Career stage is one of the strongest filters when applying — these 23 opportunities are designed for postdoctoral research.
Fellowships and scholarships are calibrated to particular career moments. The programs below were selected because their structure, funding, and cohort design are appropriate for postdoctoral research. Applying outside your career stage is one of the most common reasons strong candidates get rejected — every program below explicitly welcomes the audience on this page.
European Research Council
The European Research Council's flagship grant for outstanding researchers 2–7 years post-PhD to start their own independent research team in Europe.…
European Research Council
ERC grants for excellent researchers 7–12 years post-PhD to consolidate their independent research team in Europe.…
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Long-term research stays in Germany for postdoctoral and experienced researchers from abroad with above-average qualifications.…
European Commission
EU postdoctoral fellowships supporting researchers' careers and fostering excellence in research, including international and intersectoral mobility.…
Wellcome Trust
Long-term postdoctoral fellowships for researchers from low- and middle-income countries to develop their careers in biomedical and global health science.…
Schmidt Futures
A year-long postdoctoral programme placing the world's best scientific minds in disciplines different from their PhD to drive interdisciplinary innovation.…
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
A flagship Japanese government postdoctoral fellowship for international researchers across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.…
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome's flagship discovery research grant funding ambitious basic and applied research with the potential to drive a step change in understanding of life, he…
Royal Society
A Royal Society fellowship enabling outstanding early-career scientists to develop their research career in the UK.…
L'Oréal Foundation / UNESCO
International awards and fellowships dedicated to recognising and supporting women in science around the world.…
ETH Zurich · Society in Science
A postdoctoral fellowship for early-career researchers to work on unconventional, high-risk projects of their own choosing.…
Government of Canada
Canada's flagship postdoctoral fellowship for top-tier postdoctoral talent from Canada and abroad to develop their leadership potential.…
Human Frontier Science Program
Postdoctoral fellowships supporting frontier, interdisciplinary research in the life sciences across international borders.…
Schmidt Sciences
Postdoctoral fellowships at top universities pioneering the use of artificial intelligence in scientific research.…
Royal Society / British Academy
Postdoctoral fellowships for non-UK scientists, social scientists, and humanities researchers to work in the UK for two years.…
Pew Charitable Trusts
Postdoctoral training in U.S. biomedical labs for outstanding young scientists from Latin America, with funding to set up a lab back home.…
A*STAR Singapore
A*STAR scholarship for promising Singaporean researchers to undertake postdoctoral training at top overseas labs.…
Leverhulme Trust
UK postdoctoral fellowships in any discipline for early-career researchers to develop a substantial publication or body of work.…
Schmidt Sciences
Postdoctoral fellowships supporting researchers applying AI to climate science questions.…
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Visiting research fellowships at Austrian institutions for international scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.…
WHO Tropical Disease Research
Fellowships for early-career scientists from low- and middle-income countries to develop expertise in implementation research and operational research.…
Estonian Research Council
Estonian government postdoctoral grants for international researchers to work in Estonian research institutions.…
Yad Hanadiv
A Rothschild Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in the humanities and social sciences for outstanding Israeli scholars.…
The strongest applications at this stage tend to share three features: a clear, specific reason to want this particular program (not just "any" international experience), evidence of follow-through on a previous self-directed project, and recommenders who can speak to the quality of your work in detail. Generic letters from senior people who barely know you almost always lose out to specific letters from supervisors who do. Build that evidence trail months before the deadline, not during application week.