British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme

The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme closed for outline applications to the 2023/24 scheme on 4 October 2023.

If you submitted an outline application through us as part of the 2023/24 scheme then please note the information further down this page regarding what happens next/the timeline for invitations for full applications. 

This page will be updated when the 24/25 scheme details are announced in the early summer of 2024. Until then, it may be useful for you to review the following information relating to the 2023/24 scheme, to get some idea of the process and internal deadlines.


LCS internal process/advice for the 23/24 scheme

Please note that you are strongly advised to check the updated eligibility requirements for this scheme on the British Academy (BA) website before beginning an application. It is particularly important to note that the BA do not allow unsuccessful applicants to reapply to this scheme, and so serious consideration should be given to the readiness of your application. 

This scheme operates an outline application stage: only applicants who are successful in the outline phase will be invited to make a full application. Applicants who are successful at outline stage will be invited to submit a full application by February 2024.

The School of Languages, Cultures and Societies (LCS) screen applications for quality and offers rigorous peer review to candidates. You are strongly encouraged to get in touch with us at the earliest possible opportunity so that we can help you to shape your research project, as well as working with you on the application itself. 

If you have any queries on this scheme which are not covered by these pages then please contact LCSResearch@leeds.ac.uk and we will be happy to help. 

LCS internal process: advice for applicants

1.    Find a mentor – deadline 1st September 2023 
Interested applicants should send their full academic CV, plus a detailed project proposal (no more than two pages of A4), to their prospective mentor for consideration. We would encourage you to get in touch at the earliest opportunity so that you can finalise your project in conjunction with your mentor, but the latest point at which you can finalise a mentor is 1st September 2023. If you do not have a mentor in mind, please have a look at our  research pages, staff profiles, and searchable mentor lists - and feel free to make contact directly with relevant colleagues. Alternatively you can contact LCSResearch@leeds.ac.uk and we will put you in touch with potential mentors. 

2.    Notify the Research Team and start your Flexigrant application 
Once you have found a mentor to work with, then (if you haven’t already), please let us know that you’re preparing an application by contacting LCSResearch@leeds.ac.uk. Don’t forget to tell us who your mentor is. We suggest that you begin work on your application on the BA Flexigrant system as early as possible. Your mentor will offer support and peer review through this early stage of the process. It is important that you work on your application in the Flexigrant system, as our peer review processes require you to provide us with a copy of this for us to review.  

3.    Peer review – deadline 4th September 2023 
Applicants are strongly encouraged to send their draft applications for School peer review before they are submitted to the BA. We require drafts to be submitted by the 4th September 2023 at the absolute latest if you wish to take advantage of peer review. When submitting your application to the School for peer review, please note that we require you to download and send us your full application from the Flexigrant system. We suggest that you focus on the following parts of the application: the research proposal; personal statement; plan of action; planned research outputs; plans for dissemination and publication and academic CV. 

4.    Internal scheme deadline - deadline 20th September 2023 
We will give you as much time as possible to respond to peer review before the internal closing date for applications for this scheme, which is 20th September 2023, 2 weeks before the BA’s deadline. Applications received after this internal deadline cannot be supported. 

Timeline for the outline application phase 

In summary, the key dates for the outline application phase are as follows: 

  • 1 September 2023 – applicants must have found a mentor and notified the School of their intention to apply. 

  • 4 September 2023 – peer review deadline. Applicants must have provided the School with a downloaded version of their Flexigrant applications by this date. Feedback on applications will be provided within 7 - 10 working days of receipt. 

  • 20 September 2023 – University of Leeds internal deadline for the scheme. Applications must be almost or completely finalised by this date, so that our teams have time to add the final details and undertake the checks and sign off. 

  • 4 October 2023 – BA deadline (please note that your referee must have submitted their reference to the BA by this date). 

What next

Outline applications which are successful will be notified in early 2024 and invited to submit to the second stage (full application). Successful applicants who are invited to submit to the second stage should contact LCS as soon as possible using LCSResearch@leeds.ac.uk to discuss further support and peer review in time for the BA deadline.

Timeline for the second stage:

  • 17 January 2024 - opens for applications

  • 21 February 2024 - deadline for applications. Note: there will be an earlier deadline for peer review within LCS

  • June/July 2024 - results announced

  • Earliest start date for successful applicants: 1 September 2024

  • Latest start date: 1 January 2025