Adventurous futures – Perspectives on research fellowship proposals

Research fellowships provide the time, resources, and intellectual freedom for scholars to explore ambitious ideas and grow into the research leaders of tomorrow. Although fellowship schemes vary by career level, they often share core goals and characteristics.

From my experience reviewing and sitting on fellowship panels, I’ve gathered a few thoughts on what makes an application stand out. These are, naturally, just my personal perspectives.

An adventurous and impactful long term research vision

At the heart of a strong fellowship application is a compelling vision. Since the goal is to support the development of future leaders, this should clearly articulate a significant research gap, ideally one that is high-risk, high-reward, and demonstrate strategic, forward-thinking ambition. A compelling vision typically:

• Demonstrates importance and broader impact, clearly articulating why this problem is worth solving, who stands to benefit and how the work could create real-world change; academically, socially, industrially or in policy.

• Frames your work in terms of contributions to the field, proposing new fundamental understanding, approaches, or directions rather than just describing expected outcomes.

• Positions the fellowship within a larger intellectual agenda, such as laying the groundwork for a decade-long programme of research.

• Presents a clear trajectory that extends beyond the fellowship, showing where your research is headed in the long term.

• Reflects strategic thinking, showing how this project helps establish you as a future leader and how it could open new avenues in your discipline.

A common pitfall in fellowship proposals is focusing too narrowly on a specific project, rather than presenting a broader, long-term research vision.

A project-focused proposal tends to:

• Emphasize a specific, bounded research task with clear, short-term goals (e.g. “I will study X using method Y over the next two years”).

• Overly focus on deliverables like publications, data collection, or experiments within the fellowship period.

• Read more like a grant application: “Here’s what I will do and how I’ll do it.”

These can be good in terms of technical clarity, but may fall short of the expectations for fellowships that aim to support future leaders in a field.

Pathways to impact

When articulating the potential impact of your research, it's important to consider both academic and non-academic outputs. For example, how your work could benefit broader communities, whether in society, industry, policy, health or the environment. Reviewers are often looking for a thoughtful and realistic understanding of how your research could make a difference and how you plan to facilitate that.

Key considerations when defining your pathways to impact:

• Who might benefit?
  Identify potential beneficiaries or users of your research. These could include specific communities, industry partners, policymakers, educators, practitioners or the public.

• What kind of impact?
  Think broadly: this could include technological innovation, shaping policy or public debate, enhancing practice, improving wellbeing, informing education or changing cultural perceptions.

• How will impact happen?
  Lay out the mechanisms through which impact might be realised. This could involve co-designing research with stakeholders, public engagement activities, policy briefs, open-source tools, data platforms, media outreach or partnerships with industry or government bodies.

• Timing and feasibility
  Be realistic. Impact may unfold gradually or extend beyond the life of the fellowship. Show that you've thought through how it could begin during the project and how you might seed or scale it in the long term.

• Your role as a leader in achieving impact
  Demonstrate that you are not only producing impactful work, but also developing the skills, networks and strategic mindset needed to drive that impact forward.

Study the guidance to reviewers

Reviewers play a critical role in determining the outcome of your proposal. They are typically experts drawn from your field and will assess your application based on specific criteria (many of which are publicly available). For example, in the case of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, detailed reviewer guidance is provided here. Below is an extract from the reviewer’s guidance document that should guide your thinking around the vision.  

• Is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s) – The importance, novelty and feasibility of the proposed programme of work and whether long term fellowship support is needed to enable this.

• Has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area – Whether the potential short and/or long-term impacts, and how significant they are, are well articulated and whether the fellowship has the potential to establish or maintain a distinctive and outstanding research and/or innovation activity.

• Is timely given current trends, context, and needs – Whether the proposal aligns with a specific priority area identified by UKRI and how strongly the proposal fits within the aims for the area and what it will contribute alongside other proposals and activities in the same priority area.

• Impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment –  Whether the importance and potential impact of the research and/or innovation for the field, society, the economy and/or the environment are well-described.

Demonstrating your potential as a future leader

With your adventurous and impactful vision outlined, the next step is to demonstrate that you are the right person to realise it; and to emerge as a future research leader. Candidates often apply at varying stages of their careers, so absolute comparisons can be misleading. Instead, reviewers typically assess whether applicants are performing at a high level relative to their career stage and whether they show clear potential to become world-class leaders in their field.

Fellowships are not only about supporting excellent research, they are also about nurturing the next generation of research leaders. As such, reviewers are looking for evidence of developing independence, intellectual leadership and the ability to inspire, lead and support others.

While not all of these qualities may be fully established yet, a well-structured and coherent training and development plan can be a powerful tool. It should clearly show how you will grow into these leadership qualities over time, aligned with your vision and ambitions.

Elements to consider when demonstrating research leadership potential:

• High-quality outputs relative to career stage

  • These may include scientific publications, software tools, datasets, or patents. Emphasise the quality and impact of your contributions rather than the volume.

  • If you have notable outputs currently under review, ensure they are accessible to reviewers via preprints or secure links.

• Evidence of growing independence

  • Present examples where you have led publications, initiated new research directions or played a key role in driving a project forward. This also includes the ability to build teams and deliver on a coherent research vision.

• Track record of securing funding

  • Even small-scale grants can help demonstrate your ability to define compelling research problems and design viable programmes of work. A consistent funding track record supports your capacity to sustain a world-class research agenda.

• Influence and recognition in the field

  • Indicators include invited talks, conference presentations, organising symposia or workshops and involvement in advisory boards or committees. These reflect both visibility and leadership within your community.

• Team-building, supervision and mentorship

  • Demonstrate experience contributing to and developing research teams. This may involve supervising students or mentoring early-career researchers, as well as fostering an inclusive and collaborative research environment.

Suitability of the environment

The success of your research and leadership development depends not only on your vision, but also on being embedded in an environment that enables and accelerates your growth. Reviewers will look for clear evidence that your chosen host department and institution is well-placed to support your proposed work, both intellectually and strategically.

Key considerations when articulating suitability of environment:

• Alignment with your research goals
  Demonstrate how the host institution provides the right academic context (expertise, infrastructure, or research culture) to support your proposed fellowship. Highlight how existing strengths in the department, centre or wider institution complement your research direction.

• Opportunities for collaboration and intellectual exchange
  Identify specific individuals, groups or initiatives within the institution that you plan to engage with. This could include interdisciplinary centres, lab groups or external partners the host institution is connected to.

• Support for your development as a research leader
  Describe how the environment will help you build your independence and leadership capacity. This might include mentorship arrangements, leadership training, opportunities to supervise students or pathways to build your own team.

• Institutional commitment
  If applicable, refer to any concrete commitments from the host (e.g. access to facilities, co-funding, time allocation or a long-term position). These demonstrate that the institution values your contribution and is invested in your success.

• Long-term fit
  Reflect on how the host institution aligns with your broader career goals; how it provides a platform not just for this fellowship, but for establishing yourself as a future leader in the field.

Closing remarks

Applying for a research fellowship is more than just submitting a strong proposal; it’s an opportunity to pause, reflect and articulate the kind of researcher and leader you want to become. While the process can be intense, it’s also a valuable exercise in shaping your vision, clarifying your trajectory and making intentional choices about your development.

Remember, funders aren’t just investing in a project; they’re investing in you. Take the time to align your proposal with your values, your ambitions and the impact you want to make in your field and beyond. Whether an application leads to a successful outcome or becomes a stepping stone toward the next opportunity, this is all a part of building your long-term research story.

So, be bold. Be thoughtful. And trust that the effort you put in now is an investment in the research leader you’re becoming.