To support early career mathematicians in the transition between PhD and a postdoctoral position, the London Mathematical Society offers Fellowships of between 3 and 6 months to mathematicians who have recently or will shortly receive their PhD. The award will be calculated at £1,552 per month plus £800 allowance for relocation/collaboration visits. Applicants must demonstrate strong research links outside the institution where they received their PhD. This can be demonstrated, for example, by changing institutions or by making collaborative visits during the fellowship. The fellowships may be held at one or more institutions. These Fellowships are partially supported by Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research through the UKRI/EPSRC Additional Funding Programme for Mathematical Sciences.
- Guidelines
- How to Apply
- Queries and FAQs
- Report Forms
- Current Early Career Fellows
- Testimonials from previous Grant Holders
- At the time of the closing date applicants must be UK residents.
- The Fellowship should start after the applicant’s PhD thesis has been submitted and not normally more than nine months after the applicant’s PhD was awarded.
- Fellows are permitted to teach up to three hours per week. Otherwise they are expected to spend their working time on study and research.
- Fellowships will be awarded for a period of between 3 and 6 months.
- The value of the Fellowship will be calculated at £1,552 per month plus a relocation/collaboration allowance of £800.
- The relocation/collaboration allowance is primarily awarded to cover the relocation travel costs of the applicant to the institution where the Fellowship will be held, or to cover costs associated to the collaborative research visits outside home institution. The relocation/collaboration allowance may also be used to support visa costs and travel costs for attending research meetings during the tenure of the Fellowship. Fellows are expected to keep receipts to accompany the financial report at the end of the Fellowship.
- Grants in this call will be awarded with the earliest start for visits being 1 April 2025 and latest start date being 31 March 2026.
- Applicants should read the Conditions of Award prior to submitting an application.
Candidates are asked to provide with their application:
- a completed application form;
- a CV, including a list of publications (maximum two A4 pages, minimum 12pt font);
- a research proposal including a rationale for the choice of each institution and academic host to be visited (maximum three A4 pages including bibliography, minimum 12pt font).
- confirmation letter that the host institution(s) will provide the Fellow with office space, access to computing and library facilities, and any bench fees will be waived (See letter sample). This should be included in the composite document submitted with the application form.
- two letters of reference are required:
- One of which would normally be from the applicant's PhD supervisor and should be emailed by the referee directly to the LMS (fellowships@lms.ac.uk) by the closing date;
- One of which should be from an academic outside the applicant's home institution (meaning the institution of PhD study), with whom the applicant intends to collaborate during the fellowship. This letter should include information about the academic merit of the proposed research. If the applicant intends to hold the fellowship at a host institution that is different from their home institution, the letter should be from an academic at the host institution. If the applicant intends to remain based at their home institution throughout the fellowship, the letter should also include a brief plan of short in-person visits to support the research project. This letter should be attached in the composite document that is submitted with the application form.
The deadline for applications for the next round is 11.59pm (GMT) on the annual deadline of 14 January. Applications will be considered at a meeting of the Early Career Fellowship Panel in early March each year.
- Conditions of Award
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Advice on how to write a good application, which was published in the LMS Newsletter issue 485, page 43 (November 2019) but please note that this advice is for Fellowships where the host institution would typically not be the home institution.
You may also find the following documents are helpful when completing your application:
- Online Application Form
- Sample copy of the application form
- Sample template of an academic host confirmation letter
Applications can be made by completing the Online Application Form
Please view the answers to Frequently Asked Questions for advice. If you need further help, please contact fellowships@lms.ac.uk with any queries.
LMS Early Career Research Fellows 2023-24
| Fellow | Institution | Length of Fellowship |
| Llibert Aresté Saló | Queen Mary University of London | 6 months |
| Joshua Bannister | University College London | 5 months |
| Antonie Goldsborough | Heriot - Watt University | 6 months |
| Dimitrios Los | University of Cambridge | 6 months |
| James Taylor | University of Oxford | 6 months |
| Harkaran Uppal | University of Bath | 6 months |
| Leo Versteegen | University of Cambridge | 5 months |
| Dmitri Whitmore | University of Cambridge | 6 months |
Testimonials from previous Grant Holders
Francesco Paolo Gallinaro , visited the University of East Anglia
Spending a large portion of my PhD during the pandemic meant that I did not have all the chances to meet people in my area that I would have liked to. For this reason, the LMS Early Career Fellowship was a great opportunity to spend time with one of the leading experts in my field. This was extremely useful as it helped me to acquire different perspectives both on the problems I had worked on during my PhD and on life in the academic world in general, all of which were very useful to lay the groundwork for the next steps I want to take.
Alex Levine, visited the University of St Andrews
I believe these transitioning schemes are very important. Many PhD students find themselves unsupported for a number of months after finishing their PhDs, which can cause them to leave academia, or to have to find other means to support themselves, leaving them less time for research and career development. Some finishing PhD students need time after submitting their theses to write up or finish the results they have proved, and these grants give them that opportunity.
Additionally, the fact that these grants encourage finishing PhD students to go to different institutions allows them to find new collaborators, often with differing interests to their supervisor.
Both of these factors are greatly beneficial to any mathematician transitioning to an academic career.
Brian Tyrrell, visited University of Manchester
I found the opportunities afforded to me by this scheme to be incredibly satisfying, both professionally and personally. Working on a new project at a new university immediately after submitting my PhD thesis was quite liberating and allowed me to look at a problem “with fresh eyes” after spending months curating and writing up my own research from previous years. Gaining potential future collaborators has also been invaluable to my career, as well as the professional development I underwent by attending a locally organised mathematics education seminar. I am very grateful to have had the chance to do interesting new mathematics, meet interesting new people, and attend events and conferences in the north of England I might otherwise have missed.
Michael Rosbotham, visited the Carleton University
Schemes such as this one, afford early career mathematicians with the means to maintain active research in the uncertain period before getting a postdoc. Moreover, they provide access to institutions and communities that otherwise might seem out of reach. The LMS Early Career Research Committee webinars and the LMS ECR fellowship were instrumental to me remaining a mathematician.