14 April 2025, subject to ratification by the ESRC.

 ESRC PDF guidance documents

The ESRC has issued the following documents for PDFs starting in October 2025:

ESRC Call Specification - sets out what is included in a PDF awards, the eligibility criteria, what is required in the application etc.

ESRC PDF FAQs - provides answers to questions about PDF awards.

 Who do I contact if I have any queries?

If you have any questions about the process, please contact the SEDarc administrative lead:

Janet Heaney at: esrcdtp@royalholloway.ac.uk

Or email the SEDarc team at: SEDarc@rhul.ac.uk

The SEDarc website can be accessed here.