Developing World-class Research Potential

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities values Independent Research Fellows, and offers a first-rate environment in which to realise world-class research potential. We encourage applications from ambitious and talented researchers and, through mentoring from experienced colleagues, will help applicants to develop and secure an Independent Research Fellowship.

The Faculty

We're a vibrant community of scholars, primarily housed in one contiguous building that encourages a ‘faculty without walls’ approach to maximise collaboration. Across the Faculty, our innovative and interdisciplinary research addresses many key issues of culture, creativity, and belief, as well as tackling fundamental questions to enable us to rethink society. Projects also focus on key challenges of healthy living and ageing, and debates about securing energy, food, and water. Research in the Faculty also helps us understand the fundamentals and human and natural environments.

Our research activity is organised into four Schools:

In addition, we benefit from the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities, and a close association with the Sainsbury Centre, the Sainsbury Research Research Unit and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture. 

We attract significant research grant income from wide-ranging national and international public and private funders, and have internal mentoring and reviewing systems that allow us to achieve excellent success rates. We have a proven record of supporting externally funded Research Fellows, from successful application to project delivery, and onto career development and a permanent academic position. Our Research and Innovation Service will nominate an experienced Project Officer who will help you develop your application, including help with costings, deadlines, rules, regulations and eligibility.

We have detailed experience of Fellowship schemes supported by Research Councils UK (RCUK), British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Marie Sklowdowska-Curie and the European Research Council, as well as a number of charities and learned societies. We provide information and mentoring sessions for different Fellowship schemes, and seminars on planning and writing applications, all led by current or recent Fellows, as well as experienced reviewers and panellists for a range of different research funders. Where applications require, we have matched funds for high quality applicants that are likely to succeed.

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UEA invites potential applicants wishing to hold a three-year Fellowship at UEA from autumn 2024 to submit an outline application to the Faculty by 5pm on 17th July. British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships are designed to offer opportunities for outstanding early career researchers to strengthen their experience of research and teaching.

Each year the Faculty supports a limited number of applications for projects. These can be held in the School of Art, Media, and American Studies; the School of History; the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing; the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies; the Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities; The Sainsbury Research Unit; The Sainsbury Institute for the study of Japanese Arts and Culture; or The Sainsbury Centre.

Successful applicants will join a vibrant community of postdoctoral research fellows and academic researchers. UEA is fully committed to supporting the scholarship and career development of our fellows. Each will be assigned an academic mentor and will be fully integrated into the life of their host School. For more information about the research in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at UEA, including the REF2021 results which ranked our research and impact 4th out of more than 130 submissions, please see the Faculty of Arts and Humanities page and REF 2021: subject rankings | Times Higher Education (THE).

Further details

UEA Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships 2024

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities invites applications for Early Career Fellowships to be held at the University of East Anglia (UEA), to start between 1 September 2024 and 1 May 2025. Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work (but should not be a reworking or extension of the doctoral research project) during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position.

Each year the Faculty supports a limited number of applications for projects in: the School of Art, Media, and American Studies; the School of History; the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing; the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies, Interdisciplinary Institute for the Humanities, the Sainsbury Centre, the Sainsbury Research Unit and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture.

Successful applicants will join a vibrant community of postdoctoral research fellows. UEA is fully committed to supporting the scholarship and career development of these fellows, and each will be assigned an academic mentor and will be fully integrated into the life of their host School / unit. For more information see here: https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/faculties-and-schools/faculty-of-arts-and-humanities/research/fellowships

A candidate may submit only one application per year. Previously unsuccessful applicants may reapply.  

Full instructions for guidance on how to submit an application can be found below.

Fellowships at UEA

Since 2015, the Faculty has welcomed sixteen Leverhulme Early Career Fellows. Recent Early Career Fellows include: Dr Chi-Hé Elder (now Lecturer in Linguistics, UEA); Dr Olesya Khromeychuk (now Director of the Ukrainian Institute London);  Dr John-Mark Philo (currently Frances Yates Research Fellow, The Warburg Institute); Dr Janosch Prinz (now Assistant Professor in Social and Political Philosophy, Maastricht University); Dr Sophia Hatzisavvidou, (now Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Bath); Dr Gregory Lippiatt (now Lecturer in History, University of Exeter). Current Leverhulme Early Career Fellows include: Dr Anastasia Stylianou (HIS), Dr Thomas Gould (LDC), Dr Rye Holmboe (AMA), Dr William Carruthers (AMA), Dr Eugenia Kelbert Rudan (LDC), Dr Sophie Stevens (LDC), Dr Lorenzo Caravaggi (HIS), Dr Gabriella Nugent (AMA), Dr James Dennison (PPL) and Lauren Rozenberg (AMA). 

Faculty support for Research Fellows includes:

  • Integrating you into the relevant School and research and office space;
  • Mentoring from senior colleagues and introductions to new collaborations;
  • Training and personal development, including the Faculty’s Early Career Researchers’ Forum;
  • Managing your research contract, budget and purchasing;
  • Access to top-class research facilities, and to the Faculty’s suite of ‘seed-corn’ funding schemes, including our Early Careers Researchers scheme, Annual Adventures in Research;
  • Support with writing and submitting further funding proposals;
  • Opportunities to gain teaching experience;
  • Advice on opportunities for progression to permanent academic positions.

If you are an ambitious researcher who is ready to progress your research career through an Independent Fellowship, please get in touch.

If you are interested in applying for the 2022/23 round of funding, please contact hum.research@uea.ac.uk.

For researchers who have already secured a Fellowship, we are also happy to discuss whether transferring it to UEA would be a good idea. Please contact Professor Lee Jarvis, Associate Dean for Research.