These ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships are designed to support postdoctoral researchers to consolidate their PhD research and to develop their publication records, networks and research and professional skills.

The South-West Doctoral Training Partnership will award five Fellowships in 2026 (increased from four in previous years). Fellowships will run for nine months if full-time and 18 months if part-time (reduced from 12 months and 24 months respectively in previous years).

The University of Bath will support a maximum of five applications to this regional call and will run an internal selection process to identify the strongest candidates.

Apply

To apply to Bath’s internal selection process applicants will need to:

EOIs will be assessed by a panel of academics with ESRC expertise who will select up to five candidates to proceed. Selected candidates will be supported by academic and professional services colleagues to make their applications as competitive as possible. Submission of final applications to the SWDTP will be subject to approval by the University.

Timeline

The timeline for the internal selection and application process is as follows:

  • 17:00 on 15 April: Deadline for submission of internal EOI form to resdev@bath.ac.uk (Must include evidence of support (email confirmation) from Head of Dept.)
  • 23-24 April: Internal assessment panel / outcomes communicated to applicants
  • 1 June: Deadline for submission of final applications to SWDTP

Please note, due to a delay of the scheme’s launch by the ESRC the timetable for this year’s internal selection process is considerably compressed. The SWDTP has acknowledged that this is far from ideal; the alternative was cancelling this year’s PDF scheme altogether.

Please disseminate details of this opportunity via relevant channels. Any queries should be sent to John Nightingale: jn837@bath.ac.uk