British Academy International Fellowships

Notify Faculty of intention to apply by: 15 January 2026

Internal Selection Submission by: 21 January 2026

Funder Deadline: 11 March 2026

The British Academy International Fellowships scheme provides funding for two years for an early career researcher to visit a UK university. This scheme replaced the older Newton International Fellowships in 2023.

Eligibility

Applicants should be working outside the UK and should not hold UK citizenship at the time of application, nor have lived, worked, or undertaken research in the UK in the 12 months immediately prior to the application (excepting short-term visits of less than three months in total, and with the exception of applicants who are refugees in the UK according to the Geneva Convention).

Individuals already working in the UK, or working outside the UK but employed by a UK organisation are not eligible to apply.

Applicants should hold a PhD, or will have a PhD by the time the funding starts, and as of the 2026 round this must be from a non-UK institution and the applicant must have no more than 5 years of active full time postdoctoral experience at the time of application (discounting career breaks, but including teaching experience and/or time spent in industry).

Applicants who hold a UK undergraduate or Masters level postgraduate degree will still be eligible providing they meet the other criteria.

Duration and Value

Awards offer support for two years (80% FEC). Award-holders will be classified as salaried employees (not, as with the previous Newton Fellowships, as visiting researchers on a stipend) and receive a reasonable salary set by their host institution. Applicants may apply for research expenses of up to £12,000 and relocation costs of up to £8,000. 

How to Apply

The 2026 scheme will open on 15th January 2026, and the Faculty requests that candidates confirm their interest by this point. We have confirmed that applications will require a round of internal selection by the Faculty. For the 2026 round, the Faculty will be able to support one candidate to go forward for submission.

For internal selection, applicants are expected (subject to finalisation) to be requested to (a) confirm that an established member of Faculty has agreed to act as sponsor and support their application, (b) submit a 2 page project proposal (including project title, main text font size no smaller than 11) plus a CV of up of 2 pages to research@law.ox.ac.uk by 21 January 2026.

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy's Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS). The deadline for submissions and UK host organisation approval is 11th March 2026. Results are expected in the Summer of 2026.