Early independence: clinician scientist fellowship

Apply for an early independence fellowship to support your career transition within the Fellowship Investment Framework , if your research focus is within Medical Research Council (MRC) remit.

be a registered healthcare professional

have a PhD or equivalent

show evidence of career consolidation and past productivity

show clear plans for establishing your own research niche that enables a step-change towards independence

We will fund your salary and project costs (80% of the full economic cost) for up to five years (pro rata for part-time fellowships).

You may choose to apply for joint funding from one of the collaborating organisations.

• Fellowship Investment Framework ↗

This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .

Applications are welcomed from applicants of all nationalities, including those not currently located in the UK, however, this is subject to the fellowship being based at an eligible UK research organisation .

• Check if your organisation is eligible ↗
• eligible UK research organisation ↗

You can apply if you are a registered healthcare professional. This includes, but is not limited to:

nurses

midwives

allied health professionals

healthcare scientists

pharmacists

clinical psychologists

doctors

dentists

general practitioners

veterinarians

To be eligible to apply for the early independence clinician scientist fellowship you must:

have completed a PhD or equivalent

show evidence of skills, experience, career development and productivity across past appointments

have your own research plans that do not significantly overlap with those of your current group leaders or proposed sponsors, to establish your own research niche and team

have a research focus that is within MRC remit to improve human health and have the support of an eligible UK organisation

intend to be clinically active during or after the award

There are no eligibility rules based on age or years of postdoctoral experience.

You must have completed a PhD or equivalent before the fellowship award can start. If you have not yet completed your PhD, you should contact fellows@mrc.ukri.org to arrange to speak to the relevant programme manager before submitting an application.

• MRC remit ↗
• eligible UK organisation ↗

Medical or dental graduates should have speciality registrar or consultant status or be at the equivalent level in general practice.

If you have not completed your specialty training, you must have plans in place for doing so and have consulted your deanery before applying.

For non-medical healthcare professionals, you must have completed your professional training.

If you are a veterinarian, you may apply if you are a registered vet and a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Your proposed project must be relevant to human health.

Applications are welcomed from applicants of all nationalities, including those not currently based in the UK. However, this is subject to the fellowship being hosted by an eligible UK based research organisation.

You will need to be registered with a UK regulatory body, such as the General Medical Council or the Health and Care Professions Council or have plans in place to hold the required registration by the proposed award start date.

You can only have one fellowship application of the same type under consideration by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (which encompasses all fellowship schemes led by any of the research councils or Innovate UK and new investigator awards). If you submit another application while one is being assessed, the new application will be rejected. You should wait until you receive a decision on your current application before submitting another.

You are not eligible to apply if:

you have applied for an MRC fellowship within the last year or twice before

you have applied for another UKRI fellowship of the same type or a new investigator award and your application is being assessed

you have part of the fellowship project as a grant application with any organisation and your application is being assessed

you are the project lead on a UKRI grant application, and it is being assessed

you have been awarded a comparable fellowship supporting early independence or a new investigator award from any organisation

you have secured grants as a project lead, that include support for and leading of research staff such as postdoctoral research associates as this would indicate you have already made the step-change to independence

you will not be employed by an eligible UK organisation for your fellowship

You cannot hold a salaried position and a fellowship at the same time. If you have already achieved independence by securing a permanent position, your application will not be competitive.

In exceptional circumstances, if you hold a salaried position and can demonstrate a clear step change in career route (for example, enabling a focus on research when currently holding a teaching role), then you may apply. However, if awarded a fellowship, you must either give up your current role or change it to a proleptic appointment for the duration of the fellowship.

If you want to retain an existing position and combine this with research funding, we recommend you look at one of MRC’s grant funding opportunities instead.

• eligible UK organisation ↗
• MRC’s grant funding opportunities ↗

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

career breaks

support for people with caring responsibilities

flexible working

alternative working patterns

job shares (contact us for further guidance)

UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

We are supportive of applicants wishing to combine their research training with caring responsibilities and, in that context, our fellowship awards may be held on a part-time basis or within flexible working arrangements .

• We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity ↗
• UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support ↗
• flexible working arrangements ↗

Further information related to all aspects of the fellowship application process, can be found in the MRC guidance for fellowship applicants .

If you’re unsure whether you are eligible to apply, email fellows@mrc.ukri.org before beginning your application.

• MRC guidance for fellowship applicants ↗

Demand management is being applied to this funding opportunity. Further details are provided in the ‘who can apply’ section.

The aim of the fellowship is to support talented clinically active researchers who have gained a higher research degree and have evidence of career consolidation and productivity across past appointments to:

lead their own research plans to establish their own research niche

start to build their own research team

make the first step-change towards independence

We welcome applications from across all areas of our remit to improve human health. This may range from basic studies with relevance to mechanisms of disease, to translational and developmental clinical research.

Our science areas include:

infections and immunity

molecular and cellular medicine

population and systems medicine

neurosciences and mental health

translation

global health

methodology

public health

Explore MRC’s areas of scientific remit .

Please note that global health research and underpinning methodology research should align with our core remit spanning from biomedical discovery research to early translational research.

Normally fellowships would not be a suitable route to establish longitudinal population studies (LPS). Additionally, until further notice, we will only accept applications for core infrastructure support for existing LPS with previous MRC support.

• Explore MRC’s areas of scientific remit ↗

You must be able to:

explain why a fellowship is the best way to support your long-term career goals and chosen career path to become an independent researcher in a medical research field

show evidence of career development and productivity across past appointments

demonstrate clear plans to establish your own independent research niche and research plans and start to build your own research team

show ambitious and credible ideas for the fellowship to enable a clear step change in your career towards research independence

If your application does not clearly address the requirements, it may be rejected prior to seeking expert reviewer comments.

You also must have at least one sponsor, who:

is a senior member of the department where you are applying to host your fellowship

acts as a supporter for the application and the fellowship, but does not have a supervisory role

has expertise in the research area and acts as guarantor for the quality of the proposed work, suitability of you as a fellowship candidate and the quality of training and development you will receive

You can have additional sponsors if necessary to support all areas of the proposed work and they may be from other organisations.

This fellowship provides a competitive salary, giving you the chance to concentrate fully on your research, training and development.

spend up to six hours a week (pro-rated for part-time fellowships) on other commitments such as teaching, demonstrating, or other funded projects

undertake up to two clinical sessions a week

We recognise the challenges faced by clinicians in combining research training with the demands of a clinical career.

We operate this fellowship as flexibly as possible. This gives you the chance to negotiate the extent of your clinical commitment depending on your specialty and your research needs.

For individuals in craft specialties including surgeons and fellows undertaking patient-oriented projects where the clinical sessions will be of direct relevance to the research, you may undertake up to four clinical sessions a week.

If you are planning to undertake more than two clinical sessions a week during your fellowship we advise you email fellows@mrc.ukri.org before applying.

We may allow greater flexibility on the time dedicated to non-fellowship activities (for example, those detailed previously or obtaining funded support) during the second half of a fellowship.

Email the programme manager at fellows@mrc.ukri.org to discuss your plans.

Explore the expectations that come with an MRC fellowship .

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.

• Explore the expectations that come with an MRC fellowship ↗

The early independence clinician scientist fellowship provides support for up to five years (pro-rata for part-time fellowships). We expect you to take advantage of the full five years’ funding available. However, we understand that plans for the later stages of a fellowship will not be as defined as the initial years.

If you are intending to apply for a shorter period, you should contact the programme manager at fellows@mrc.ukri.org before applying.

These periods are based on full-time equivalents. You may hold an award on a part-time basis to meet personal commitments, but not because of other professional commitments.

We will consider requests from GPs, nurses, midwives, allied health professions and other non-medic healthcare professionals to undertake a part-time award to continue professional clinical responsibilities during the fellowship.

Medically qualified applicants may not apply for a part-time award in order to continue higher specialist training during the fellowship.

We expect you to start your fellowship no earlier than October 2027 and no later than January 2028. Any start dates outside of this must be discussed with us prior to the June/July 2027 decision meeting.

There is no limit to the amount of funding you can request. However, all costs must be fully justified and demonstrate value for money.

Your application must be for an amount that:

is appropriate to the project

you can justify in order to deliver the objectives of the proposed research

We will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC) and 100% of permitted exceptions.

Please note, the inclusion of staff costs should be commensurate with initial establishment of a group and involve the development of those individuals, for example, postdoctoral research associates or research associate type roles with the delivery of the project. The inclusion of numerous enabling staff, any senior staff, or both would otherwise constitute a research grant and is not within the expectations of a fellowship. In addition, costs for consumables should be justified, it is the expectation that the research organisation provides basic space and equipment for the duration of your award.

Explore full economic costing .

• Explore full economic costing ↗

The early independence clinician scientist fellowship will cover the cost of your salary.

The fellowship will also provide funding for:

support for a small number of research and technical staff as justified by the project and early independence career stage of this fellowship

visa fees and international health surcharge costs for fellows and their dependent family members

research consumables

equipment

travel costs

training activities

data preservation, data sharing and dissemination costs

estates and indirect costs

public partnerships and related activities, including payments to public contributors

NHS research costs , when they are associated with NHS studies

The award will also support a period of research overseas, at a second UK research organisation or in industry, whichever is most appropriate. We encourage successful applicants to take advantage of these opportunities to establish collaborative networks and cross-sector development.

You may spend up to 12 months of your award at a second organisation. Applicants intending to spend longer periods overseas you must contact us at fellows@mrc.ukri.org before applying.

Requests for support beyond research and innovation associate and technical posts can only be included in exceptional circumstances and must be discussed with the office in advance.

• their dependent family members ↗
• payments to public contributors ↗
• NHS research costs ↗

We will not fund:

costs for PhD studentships

publication costs

funding to use as a ‘bridge’ between grants

costs for sponsors

costs for mentors

costs for a large research team

costs for senior staff included under any role

We collaborate with royal colleges and charity funders to offer jointly-funded clinician scientist fellowships.

These awards offer the prestige of having the relevant organisation co-fund your fellowship and may offer additional opportunities to report on your project, present your work at meetings and take part in professional networking.

We are inviting applications for jointly-funded clinician scientist fellowships with the following organisations:

Addiction Healthcare Goals (AHG), led by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS)

DEBRA (the butterfly skin charity)

Diabetes UK

Kidney Research UK

Macular Society

Medical Research Foundation

Motor Neurone Disease Association

Parkinson’s UK

We will offer all jointly funded fellowships under standard UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and MRC terms and conditions, except where the co-funder has specified additional terms and conditions.

See ‘Additional information’ section for further details of the joint funders.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU, who will have an integral role in the proposed research. You may include project partners that will support your fellowship through cash or in-kind contributions, such as:

staff time

access to equipment

sites or facilities

the provision of data

software or materials

recruitment of people as research participants

providing samples, such as human tissue, for the project

Each project partner must provide a statement of support. If your application involves industry partners, they must provide additional information if the team project partner falls within the industry collaboration framework .

Find out more about subcontractors and dual roles .

• industry collaboration framework ↗
• subcontractors and dual roles ↗

Any individual included in your application with a core team role or who is from your host organisation cannot also be a project partner.

Any organisation that employs a member of the application core team cannot be a project partner organisation. This includes other departments within the same organisation.

• core team role ↗

It is important to complete a SoECAT to be eligible for support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Delivery Network. You must complete a SoECAT even if you don’t think your research will involve excess treatment costs.

• MRC guidance on who needs to complete a SoECAT ↗
• SoECAT guidance ↗
• NIHR website ↗
• NHS Research Scotland website ↗
• HSC R&D division website ↗
• Online SoECAT guidance page ↗

We are running this funding opportunity on the UKRI Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The fellow is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application. The fellow will need input from their research office for costing the fellowship and submitting the application by the deadline.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.

Confirm you are the fellow.

Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.

Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.

Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

When including images, you must:

provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)

insert each new image on a new line

use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:

sentences or paragraphs of text

tables

excessive quantities of images

A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

how applicants use the Funding Service

how research offices use the Funding Service

how reviewers use the Funding Service

• how applicants use the Funding Service ↗
• how research offices use the Funding Service ↗
• how reviewers use the Funding Service ↗

MRC must receive your application by 13 January 2027 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

Word limit: 2,000

Why are you the right individual to successfully deliver the proposed work?

Evidence of how you have:

the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to make best use of the benefits presented by this funding opportunity to develop your career

the right balance of skills and aptitude to deliver the proposed work

contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

the appropriate team working or leadership skills (appropriate to career stage)

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word limit for this section is 2,000 words, 1,500 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include specific achievements and choose past contributions that best evidence your ability to deliver this work. You are encouraged to include ORCID IDs for individuals where relevant, as this can help to demonstrate and verify their achievements.

Complete this section using the following R4RI module headings. You should use each heading once, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI . You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills you bring:

contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge, this may include your previous funding and key outputs such as publications

the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships

contributions to the wider research and innovation community

contributions to broader research or innovation, users and audiences, and towards wider societal benefit, including public partnerships

• UKRI guidance on R4RI ↗

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

• career breaks ↗
• The roles in funding applications policy ↗

Word limit: 450

Provide details of your career history, since your PhD.

Demonstrate how the positions you have held, organisations you have worked at and funding you have been awarded are relevant to this fellowship application and the career stage it aims to support, including your:

current position

relevant employment history

research funding history (including the award type, awarded amount and the role you held)

Additional guidance will be provided on the Funding Service on how to complete this section.

Word limit: 500

Do you intend to be clinically active during or after the fellowship and what level of clinical training do you have?

Explain your clinical activities and training and how these relate to the proposed fellowship, including:

your professional registration number (name of body and registration number, for example, HCPC or GMC 1234567)

your clinical speciality or profession

your current training stage or nearest equivalent (foundation, speciality registrar with grade, consultant)

your completion of training date

Royal College Examination, with name of exam and date or anticipated date

if you intend to be clinically active during or after the fellowship

if you will seek an honorary clinical contract

the percentage of your time you will spend on clinical duties. You may spend up to 20% of your time on clinical duties as part of a full-time fellowship (two clinical sessions a week). However, do not deduct this from your total FTE allocation or cost calculations (example: a full-time fellowship undertaking two clinical sessions per week should be costed at 100% FTE, not 80% FTE)

the percentage of this time that will have direct relevance to your proposed work

Additional guidance will be provided on the Funding Service on how to complete this section.

Word limit: 1,000

Why is this fellowship the right way to develop your career and how will you use it to benefit others?

Ensure that you have identified:

career development goals appropriate to the fellowship funding opportunity

how the fellowship will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for your personal development and to achieve your stated career development goals (as appropriate to your career stage and field)

how you will instigate positive change in the wider research and innovation community, for example through Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), advocacy or advisory roles, stakeholder engagement, participation in expert review, influencing policy, public engagement, or outreach

Within the Career development section, we also expect you to describe:

how you will ensure continued research and professional development in those you will be managing on the project, to have a positive research and innovation experience, with opportunities or support to progress their own careers (useful links Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and Technician Commitment )

how the proposed work will provide a feasible and appropriate trajectory for you to acquire additional skills, like research, leadership, communication and management

• Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers ↗
• Technician Commitment ↗

Word limit: 3,000

Provide details of your sponsors and their support.

A statement must be provided by at least one sponsor who is a senior member of the department where you are applying to host your fellowship and who will have academic responsibility for you. Include other sponsors if necessary to support all areas of the proposed work, they may be from other organisations.

A sponsor statement should be up to 1,000 words, only use the full word limit if you have multiple sponsors.

A sponsor is not expected to fulfil a supervisory role during the fellowship, but they act as a supporter for the application and the fellowship.

A sponsor should have expertise in the research area of the application and will act as guarantor for the quality of the proposed research, suitability of you as a fellowship candidate and the quality of training and development you will receive.

An entry should be included for each sponsor, detailing:

the sponsor’s name and current position

in what capacity they know you

how long they have known you

their views on your research ability and suitability for this fellowship

measures of research activity where you will be based, such as the number of academic staff

the suitability and quality of the support, training and skills that you will receive, including how your research area fits with the priorities of the research environment

Each sponsor(s) statement of support provided, should be copied and pasted into the text box. You are not permitted to upload your sponsor(s) statement of support to this or any other section of your application.

Word limit: 500

How will you be mentored during the fellowship?

Explain your proposed mentoring arrangements.

If a mentor has been identified, they should be named in the response to this question and provide a statement of support detailing how they will support you.

Word limit: 1,000

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

Ensure the head of department (of the host organisation) provides you with a supporting statement (which they have written), that includes:

the name and title of the head of department (or equivalent) providing the written statement

evidence detailing how the host will support you, as appropriate for your career development and the vision and approach of the fellowship

how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of

suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the project

how the host organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected

what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations

what financial or practical support, such as access to the appropriate services, facilities,

infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application

The statement of support provided by your host organisation should be copied and pasted into the text box. You cannot upload the statement of support to this section as an attachment. Your application may be rejected if you upload a host organisation statement of support to the ‘Project partners: letters (or emails) of support’ section or any other section of your application.

Within the host organisation support section we also expect you to describe details of the fellowship work to be conducted at another UK or overseas host organisation and how they will support you (if applicable)

Word limit: 1,000

How will the host organisation support your fellowship?

If relevant to your fellowship, you should include a support statement from your second host organisation. Note, your second host organisation can be another eligible research organisation , an international research organisation, an industrial organisation or company, or an enterprise that puts or has intention to put goods or services on a market.

If your fellowship application does not include a second host organisation, you should indicate ‘N/A’ within the text box and mark the section as complete.

The appropriate head of department (or equivalent, if your second host organisation is from industry), must provide a statement of support confirm their commitment to supporting your MRC fellowship, by including:

the name and title of the head of department (or industry equivalent), that has written your supporting statement

evidence detailing how the second host research organisation or industry partner will support you, as appropriate for your career development and the vision and approach of the fellowship

how your research environment will contribute to the success of the work, in terms of suitability of the host organisation and strategic relevance to the project

how the second host research or industry organisation will ensure your time commitment to the fellowship is protected

what development and training opportunities will be provided and how they form a cohesive career development package tailored to your aims and aspirations

what financial or practical support, such as access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment, is being provided and how this strengthens your application

• eligible research organisation ↗

Word limit: 1,000