Deadline: August 30, 2026
Applications are open for the FCDO Senior Research Fellowships 2026. On behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Global Research and Technology Development (GRTD) Research Commissioning Centre, co-led by 3ie and the University of Birmingham, invites applicants to submit their applications for eleven Senior Research Fellowships at the FCDO.
These placements will be hosted by FCDO at either the head office in London or East Kilbride and are subject to the Fellow successfully obtaining security clearance.
Thematic Areas
- Gender and Equity
- Conflict
- AI for Development
- Food and Agriculture
- Economic Development
- Systemic Resilience of Combined Human (Social, Economic, Political) and Ecological Systems
- Hybrid and Transnational Threats
- Polar Regions
- Critical Minerals
- Technology, Geopolitics and Information Manipulation
- Global Health
Eligibility
- Applicants must be at least Associate Professor level of seniority and employed by a UK academic institution. They will remain employees of their sending institution for the duration of the fellowship placement.
- Applicants must meet the requirements for obtaining security clearance to undertake the placement. This includes meeting the relevant UK residency requirements, depending on the level of clearance:
- Developed Vetting (DV): Applicants must have lived in the UK for at least 5 of the last 10 years.
- Security Clearance (SC): Applicants must have lived in the UK for at least 2 of the last 5 years.
Residency refers to physical presence in the UK during these periods. For example, holding a UK bank account or a UK postal address alone would not meet this requirement. Security clearance involves assurance checks carried out in the UK, which is why sufficient UK residency is mandatory.
Application
Application deadline is 30 August 2026 at 5pm GMT. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
For more information, visit FCDO Senior Research Fellowships.
