If you want to come to Lancaster as a postdoctoral researcher, there are many opportunities open to you. These fall into two broad categories:
- research funded by faculty grants
- external postdoctoral funding.
If you have any general questions about postdoctoral opportunities at Lancaster which are not answered above, please feel free to contact either:
- Rebecca Killick (statistics), Director of Research.
- Jonny Evans (pure mathematics), Deputy Director of Research.
Research funded by faculty grants
Our researchers bring in a substantial amount of grant income, some of which funds postdocs to work on research relevant to the grant. These are advertised on the university website. These may be advertised at relatively short notice, but you can sign up for alerts by email or RSS. These and other postdoctoral opportunities are often advertised on subject mailing lists (see below).
External postdoctoral funding
These are national or international schemes for funding postdoctoral researchers who want to pursue their own programme of research; below, we have listed the ones we are aware of.
Some important general points:
- You should pay close attention to the deadlines and timescales listed on the websites of the schemes below: they do not adhere to the standard US postdoc hiring cycle!
- If you want to host one of these fellowship at Lancaster, a good first step would be to identify and contact a potential mentor: a faculty member who might be interested in your research and able to support you during your time here.
- Regardless of the mentor, you will be expected to come up with your own research proposal: these positions are intended to support those who are developing as independent researchers.
1851 Royal Commission Fellowships
These are typically 3-year fellowships for people with less than 3 years of postdoctoral experience (not counting breaks). You are free to pursue your own research programme.
MSCA (Marie-Curie) Postdoctoral Fellowships
These are 1- or 2-year positions for people with 8 or fewer years of postdoctoral research (not counting breaks). There are a couple of schemes with slightly different eligibility requirements; if, after reading the descriptions on their website, you are still confused about which might be best for you, please contact us.
EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowships
These are postdoctoral positions lasting up to 3 years. The application is quite detailed, requiring a substantial research proposal and will involve a review stage and an interview. Although applications can be submitted at any time, there are only two panels each year and the review stage also requires a few months. It is best to contact us early and give plenty of time for EPSRC to process the application.
Royal Society University Fellowships
These are prestigious 8-year fellowships for people with between 3- and 8-years of postdoctoral experience (not counting breaks) who do not currently hold a permanent academic post. If you are interested in applying for this, you will need enthusiastic support from the department so you should contact us first. The deadline for applications is typically very early in the academic year (as early as September) and applications will typically involve a lot of work, so please contact us in plenty of time.
Subject mailing lists
Postdoctoral (and permanent positions) are often advertised via subject mailing lists. Here are some you might find relevant
Algebra and Geometry
Combinatorics
- British Combinatorial Committee (mailing list information at bottom of page).