Pre-announcement – Restricted Call: Royal Society Wolfson Fellowships 2025, Round 1 (indicative internal deadline: 25th September 2024)

Restricted Call: Royal Society Wolfson Fellowships 2024-25, Round 1 (internal deadline: 25th September 2024) 

We are pleased to announce that Round 1 of the Royal Society’s 2024-25 Wolfson Fellowships scheme will be opening next week  (11th September), and the University’s internal selection process will now commence.

The programme is to enable UK Universities to strategically recruit and attract outstanding international researchers to the UK’s scientific community. This can be achieved through one of the following routes:

This strand focuses entirely on recruitment, enabling UK institutions to enhance their offering with a £300,000 fellowship award to international research leaders wishing to relocate to the UK. The funding can be used flexibly to conduct high-quality research as part of their start-up package. Award holders are expected to hold a full-time post at the University. Please note, the Royal Society have updated their criteria for the five-year fellowship, and the start date of appointment and the start date of the Fellowship must now correlate.

This strand allows excellent international researchers a flexible 12-month sabbatical period at a UK university with an award of up to £125,000 to build and develop international collaborations and networks with the host UK university. The fellowship can be held full time for 1 year or flexibly over 2 years – but the total period of the sabbatical must always amount to 12 months. The scheme requires for the candidate to be employed at an overseas institution.

Eligibility for both strands:

  • Applicants can be of any nationality. 
  • Research must be within the eligible subjects.
  • The applicant must be currently based overseas.
  • Candidates should be talented researchers with a proven track record for high quality scientific research. This may include, as appropriate: a strong publication record, being invited to conferences as keynote speaker and evidence of scientific leadership and/or supervising or mentoring junior researchers. 
  • The Royal Society recognises that diversity is essential for delivering excellence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The Society wants to encourage applications from the widest range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences to maximise innovation and creativity in science for the benefit of humanity.

Note on funding:

Please note that this funding (both strands) cannot be used to cover salary on-costs (employer’s NI and pension contributions) or Estate and Indirect costs directly associated with the Fellow. 

Assessment criteria:

Internal applications will be assessed using the Royal Society criteria:

  • Candidate’s track record.
  • The strength of the strategic case for the nomination and fit to the University’s research strategy.
  • The high quality and originality of the candidate’s proposed research vision – including the potential impact of the research and benefit to the UK science base.
  • Visiting Fellowships only: The mutual benefit to the University and the researcher, including potential to develop ongoing international collaborative links, supervise or mentor junior researchers, share ideas and practice.

University Internal selection: 

Institutions nominating more than one candidate across both strands will be expected to: (1) make a strong case against the organisation’s strategic priorities, (2) outline internal selection process to the funder, and (3) detail what other support (direct or in-kind) will be provided to the applicants. Therefore, this call will be managed according to the University’s restricted calls procedure. 

If interested in nominating a candidate, departments are requested to complete our online form at by 12 noon on Wednesday 25th September 2024. For your convenience, the attached document outlines the questions asked in the online form as it cannot be saved and/or returned to for future editing. If asked to log-in, please use your Raven details. Please note, an additional requirement has been added to the Head of Department support letter since the pre-announcement circulation email (attached) to ensure applicants meet the funder’s eligibility criteria if salary enhancement is applied for.

Funder deadline: 6th November 2024

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at researchstrategy@admin.cam.ac.uk