Fellows

2024 applications are now closed - 2025 applications will open in spring

Applications for Fellowships in October 2025 will open in the new year

Deadline: TBC

Postdoctoral Fellowships have been renamed Early Career Research Fellows and Visiting and Research Fellows will be merged into one category ‘Research Fellows’ with terms from 6 months to 3 years. Those wishing to apply must supply the following:

• Fellowship Application form
• CV (no more than four pages)
• Short (no more than one page) cover letter describing your suitability for the fellowship
• Two letters of reference, which should be sent to ies@sas.ac.uk

Appointments are made by a committee drawn from the Institute’s external Advisory Council, as well as senior IES staff and Fellows. Candidates are notified of the outcome of their application by the end of April. All Fellows will be required to produce a short annual report of their activities as they contribute to research in English and the work of the IES.

There is no restriction as to the period or subject matter, and all topics within the field of English Studies, the history of the book, manuscript studies and palaeography, historical and enumerative bibliography, textual scholarship and scholarly editing will be considered. (Awards are however rarely made in the area of modern or applied linguistics.) Though not essential, it may be an advantage to demonstrate a link to the Institute's core research interests. All applicants should demonstrate a significant record of research achievement and contribution to the discipline as appropriate to career stage, circumstances and the category of Fellowship for which they are applying. Fellowships are non-stipendiary, and we are unable to offer assistance toward relocation costs.

The IES follows AHRC’s formal definition of an Early Career Researcher: an ECR is an individual who is within eight years of the award of their PhD or equivalent professional training, or an individual who is within six years of their first academic appointment. These durations exclude any period of career break, e.g. for family care or health reasons.

Fellowship Renewals: 

Applications for renewal or extension of an IES Fellowship will only be considered at the same time (and with the same deadline) as the annual Fellowship competition. Applications for renewal should take the form of a summary of the research undertaken during the Fellowship and outline how an extension of the Fellowship would advance this work, and its benefits to the Fellow, the IES, and SAS. It should also specify the term of the extension (which would normally be no more than one year).

Applications for renewal/extension of the Fellowship are not automatic or accepted on an ad hoc basis.

Visa Requirements:

We welcome applications from overseas (outside UK/EU) applicants who have permanent posts at their home institutions. Visiting fellows from overseas must be on sabbatical from their home institution. Given current visa and immigration restrictions, we are unable to sponsor non-UK/EU independent scholars. We reserve the right to rescind a fellowship if we are no longer able to offer sponsorship because of changes in visa policy.

SAS Fellowships:

The School of Advanced Study each year welcome around 140 visiting research fellows who benefit from its unique research resources and multidisciplinary scholarly community. To apply for School-wide fellowships, including British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowships, and the ST Lee Visiting Professorial Fellowship, see the School's Fellowships page.

In addition, the IES, along with the Institute of Classical Studies, and the Institute of Languages Cultures and Societies, co-host a small number of Early Career Researchers through their Inclusion, Participation and Engagement programme and the newly announced William St Clair Fellowship, which opens on 20th October 2024. 

Institute Fellowships 

Research Fellows are central to the Institute’s work. Fellows contribute to the extensive network of specialist seminars, events and conferences, and help host and develop funded research projects. The Institute encourages its Fellows to engage in interdisciplinary work with colleagues in other Institutes across the School. We are also particularly interested in establishing and sustaining research relationships with English departments across the UK. The Institute and the School are hospitable to international scholars wishing to pursue their research in London or develop research projects with IES staff and existing Fellows.

I have benefited a great deal from my IES affiliation and I am grateful for the support I have received, I welcomed having access to the Fellows’ Room, which made a very useful base both for day-to-day working and visiting the Library, for attending events and meeting other commitments across the University of London, and for visiting the British Library.

 ^{Flore Janssen, 2019/20 Postdoctoral Visiting Research Fellow}