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Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship

DERI invites expressions of Interest for the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship 2026.

We encourage candidates to review our Research pages to identify potential overlaps with their research area of interest and recommend they have an initial discussion with identified individual(s) about their proposal prior to applying. It is important that you have the support of a DERI-based academic whose group you will be aligned with during the Fellowship. 

The RAEng Research Fellowships are for people who are less than 4 years post PhD at the Academy’s EoI deadline (25th June 2026). The Academy provides funding for 5 years, with a maximum contribution from the Academy per application of £800,000 over the five-year period, at 80% of the full economic costs (fEC). The scheme aims to support early-career researchers in establishing their independence and international reputations; provide long-term support enabling the pursuit of an ambitious programme of engineering research and impact; and to develop ambassadors for the Academy and advocates for STEM disciplines. 

Eligibility

  • Applicants must have a PhD, which was awarded (or the PhD has been unconditionally approved) no more than four years before the submission deadline of the expression of interest (25th June 2026).*
  • Research Fellowships must begin between 1 August 2027 and 31 October 2027. 

*For this round only (2026/27) a margin of up to six months more than the four-year limit is acceptable and does not require justification or explanation of extenuating circumstances for those six months. This four years and six months period includes applicants’ work experience in academia or/and in industry in the UK or/and worldwide. Therefore, the final cut-off date is the 25th of December 2021. If the applicant PhD award date was earlier than the cut-off date, they should be required to specify justification of extenuating circumstances. 

How to Apply

Expressions of interest should be submitted as as single PDF document to deri@qmul.ac.uk by 2pm (BST) on 27th April 2026, consisting of:

  1.  Project title (10 words or less): The essence of the research should be captured in the title and should be as informative as possible. Please ensure that it is understandable to a non-specialist reader.
  2. Date PhD was awarded (letter which says “congratulations you have got a PhD”):  Applicants must have a PhD, which was awarded (or the PhD has been unconditionally approved) no more than four years before the submission deadline: Thursday 25th June 2026. This period includes applicants’ work experience in academia or/and in industry in the UK or/and worldwide. A margin of up to six months more than the four-year limit is acceptable for this round. If applicants have had maternity/paternity leave or other extenuating circumstances (e.g. extended sick leave, national service, caring responsibilities and relocation due to fear of persecution or human rights violation), this will be taken into consideration if the relevant dates and details are provided in the application form.
  3. Motivation, Profile & Fit (250 words): Evidence of your research independence, leadership potential, and why this Fellowship is the right next step.
  4. Research Vision Summary (300 words): Describe the research in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist reader. Outline goals, the engineering challenge, and what success looks like. What similar research is being/has been undertaken nationally and internationally, and how does your project differ?
  5. Engineering contribution (200 words): Clearly state the core engineering advance and how it benefits the profession or society. Describe why this research is important and why it should be conducted now.
  6. Your CV (not more than 2 pages): The format and content of your CV is left to your discretion, but should include a list of publications. You may wish to indicate which publications you deem most significant and include a link to any that are open access. You do not need to include contact details as these are included earlier in the application form. Please also avoid personal information (e.g. gender, date of birth and nationality) in the CV.
  7. Applications from Under-represented groups: State if you self-identify as belonging to one of the Academy’s three priority underrepresented groups. QMUL is allowed to submit 2 candidates plus 2 candidates from underrepresented groups. "The Academy has identified the following groups that are currently clearly significantly underrepresented in UK engineering research:
  • Women
  • Black people, including those with any mixed ethnicity with Black ethnic background(s).
  • Disabled people

The Applicant Guidance notes can be downloaded from the RAEng webpage.

Note: The above word counts for the internal EOI are intentionally shorter than those for the full Academy call to ensure submissions remain succinct for the internal review panel, Shortlisted applicants will have sufficient time to expand their proposals for their final submission

Selection Process

Expressions of interest will be reviewed by a DERI review panel, and candidates will be informed of the outcome. We encourage candidates not to start working on a full application until they have received confirmation that QMUL will be able to support their application. Supported candidates will be helped with the application process, including preparing of the costings, support with writing, and submitting the application.

There is a multi-step process and the timeline has been included below. Each Institution is capped on the number of submissions it can make to the scheme. Candidates who are successful at the internal demand management stage will be provided support to finalise and submit their application to RAEng in time for the June 2026 deadline.

Timelines

  • Submission of EOI to DERI: by 27th April 2026, 2pm (BST)

For the Successful candidate(s) at the DERI EOI Stage:

  • Submission of Paperwork to Queen Mary Internal Selection: 30th April 2026, 4pm (BST)
  • Queen Mary Internal Selection Panel: week commencing 11th May 2026

For the Successful candidate(s) at the QMUL EOI Stage:

  • Submission of full EOI to RAEng: 25th June 2026

For the Successful candidate(s) at the RAEng EOI Stage:

  • Submission of full application to RAEng: 10th December 2026

Further Details

Queries can be directed to deri@qmul.ac.uk 

To find out further details on the RAEng Fellowships, please see the scheme guidance notes and FAQs: https://raeng.org.uk/research-fellowships  

 

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