FCDO Senior Research Fellowships 2026 – YOA

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 candidates to submit their purposes for eleven Senior Research Fellowships on the FCDO.

These placements shall be hosted by FCDO at both the head workplace in London or East Kilbride and are topic to the Fellow efficiently acquiring safety 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 have to be a minimum of Associate Professor stage of seniority and employed by a UK educational establishment. They will stay staff of their sending establishment at some point of the fellowship placement.
• Applicants should meet the necessities for acquiring safety clearance to undertake the location. This consists of assembly the related UK residency necessities, relying on the extent of clearance:
  • Developed Vetting (DV): Applicants will need to have lived within the UK for a minimum of 5 of the final 10 years.
  • Security Clearance (SC): Applicants will need to have lived within the UK for a minimum of 2 of the final 5 years.

Residency refers to bodily presence within the UK throughout these durations. For instance, holding a UK checking account or a UK postal deal with alone wouldn’t meet this requirement. Security clearance includes assurance checks carried out within the UK, which is why adequate UK residency is necessary.

Application

Application deadline is 30 August 2026 at 5pm GMT.  Applications shall be reviewed on a rolling foundation. 

Click here to apply

For extra info, go to FCDO Senior Research Fellowships.