UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is launching a fellowship investment framework to simplify and align fellowship schemes and improve efficiency for all parties involved.
According to an announcement published on 14 October, the new framework, which has been moulded by feedback from the research and innovation community, aims to make fellowship funding easier for applicants to understand and award holders to manage. This should make it easier to respond to emerging opportunities and widen fellowship support, reduce bureaucracy and increase the efficiency of applying and receiving funding.
To achieve this, the framework will categorise all fellowships as one of three types: career transition, capacity building and discipline transition, or a sector transition. It will also simplify fellowship characteristics, for example by adopting standardised fellowship eligibility criteria so they are open to a wide range of researchers and innovators.
The framework will be applied to any new UKRI fellowship opportunities from late 2025, including those managed by councils. Existing UKRI fellowship schemes will come into line with the framework as the next associated funding opportunity opens. Where UKRI have funded longer-term investments with multiple intakes of fellows, the framework may not apply until a new funding investment is made. The framework will not be applied retrospectively.
UKRI supports around 350 new fellows each year, with more than 2000 fellows across the UK. The new fellowship investment framework forms part of the UKRI’s transition to collective talent funding, first announced in May 2022.
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