Overview
The Royal Society's open 2027 Faraday Discovery Fellowship round offers outstanding mid-career STEM research leaders up to £8 million over ten years to build world-leading UK research groups.
Complete fellowship details
Faraday Discovery Fellowships are large, investigator-led grants awarded to a single principal investigator. Applicants may request up to £8 million over ten years, comprising up to £6 million core funding plus up to £2 million additional funding where specifically justified. Stage 1 requires a CV and research summary; selected applicants are invited to a full Stage 2 application. The scheme supports all STEM areas within the Royal Society remit and is designed for research leaders who will be based in the UK.
Eligibility requirements
The scheme targets mid-career researchers in the Royal Society's natural-sciences remit. The Royal Society normally expects around 10–20 years of post-PhD or equivalent research experience, while allowing exceptional candidates with fewer years. Applicants should be recognized research leaders with significant PI-grant experience, research-group leadership and an exceptional recent track record. Applicants may be of any nationality and visa-requiring awardees can use the eligible Global Talent Visa route.
Tips for this fellowship
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Check the Royal Society remit and mid-career definition before starting Stage 1.
- Use Flexi-Grant for the official application.
- Check eligibility, funding coverage, study/project level and every required document before investing time in the application.
- Prepare transcripts, references, language tests, proposal/motivation statement and proof documents early.
- Separate the scholarship deadline from any university/program admission deadline; they may be different.
- Treat “fully funded” as a source fact only when the official provider explicitly confirms the covered costs.
Verification notes
Verified on the Royal Society's current Faraday Discovery Fellowships page. Status is Open; 2027 Stage 1 closes 22 September 2026. No closing clock time is stated, so deadline_date is used without inventing one. Funding is capped at £8m over ten years as £6m core plus up to £2m with specific justification.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
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