British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027

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British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027 Internal selection process: guidance for applicants & Faculties

Research Strategy & Performance February 2026

Important note: we are launching this internal selection process prior to the opportunity being opened by the funder to allow for plenty of time for proposal development for selected candidates. All TBC dates and links referred to in this document will be updated once the call is announced.

King’s College London would like to invite outstanding applications to BA Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. The scheme provides three-year fellowships for early career researchers within three years of submission of PhD (who have completed their viva voce between 01 April 2024 and 01 April 2027). Fellowships are tenable in all fields within the humanities and social sciences. This is a highly competitive scheme: the success rate is typically no more than 10%. The Academy expects to award 45 Fellowships for 2027.

Each year the Arts & Sciences Faculties support a limited number of applications, in response to the BA’s demand management recommendations and to ensure the high quality of the applications put forward to the BA.

Those who are successful will join a vibrant community of postdoctoral research fellows at King’s who have been supported through this and other external and internal competitions in recent years. King’s is committed to supporting the scholarship and career development of these fellows, and each will be fully integrated into the life of their host Department/School.

Overview King’s invites prospective candidates to contact a mentor in their proposed Department/School, who will consider the subject area and applicant CV and confirm their support and its fit with the research profile or priorities of the department. If candidates do not have in-principle support from a mentor, they will not be considered at the next stage.

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King’s will then consider and select candidates through Faculty-level assessment. Successful candidates will be invited to develop their proposals for submission to the British Academy with King’s as their host institution.

We anticipate submitting around 25 applications across the Arts & Sciences Faculties.

Please note that we will not accept or support applications that do not adhere to the internal selection and application process.

Internal selection process timeline

The timeline for the application process is set out below. Date Action Notes Now & by 15th May 2026 Prospective applicants contact their proposed mentor • Read the full details of the scheme at the BA site to ensure eligibility to apply • Applicants should make contact with an academic member of staff closest to their research area, to include an academic CV and a short paragraph about their proposed research programme.

15th May 2026 (4pm) Complete online

eligibility

check • Applicants should fill out this MS Forms eligibility check: British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2027 - eligibility check – Fill out form • This will ask for details such as your PhD institution, viva date, prospective mentor & department at King’s and will be checked by the King’s Research Development Team. Information will not be shared any further outside of the team. Please ensure that you carefully read through the BA guidance on eligibility which can be found in the scheme notes here: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/5446/Postdoctoral- Fellowship-Outline-Stage-2024-25-Scheme-Guidance-Notes.pdf • Receipt of your submitted form will be sent within two working days and you will be advised if we cannot accept an EoI due to ineligibility.

Now Listen to the information session, • This information session gives details about the scheme, the elements of a strong application and what makes a competitive candidate, and the King’s application

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delivered by the Research Development team process, and can be watched at any time. Please contact susanna.cornick- willis@kcl.ac.uk who will send you the link and note your interest.

By 3rd June 2026 (4pm) Develop your EoI with your mentor • Submit your EOI to Susie Cornick-Willis (susanna.cornick-willis@kcl.ac.uk) • This should be one PDF document saved as SURNAMEBAPOSTDOCEOI • It should contain:

1. A 2pp CV

2. A 2pp summary of your research proposition (sans serif font, size 11), which must include (including any references & bibliography):

for you & your project (~100 words). If you did your PhD at King’s, reviewers will look for a clear justification of why you are seeking to remain or return.

3. An email from your mentor confirming their intention to support your application to the British Academy.

Some guidance for your research project summary: Project i. What are your project objectives? ii. How does the project go beyond the state of the art? iii How is your project a step-change from your PhD thesis? iv What is your methodology and how will it help you deliver your project objectives? Impact i. What skills do you want to develop?

• Name and contact email address
• Project title
• Proposed mentor and host department, & why they are the best host
• Abstract written in non-specialist language (~100 words)
• Details of current and past research (~200 words)
• Proposed research project (~500 words)

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ii. How do you think your research and training activities will enhance your career prospects, whether inside or outside academia? iii. With which target groups will you communicate or engage about your project? iv. Which target groups (e.g., scientific community, end users, financial actors, public at large) would benefit from your project, and what kinds of impact are you hoping to make? Implementation i. What are your key deliverables and milestones? ii. How will your work with your mentor towards these?

All word limits are suggestions rather than binding limits, so long as the research proposition document is no more than 2pp. Abstracts from previous awards can be found on the BA website for inspiration and information.

w/c 8th June 2026 Research Development Managers will do initial assessment of EoIs • Research Development Team will review EOIs and provide recommendations to HoDs, VDRs By end June 2026 Faculties to consider EoIs • HoDs & VDRs then confirm who will proceed to development stage • Note: BA Postdoc Fellowships should be considered as a fairly significant recruitment/investment decision: HoDs should consider issues such as teaching opportunities, space requirements, REF eligibility (for example, applicants to produce at least one 4 output, and/or potential for impact case study) • HoDs to consult the Faculty Research Development Manager (RDM) in case of any doubt By end June 2026 Prospective applicants informed of outcome of review • Successful applicants are given feedback by their relevant RDM and invited to begin full applications online via FlexiGrant, the British Academy portal (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/)

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• Successful applicants should maintain contact with their mentors, local research support staff and the relevant RDM for advice and guidance (contact details below) • Successful applicants will be sent guidance and Faculty-specific contact details for the budgetary aspects of the application Ongoing Application development • Read the online applicant guidance and help notes on the BA’s website • Successful applicants should maintain contact with their mentors, local research support staff and the relevant RDM for support, advice and guidance • You may wish to view previously successful proposals. Applicants internal to King’s can access these via the Successful Application Bank. External candidates are welcome to contact Susie Cornick-Willis who will forward a couple of options for you to view. • Contact your proposed referee as early as possible to make arrangements for them to submit their statements online. N.B. your referee must submit their reference by the King’s internal deadline of 24th September (see below) • You will need to work closely with your RDM and local Faculty Research Team to develop a draft budget for submission with your draft proposal to your RDM 24th August 2026 (latest) Selected applicants to submit draft to RDM • For feedback from RDM, applicants selected by the Faculties should submit a first draft (download from BA application portal) to RDM • Applicants will submit their drafts for feedback by Monday 24th August at the latest; feedback will be provided to applicants (from the Research Development team) by the 15th September 23rd Sept 2026 - TBC

Please note that this deadline is final and non- negotiable King’s internal submission deadline Applicants must submit their application via FlexiGrant by the internal deadline, which is one week before the British Academy’s expected deadline of 1st October.

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1st Oct 2026 TBC BA final external submission deadline – outline application Once applicants submit their applications the Pre-Award team make final checks of the application and submit on behalf of the institution to the BA. Applicants receive an automatic email notification of submission. Jan 2027 BA notifies applicants Those successful at outline stage will be asked to develop their application into a detailed application; the deadline for this was TBC at the time this guidance was finalised.

Please remember to inform susanna.cornick-willis@kcl.ac.uk of your outline outcome. FAQs • Please ensure that you carefully read both the online applicant guidance and help notes on the British Academy’s website. Answers to many Frequently Asked Questions can be found on these pages. • For queries that cannot be answered on these pages, please contact Camilla Darling (camilla.darling@kcl.ac.uk)

Research Development Managers – contacts Faculty RDM Email Arts & Humanities Emma Jay Emma.jay@kcl.ac.uk Dickson Poon School of Law Gil Toffell Gilad.toffell@kcl.ac.uk King’s Business School Sarah Evans Sarah.l.evans@kcl.ac.uk Social Science & Public Policy Gil Toffell Gilad.toffell@kcl.ac.uk

Research areas