EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship

The Fellowships are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of Heriot-Watt University’s Doctoral Training Partnership Award. The criteria below is that specified by EPSRC in their award terms.  

Eligibility Essentials

• All Fellowship projects must lie within the EPSRC remit. Successful applicants will be expected to take their research to the next level and undertake new research. 
• The fellowship must commence by latest May 2027 and can be 12 or 24 months.  (The funding available is for an estimated three, 24 months FTE positions) 
• Applicants must have received EPSRC studentship funding and have submitted their doctoral thesis on or after October 2023.  
• The Fellow must have submitted their thesis for examination prior to the start of the award and no earlier than October 2023. Candidates who have not yet submitted their thesis at the time of application are still eligible, but they must have submitted their thesis prior to the Fellowship start date, and the supervisor’s letter of support must clearly state the expected submission date. Where the viva exam has not taken place before the start of the Fellowship, the outcome must be an outright pass or pass with minor corrections otherwise the Fellowship will be withdrawn. If minor corrections are required, they must be done outside of the time allocated for the Fellowship 
• Applications will be accepted from any student that received EPSRC doctoral funding at a UK institution (fees and/or stipend). This includes students funded by: Centres for Doctoral Training (CDT), Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTP), National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) and Industrial CASE studentships (I-CASE). Those who received funding via another of the Research Councils within UKRI are NOT eligible to apply for the EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship. 

Other Information

Non-salary costs are available for direct research expenses, for example facilities use, consumables, travel (e.g., fieldwork, visiting collaborators, attending conferences) and outreach activities (e.g., public engagement). Any costs requested should be appropriate for the project being undertaken. £10k per annum can be requested as a guideline, but more or less can be requested, dependent wholly on the nature of the project. Any costs requested must be realistic and justified in the application form. 

The following documents must be completed when submitting an application for an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship: 

• CV  
• Doctoral Prize Fellowship Application Form (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fkcvHCHP6EGmcMiALlG2elRBp5pRVpXaeevwVO7mh3c/edit?usp=sharing)
• Academic Referee Form (completed by the applicant’s primary doctoral supervisor and uploaded by the applicant) (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zD7lAS2AR5NT-3iDaRsp3hISrwLc5QL0z46LEU5PUxs/edit?usp=sharing)
• Associate Executive Dean for Research & Impact Support Form (completed by the Associate Executive Dean for Research & Impact of the proposed host School at Heriot-Watt University (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GR9Qa0q9QsEsbpyF3o9ctitCFXb0Z-QjZsUVx7o2rMA/edit?usp=sharing)

Please submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system.

Applications can be submitted until 23:55 on Wednesday 11^th November 2026.

It is anticipated that shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview end-November. Successful candidates will be notified as soon as possible thereafter. 

Enquiries can be directed to Baz, Strategic Projects Officer, m.albaz@hw.ac.uk 

In advance of applying, all applicants should be in contact with their proposed host department to discuss how they can support the Fellowship and any local departmental timelines/deadlines. 

Interview and shortlisting panels will consist of academics from across the EPSRC remit. Applicants should ensure their application is accessible to a general scientific audience. 

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Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

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