UKRI Policy Fellowships 2026: Up to £280,000 for 18-Month Research-to-Policy Placements Starting May 2027, Deadline 10 September

UKRI Policy Fellowships 2026: Up to £280,000 for 18-Month Research-to-Policy Placements Starting May 2027, Deadline 10 September

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Policy Fellowships 2026 call is open to researchers who want to spend 18 months working between academia and public policy. The programme offers 50 specific fellowship positions with UK or devolved government departments, arm’s-length bodies and members of the What Works Network. Successful fellows will work with a host on a defined policy challenge, contribute research and expert advice, and take part in a wider cohort focused on knowledge exchange.

This is a substantial institutional fellowship rather than a small personal scholarship. UKRI states that the full economic cost (FEC) can be up to £180,000 for a Core Policy fellowship, £220,000 for a What Works Innovation fellowship, or £280,000 for a Natural Hazards and Resilience fellowship. UKRI funds 80% of the FEC. The budget supports the fellowship project and placement; it should not be read as a personal cash prize or an automatic salary payment to the applicant.

The application deadline is 10 September 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time. Fellowships are expected to begin on 1 May 2027. The call is a good fit for researchers who can connect rigorous subject or methodological expertise with the needs of a particular host. It is a weaker fit for someone seeking a general sabbatical, an unfocused policy placement, or funding for a conventional research project that has not been shaped with a host partner.

Key details

The figures above come from UKRI’s live opportunity guidance. Individual host positions can add their own requirements, such as a nationality, security-clearance, location, attendance or subject-area condition. Read the host specification for the position you select before treating the programme-level rules as sufficient.

What the fellowship supports

UKRI describes this as a Sector Transition fellowship designed to move knowledge and skills between academic and policy communities. The fellow will normally have a three-month inception phase, a 12-month main placement with the host, and a three-month knowledge-exchange phase. During that period, the fellow can provide research and expert advice, co-design and deliver research activities, participate in knowledge exchange across government and academia, and build relationships with the wider Policy Fellows cohort.

The three sub-cohorts have different emphases. Core Policy fellowships are for early- and mid-career researchers working with UK or devolved government or an arm’s-length body on policy priorities. The published themes include the eight Modern Industrial Strategy sectors — advanced manufacturing, clean energy industries, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services — as well as missions such as economic growth, NHS reform, safer streets, opportunity, and clean energy.

Natural Hazards and Resilience fellowships focus on hazards and pandemic preparedness, including health risks, flooding, and the loss of essential services such as power, food, water or telecommunications. What Works Innovation fellowships are open to researchers at all career stages and are hosted within the What Works Network. Their published policy areas include homelessness, policing and place.

The call includes many position-level subjects rather than one generic brief. Examples on the official page include causal analysis of the consequences of poverty at the Department for Work and Pensions, the extra costs experienced by disabled people, AI evidence work at the Ministry of Justice, energy systems at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ultra-processed-food risk at the Food Standards Agency, and local economic growth and devolution at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. These examples illustrate the required level of fit: applicants should choose a specific position whose policy question genuinely matches their expertise.

Who can apply

The programme is open to academics based at an eligible UKRI research organisation. Applicants must hold a doctorate or demonstrate equivalent research experience, have subject-matter or methodological expertise relevant to the chosen position, and show that they can generate useful insight for the host. UKRI says that a person who is still enrolled in a doctorate or close to completing one does not automatically satisfy the equivalence rule. Someone making an equivalency case should demonstrate postdoctoral-level research expertise gained in a professional research role.

Career-stage rules depend on the sub-cohort. Core Policy and Natural Hazards and Resilience positions are aimed at early- to mid-career researchers. UKRI does not impose a fixed number of years since the doctorate and says career paths are not linear. Its guidance describes an early-career researcher as someone who has not yet established or transitioned to independence, while a mid-career researcher has established independence through activities such as leading proposals, producing work of distinction or championing a field. What Works Innovation fellowships are open at all career stages.

Prior policy experience is not required. That does not mean policy interest alone is enough. A competitive applicant needs to show that their analytical, research, communication and collaboration skills can be applied to the host’s actual policy need. The position specification may also require a particular nationality, security check, clearance process or right to work in the UK by the expected start date. The host’s work arrangement and attendance requirements are part of the practical eligibility decision.

Applicants are not eligible if they have already undertaken or are currently undertaking a UKRI policy fellowship. UKRI also excludes a fellowship project that is under consideration as a grant application with any organisation. Applicants should disclose relevant conflicts or previous interaction with host departments in the application.

Funding and practical support

The maximum FEC differs by sub-cohort. Core Policy fellowships may cost up to £180,000, What Works Innovation fellowships up to £220,000, and Natural Hazards and Resilience fellowships up to £280,000. UKRI funds 80% of FEC. The What Works and Natural Hazards figures include additional research and collaboration budgets of £40,000 and £100,000 respectively.

Every application must include a £15,000 flexible-funding budget. UKRI says this can support research-related costs, training and development, impact-enhancement activity, unforeseen placement-specific travel and subsistence, mentorship, and specific training identified during the fellowship. It cannot be used for core fellowship costs such as staff costs or travel that was already known when the application was prepared. The additional research and collaboration budgets can support items such as research assistants, surveys, interviews, secondary-data analysis and steering-group participation once plans are co-designed with the host.

There is no separate matched-funding requirement beyond the standard 20% FEC. However, the employing organisation must provide a suitable research environment and protect the fellow’s time. The fellowship also expects travel to the host office and UKRI cohort events. The final location, attendance pattern and any visa or clearance issue depend on the specific position and employing organisation.

How to choose a position

Start with the list of host specifications on the official call page. Do not begin by writing a generic statement about wanting to work in government. Compare the policy problem, host, disciplines, data context, expected attendance and any essential criteria for each position. Shortlist only the roles where you can explain both the question and the value you add.

A strong match usually has three layers. First, your existing evidence or method directly relates to the host’s problem. Second, you can translate that expertise for a non-academic audience and work at pace. Third, you can describe how co-design with the host will change the work in a useful way. A fellowship is not simply a chance to export an already-finished academic project into government. UKRI expects the host and fellow to shape the work during inception.

If two other positions are plausible, UKRI provides a 250-word alternate-position response where applicants can list up to two alternatives in priority order. This is optional, but it can be useful when your profile genuinely spans adjacent policy needs. Do not list alternatives just to appear flexible; an unrelated backup can make the main application look unfocused.

What the application requires

The application is made through the new UKRI Funding Service, not the old Je-S system. The organisation must be registered, and only the lead research organisation can submit. The fellow completes the application, but team members and partners should contribute. Only one person is named as the fellow. For an early-career application, the employing organisation should normally name a more senior researcher as a mentor and professional-enabling staff member.

The main written sections are demanding. The 1,100-word Vision response must address the specific host position, its analytical needs, the timing of the work, engagement with policymakers, and the flow of evidence between government, academia and other stakeholders. The 1,100-word Approach to co-design response must explain how the host will be engaged, how mutual benefit will be created, and how risks will be managed.

Applicant capability has a 1,650-word limit. UKRI asks for a narrative Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI), not a conventional CV. The four R4RI headings cover generating ideas or knowledge, developing others and relationships, contributing to the research and innovation community, and contributing to users, audiences and wider societal benefit. An optional additions section can provide context such as a career break.

Other sections cover impact, knowledge exchange, outcomes and outputs; career development; organisation support; resources and cost justification; career stage; alternate positions; and declaration of interest. The employing organisation’s head of department must provide a supporting statement addressing the fit with the department, protected time, mentorship, practical support and plans to share learning. That statement is pasted into the Funding Service rather than uploaded as a separate file.

The application also includes Trusted Research and Innovation questions. Applicants may need to explain connections to the National Security and Investment Act, intended collaborators, and whether export-control licensing could be relevant. Treat these questions as a real part of the submission, not as an administrative afterthought.

A preparation plan that matches the assessment

First, make a one-page position-fit map. Put the host’s policy question at the top, then list your strongest evidence, method, relevant outputs, stakeholder experience and missing capability. Add the proposed main-placement activities and the decision or practice each activity could inform. This map will expose weak matches before you spend time on prose.

Next, speak with your research office and prospective host as early as possible. Confirm the lead organisation, internal approval process, employment arrangement, time commitment, location expectations, clearance issues and realistic budget. Ask the host what information they need during the inception phase and what a useful outcome would look like from their perspective. The application should demonstrate host understanding without pretending that every project detail is fixed before co-design.

Build an evidence bank for the R4RI narrative. Choose a small number of contributions and explain what changed because of them, who used the work, how you collaborated, and what capability you would bring into the placement. A publication list alone will not answer UKRI’s questions about communicating with non-academic audiences, working at pace or supporting knowledge exchange.

Draft the Vision and co-design responses together. The Vision should establish the policy need and the intended change. The co-design response should then show how the host, stakeholders and fellow will refine the route to that change. Add a risk register with practical mitigations for data access, clearance, stakeholder availability, confidentiality, timing and delivery capacity. Keep the resources section consistent with those choices and include the mandatory £15,000 flexible budget.

Finally, reserve time for institutional review and the Funding Service submission. UKRI will not accept applications after 4:00 p.m. UK time on 10 September, and submitted applications cannot be amended. Your organisation may set an earlier internal deadline. Confirm every position-specific requirement and check that the department support statement is copied into the right field.

Common mistakes to avoid

The most serious mistake is applying to the programme without applying to a specific position. The assessors want evidence that you understand the host’s analytical need. A second mistake is presenting a finished research grant rather than a co-designed placement. The fellowship has a three-month inception phase precisely because the work should be shaped with the host.

Do not describe the maximum FEC as personal income. Budget it as project and fellowship support, and ask your research office how salary, replacement teaching, indirect costs and flexible funds will be handled. Do not omit the 20% FEC context or assume that the extra research and collaboration budget can pay the fellow’s core salary.

Avoid turning R4RI into a chronological CV. UKRI asks for a narrative about capability and contribution. Also avoid claiming policy impact that cannot be evidenced. Explain the route from research to host decision, name the intended users, and distinguish an output from an outcome. An academic paper, a briefing, a dataset and a change in practice are not interchangeable.

Lastly, do not leave organisational support, declarations, clearance and travel until the final day. These details can determine whether an otherwise strong application is feasible.

Timeline and next steps

The call opened on 9 June 2026. Applications close on 10 September 2026 at 4:00 p.m. UK time. UKRI expects shortlisting results during the week commencing 16 November 2026, interviews during the week commencing 18 January 2027, and funding decisions by February 2027. Successful fellowships are expected to start on 1 May 2027.

Before applying, confirm that your research organisation is eligible, select a position, read its host specification, and contact your research office. Then register or verify access to the UKRI Funding Service, agree the host and employing-organisation arrangements, prepare the support statement, and build the application around the published assessment areas: vision, capability to deliver, co-design, impact and outputs, career development, organisational support, and resources.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a personal scholarship?

No. It is a fellowship funded through an eligible research organisation. UKRI publishes maximum full economic costs and its percentage contribution; the exact treatment of salary and other costs should be agreed with the employing organisation.

Can a researcher without prior policy work apply?

Yes. Prior policy experience is not required, but the applicant must show relevant expertise, the ability to communicate with non-academic audiences, and a credible plan for working with the selected host.

Can a current PhD student apply?

Enrollment or being close to completing a doctorate is not enough by itself. The programme requires a doctorate or equivalent postdoctoral research experience, so applicants should rely on the published equivalence guidance and confirm their position with their organisation before applying.

Are all 50 fellowships the same?

No. The 50 positions sit across Core Policy, Natural Hazards and Resilience, and What Works Innovation sub-cohorts. Each host specification can add subject, nationality, security, clearance, location or attendance requirements.

Where should applicants ask questions?

For opportunity-specific questions, UKRI lists [email protected]. Questions about costings and institutional submission should go first to the applicant’s research office; technical Funding Service questions go to the UKRI Funding Service helpdesk.

Official links

• UKRI Policy Fellowships 2026: official opportunity guidance and application link
• UKRI Funding Service
• UKRI Research organisation eligibility guidance

Check the live UKRI page and the individual host specification immediately before submitting. Host details, technical instructions and contact arrangements can change during an open call.