UKRI has announced round 11 of its Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) funding opportunity, offering funding to early career researchers who are seeking to establish their own research agenda or transition toward independent leadership in their field.

Who can apply

Future Leaders Fellowships (FLFs) are personal awards to support fellows to develop as impactful and influential research or innovation leaders. FLFs are open across UKRI’s disciplinary remit and can last for up to four years, with the option to apply to renew for a further three years.

More information on eligibility can be found in the round 10 call document. Round 11 guidance will be available when the full call opens on 2 February 2026; we are not aware of any changes planned regarding candidate eligibility.

Applicants wanting to base their fellowship at the University of Bath can already be based at the university or can be from outside of the university.

How to apply

To apply for a Future Leaders Fellowship, you must first secure the support from your preferred host institution where you intend to base your fellowship. UKRI restricts the number of applications that a host organisation can submit. The University of Bath is likely to be capped at four applications. Therefore, we will conduct a selection process to identify up to four candidates who will develop and submit high-quality fellowship applications to UKRI.

To be considered, please complete our FLF11 Expression of Interest (EoI) form.

The EoI asks for details about your proposed project, your track record, and your suitability for the scheme, so please allow plenty of time to complete your application.

You must submit your EoI by 1 pm Wednesday 28 January 2026 to be considered for selection.

Before completing an EoI, we recommend that you:

  • Read the round 10 call document and round 10 guidance to find out more about the scheme and likely expectations. Although the pre-announcement for round 11 is available, it contains only basic information.
  • Refer to UKRI’s FLF person specification, to assess your suitability and readiness for this scheme. Although not yet released for round 11, the round 10 guidance contains the person specification in Annex A.
  • Find out more about what Bath can offer you by visiting the University of Bath webpages.
  • Talk to the head of your desired host department about your fellowship idea, to check if your application is likely to be competitive and if the Head of Department would be willing to host you, should your application be successful.
  • Consider whether you have the time to prepare a FLF application if you are selected to be one of Bath’s candidates; the main application development phase is from March to June.

Assessment of EoIs

Bath’s candidate selection process and timeline are summarised as follows:

  • Wed 28 January (1pm): Deadline for submission of EoI
  • Between Mon 2 and Fri 20 February: Departmental/School/Faculty selection stages
  • Early March: Shortlisted candidates present to university selection panel

EoIs will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • the applicant’s suitability for FLF, their experience and accelerated trajectory
  • the proposed fellowship’s excellence, impact and methodology
  • alignment of the fellowship with Bath’s research strategy (central, faculty and/or departmental)

Developing your FLF application

Candidates who are selected to submit an application to UKRI will develop this with support from peer reviewers and colleagues from our Research and Impact Services team.

Current Future Leaders Fellow, Professor Vivek Soundararajan from Bath’s School of Management, shares his experiences and tips for developing a competitive FLF application. See the video.

UKRI’s deadline for the submission of full applications is 16 June 2026.

Bath applicants should note that they will be expected to have finalised their applications at least one week ahead of the funder’s deadline to allow for mandatory internal compliance checks and approvals to be completed and timely submission to the funder.

If you're unsure who your relevant Head of Department would be at the university, feel free to reach out to us at resdev@bath.ac.uk. We're happy to connect you with the right person. Similarly, if you have any questions about the funding opportunity of the EoI requirements, please do get in touch.