UKRI’s flagship fellowship scheme is back. Round 11 of the Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) offers up to seven years of funding to researchers and innovators ready to step into independence, with individual awards typically ranging from £300,000 to over £2 million.
FLF is one of UKRI’s most prestigious funding routes for the next generation of research and innovation leaders. Round 11 is open across the whole of UKRI’s remit, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, and engineering.
Below, I have explained the key things you need to know about this competition before you apply: who is eligible, how much funding is on the table, and what the application process looks like.
Fellow Applicants
To find out if you and your project are suitable for this grant, book in a free Competitiveness and Eligibility Assessment. In just 25 minutes, I’ll tell you:
- Whether you’re a strong candidate for this competition
- Other grants you may be eligible for
- What other sources of funding we can help you secure
Who is Eligible?
Your Organisation
You must hold the fellowship at a UK-based organisation that meets one of the following criteria:
- A non-academic organisation eligible to receive UK government subsidies that can provide a research or innovation environment of international standing
- An organisation registered as eligible to apply for UKRI funding
Eligible host organisations include businesses, Catapults, charities, NHS trusts, research organisations and universities. The scheme deliberately spans both academic and non-academic settings, and joint job-share applications are permitted.
Your Project
You must:
- Be a researcher or innovator looking to establish or transition to independence
- Have the support of your host organisation throughout the fellowship
- Intend to spend 100% of your working time on the fellowship, with limited exceptions for academic-hosted fellows (up to six hours a week on other career development activities) and clinically active applicants (up to 20% of their time on clinical commitments, or up to 40% for patient-oriented research)
All funded work must be carried out in the UK, and you must intend to exploit the project results from or within the UK.
Your project must also:
- Align with UKRI’s remit, which spans the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, and innovation
- Demonstrate why a fellowship, rather than a standard project grant, is the right way to deliver the work
- Run for up to seven years, with four years of funding awarded initially and the option to apply to renew for a further three years in your final year
You aren’t eligible if you’ve already achieved research or innovation independence. For example, by holding equivalent funding for this career stage or by managing your own significant programme of work within a business.
You also aren’t eligible if you’re a senior academic or innovator.
How Much Funding Can I Apply For?
There is no formal minimum or maximum project cost. Individual Future Leaders Fellowships have ranged from £300,000 to over £2 million, with funding covering 80% of your full economic costs.
UKRI has no preference for lower- or higher-cost proposals, as long as the requested amount is fully justified.
If your total project costs are expected to exceed £1.4 million, you’ll need to email the FLF team at fellows@ukri.org in advance using the subject header ‘application over 1.4 million’.
You can still apply above this soft cap as long as your costs are fully justified and considered good value for money by the panel.
Project Details
You’ll need to provide:
- A core team list, including any visiting researchers and specialists
- A summary of your proposed work, written for a non-specialist audience
- Details of any project partners and their letters or emails of support
- Host organisation details, including the support and resources you will receive
Application Questions
There are six scored assessment areas:
- Career development
- Ethics and responsible research and innovation
- Host organisation support
- Resources and cost justification
- Vision and approach
- Your capability to deliver
Most answers are completed directly in the Funding Service text boxes. The Vision and Approach section also requires a separate PDF of up to five A4 pages that must include a diagram of your work plan covering the full duration of the project.
Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to complete additional sections covering animal or human research, clinical fellowships, data management and sharing, facilities, instrument development, international collaborations, resubmissions, and trusted research and innovation.
Your application will be reviewed by at least three independent assessors. Their individual scores will be combined to determine your final result.
Notification and Interviews
If you’re successful at the shortlisting stage, you’ll be invited to a panel interview during the week commencing 17 May 2027. Interviews last up to an hour and are held over Microsoft Teams. UKRI will notify you of the final outcome within eight weeks of your interview.
Ready to Apply? We Can Help.
GrantTree has 15 years’ experience helping researchers, startups and scaleups secure over £500 million in innovation funding. Our team includes active assessors, so we know exactly what panels are looking for and how to increase your chances of success.
Whether you need help writing your application from scratch, a detailed review from an active UKRI assessor before submission, or coaching to strengthen your team’s bid-writing abilities, we can help you put forward the strongest possible application.
To find out how we can help, just get in touch.
