The Royal Society’s Short Industry Fellowships pay for a researcher to spend three to six months working across the line between academia and industry, on a collaborative project that benefits both sides. Academic researchers can spend time in a UK company, industry researchers can spend time in a UK university, and applicants can send their postdoctoral researcher to do the secondment instead. The scheme is aimed especially at early career researchers.
Applications close at 3pm UK time on Wednesday 7 October 2026, and there is no room for a late push. If your industry partner is not already listed on the Royal Society’s Flexi-Grant system, the request to add it has to reach innovationgrants@royalsociety.org by 30 September 2026. Your two Heads of Department and your referee also need to complete their sections, and the Society recommends they do so at least five working days before the deadline so your organisation has time to approve the application. Decisions are expected in December 2026, with fellowships starting between 1 February and 31 March 2027.
What the fellowship covers
Awards can be held full time for three to six months, or part time at 50% for up to 12 months, so you can keep your work going at your own institution alongside the secondment. The Society pays the basic salary of the fellow or their nominated postdoc for the time spent on the fellowship (your employer keeps paying national insurance and pension), plus up to £1,000 in research expenses for consumables, travel between the two organisations and conference costs. Publication costs, computer hardware and bench fees are not covered. Up to five fellowships are offered per round.
The industry partner is expected to put in its own auditable cash or in-kind contribution, such as access to facilities, technical staff, equipment or consumables. The minimum depends on company size: 15% for small companies, 25% for medium companies and 35% for large ones. Collaborations with early-stage companies and spin-outs are particularly encouraged, provided they have a well established research team and facilities.
Who can apply
- You need a PhD, or equivalent standing in your profession, and can be of any nationality.
- You must hold a post at a UK university, a UK not-for-profit research organisation or a UK company, either permanent or fixed term with an end date after the fellowship finishes.
- The secondment must cross sectors, from academia into UK industry or the other way round.
- Postdocs cannot apply as the main applicant, but a lead applicant can nominate their postdoc to carry out the secondment, provided the postdoc’s contract covers the full fellowship.
- Holders of Royal Society University Research Fellowships or Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships are not eligible, and you cannot apply with a company in which you hold a 25% share or more, or sit on its board. Self-employed consultants cannot be the industry partner.
Does dementia research fit?
The scheme covers the natural sciences, which includes biological and biomedical research, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. That makes it a good match for laboratory, computational and drug discovery work, or for anyone collaborating with a company developing diagnostics, imaging, devices or analysis tools. It is not open to clinical or interventional research on people, social sciences or humanities, so projects built around trials, care or services will not fit. If you are unsure, the grants team will answer eligibility questions before you apply.
For a researcher weighing up whether industry might suit them, a few months inside a company is a low-risk way to find out, and it builds the kind of contacts that make a later move much easier. Our pieces on career uncertainty in academia and standing out with industry applications are a good place to start thinking about that.
How applications are judged
The Joint Industry Fellowship Committee looks at your track record (judged against your career stage, with career breaks taken into account), the quality of the science, its innovation and potential impact, the value of the fellowship to your career, and the mutual benefit to both organisations along with the chance of a longer term collaboration. The form asks for a research proposal of up to two pages or 1,000 words, a separate 250-word lay summary, 200 words each on the benefits to both organisations and how the collaboration will work in practice, and details of how results will be exploited and intellectual property shared. Success rates over the last three years have run between about 27% and 36%.
Short Industry Fellows are encouraged to go on and apply for the full Industry Fellowship to continue the collaboration, but you cannot submit similar projects to both schemes at the same time. Before you write anything, listen to our podcast on grant writing tips from awardees and reviewers.
How to apply
Read the scheme notes and the FAQs, then apply through Flexi-Grant. Questions can go to innovationgrants@royalsociety.org or +44 20 7451 2666. Disabled applicants can ask for adjustments, including a deadline extension, via adjustments@royalsociety.org.
Read the full details and apply
Visit funding web page
(https://royalsociety.org/grants/short-industry-fellowships/)
