Successful applicants to the Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) scheme have the opportunity to extend their four-year fellowship by up to a further three years.
The renewal funding will continue to support the development of a leading-edge fellow and further their work to undertake adventurous, ambitious programmes that tackle difficult and novel challenges.
This funding opportunity is available to current FLF award holders only.
Renewal applications can be submitted within or across any areas of research or innovation covered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The renewal project should be a continuation of the original FLF fellowship. However, it is recognised that the project will have developed and progressed, and a fellow may change the direction of their project over the period of the fellowship in response to new discoveries or techniques if required. This is to build on their own changing experience, or to reflect changing business requirements and market opportunities, and should be explained in the case for support.
A fellow may also request to move host organisation or sector where appropriate and justified.
The FLF renewal must not be used to request funds for a completely new, independent project, and must not be used as a substitute for no-cost extensions.
The renewal will be awarded if there is a prima facie case for progression, and the fellow is able to demonstrate this in their proposal.
The prima facie should demonstrate the following:
You must apply using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system.
You can find advice on completing your application in:
We recommend you start your application early.
Your host organisation will also be able to provide advice and guidance.
Before starting an application, you will need to log in or create an account in Je-S.
All investigators involved in the project need to be registered on Je-S.
Any investigators who do not have a Je-S account must register for one at least seven working days before the funding opportunity deadline.
When applying:
This will populate:
Once you have completed your application, make sure you ‘submit document’.
You can save completed details in Je-S at any time and return to continue your application later.
The funding opportunity remains open at all times on the Je-S system with no formal closing date, but with submission windows. The FLF team will assign applications to meetings based on when they are received.
There will be three assessments periods per year, with submissions typically closing in April, July and December.
The meeting in which fellows should apply to will be dependent on the end date of their initial FLF award. If fellows are granted a no cost extension, the initial end date will be extended to take into account the additional time requested, and this date should be used instead.
If there is a reason which means you are unable to submit to your allocated meeting, please advise the FLF renewal team as soon as possible.
A full list of confirmed meetings and which meeting you should apply for can be found in annex A of the renewal guidance document in the ‘additional info’ section.
Your application must include the following attachments:
There are a number of different documents you may need to submit with your application, depending on your proposed area of study and host organisation. These could include:
For full details, refer to the renewal guidance document in the ‘additional info’ section.
An assessment panel will consider the applications based on whether a prima facie case for progression has been demonstrated. The prima facie is supported by the FLF renewal assessment criteria:
Across all four factors assessed, a key issue will be whether the added value of continuing the fellowship mechanism of support is clearly demonstrated. For example, the continuing benefits from the scale, flexibility and duration of the fellowship funding offered is clear, as opposed to the benefits gained from standard project grant support.
For business applications, consideration of the added value will include, for example:
If a prima facie case for renewal is not agreed during the initial meeting, a formal discussion will be required. This will be with the fellow to determine whether the renewal award is awarded, and any questions raised by the panel will be shared prior to the discussion.
Further information may be sought from the host organisation should there be queries with regards to the host support or commitment to an open-ended position. We will aim to resolve this via email communication, a formal discussion may be held in exceptional circumstances.
To fully understand how your application will be assessed, you should read the following attachments in the ‘additional info’ section:
All fellows that apply for the renewal will receive feedback, which will be included with the system-generated email sent by the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system with the final outcome.
For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.
Email: flfrenewal@ukri.org
We aim to respond within five working days.
01793 444164
FLF renewal guidance for applicants (PDF, 561KB)
Letter of support template (DOCX, 44KB)
Data management plan template (DOCX, 51KB)
Renewal finance form for non-academics (Excel, 82KB)
Academic salary calculator (Excel, 108KB)
Renewal assessment criteria (PDF, 127KB)
