Research Fellowship

Research Fellowship

Funds early-career dementia fellows with salary-backed independent research support to strengthen real-world implementation.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) Research Fellowships support PhD-qualified, non-clinical early-career researchers in establishing independent dementia research programs at UK academic institutions. The award covers the Fellow's full salary plus up to £20,000 per year in research running costs for a period of up to three years. The total value therefore depends on the Fellow's salary grade but consistently includes the £20,000 per-year research budget on top of employment costs. The program carries a competitive success rate of approximately 16%, with eight awards made from 51 applications over a recent three-year reporting period.

Eligibility is tightly defined: the Fellow must hold a PhD and must not currently hold a tenure-track or tenured position. Both the Fellow and the nominated Lead Supervisor must be based at a UK academic institution. A secured Lead Supervisor holding an institutional contract is required at the time of application. Prior impactful outputs — publications, conference presentations — are required evidence of research capability. Ethical approvals and Home Office licences must be in place where the research involves human participants or regulated animal work.

The Research Fellowship is positioned for researchers transitioning from postdoctoral work to independence, providing three years of protected time to develop a distinct research niche in dementia science. Applications are submitted through ARUK's Flexigrant portal. The 2025/26 round follows ARUK's standard annual cycle; the precise open and deadline dates for the current cycle are managed through the Flexigrant system. ARUK's broader portfolio includes Pilot Projects and Major Projects grants, with the Fellowship serving as the primary mechanism for supporting individual emerging investigators rather than team-based research programs.