The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has funds available to support Postdoctoral Awards (formerly known as Postdoctoral Bridging Fellowships) for internal candidates within the University of Southampton/University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Partnership within outlined Themes.

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Opening date: Wednesday 24th June 2026

Closing date: Monday 27th July 2026

Application link: Application form

Recruiting Theme(s): Nutrition, Lifestyle & Metabolism (NLM)

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Overview

 

The funds will be used to support the salary of the successful applicant for up to one year, to facilitate applicants submitting for an externally funded fellowship. The expectation is that the award would make applicants competitive for an external personal fellowship application (e.g. MRC, NIHR, Wellcome Trust) relevant to their research experience, which would then support the applicant beyond the funded period.

 

It is expected that the Postdoctoral Award period will be used to generate data to support external fellowship applications, or to support those awaiting the outcome of an external fellowship application. Emphasis may vary across Themes, so potential applicants are encouraged to talk to Theme Leads before making an application. All successful awardees are expected to be active in making external fellowship applications during their award. 

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There is no provision for the cost of consumables or training in the Bridging Fellowships. Please provide details of how these costs will be met in the relevant section of the application form (if applicable). If the applicant has a clinical background, it may be possible to combine this award with clinical commitments/training. However, applicants will need to have secured permission to be released from the appropriate UHS Clinical Division and considered their position beyond the end of BRC support.

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In this round, the topic of the planned research application must be aligned with recruiting BRC Theme research priorities and accompanying SMART Objectives or planned future experimental theme work:​ 

 

Topics involving more than one theme are encouraged. The proposed fellowships must fit within the NIHR and BRC remit, with a particular emphasis on experimental medicine which does not include animal research. The Theme Research Strategy and SMART objectives can be found here.

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What is available through the award?

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• Salary support provided

• Funding available for up to 12 months

• Part-time funding available for up to 12 months

  • For applicants with a clinical background, there is the possibility to combine this award with clinical commitments/training, but permission to be released from the appropriate UHS Clinical Division will need to have been secured and consideration given to their position beyond the end of BRC support.

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Eligibility Criteria

 

Essential:

• Hold a relevant PhD or equivalent 

• Have submitted your thesis for examination by the time of application, and will have been awarded by the start date of the Postdoctoral Award

• Demonstrate a clear trajectory to become a future health or social care research leader

• Early-career postdoctoral applicants or transitioning into applied health and social care research should provide evidence of commitment to a career as a researcher in applied health or social care research

• More experienced postdoctoral applicants should provide evidence of independence or starting to establish independence as a researcher, including establishing collaborations and building research capacity.

• Completed application documents as outlined in the ‘Selection Criteria’ heading below.

• Demonstrate an alignment with NIHR strategic priorities.

 

Desirable:

• The proposed work will be completed across theme(s) or with external regional/national NIHR partners.

 

Selection Criteria

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Candidates whose proposed doctoral research project aligns with the scientific programmes of the BRC are eligible to apply for these bridging funds.  

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Researchers from all professional backgrounds are welcome to apply. You do not need to have had prior links with the BRC Southampton to apply, and we welcome new ideas from a broad range of research areas across our local research community.  

 

To apply, applications should be completed and submitted to BRC-applications@uhs.nhs.uk by 12:00 on Monday 27th July 2026.

 

A review panel will assess all application documents. Candidates will be invited to interview to determine their suitability for the award. Interviews may be held face-to-face or digitally per panel and candidate availability. We expect to host interviews on the week commencing 3rd August 2026.

 

The outcome of your application will be sent to you by the middle of August.

 

Your application should contain the following information:

• Postdoctoral Award application form with all sections completed and word limits respected. The timeline/GANTT chart can be submitted as a separate document if necessary.

 

• A summary CV (max two sides of A4, size 11 font). The CV should contain basic information about education, employment history, current source of funding, job plan and academic responsibilities, as well as a list of the most relevant publications from the last five years.

 

• A lay English summary of your research proposal and PPIE/EDI section (250 words) to be reviewed by public contributors of the panel to ensure patient and public perspectives are considered in the selection process.

 

Host details

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• University of Southampton

• University Hospital Southampton NHS FT

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Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

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The NIHR are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in everything we do. Diverse people and communities shape our research, and we strive to make opportunities to participate in research an integral part of everyone’s experience of health and social care services. We develop researchers from multiple disciplines, specialisms, geographies and backgrounds, and work to address barriers to career progression arising from characteristics such as sex, race or disability.

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Contact for Enquiries and Reasonable Adjustments

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Award Enquires: Prof. Mark Johnson (M.Johnson@soton.ac.uk)

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Reasonable Adjustments: Beckie Miles (Rebecca.miles2@uhs.nhs.uk) (UHS ext. 8923)

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Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Theme Leads to discuss their projects before making an application to ensure project alignment.

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Theme Leads:

• Data Health and Society: Wendy Hall (wh@ecs.soton.ac.uk). Contact Age Chapman (adriane.chapman@soton.ac.uk) or Chris Kipps (christopher.kipps@soton.ac.uk) for queries

• Microbiology, Immunology and Infection: Robert C Read (r.c.read@soton.ac.uk), Chrissie Jones (c.e.jones@soton.ac.uk) and Saul Faust (s.faust@soton.ac.uk)

• Nutrition Lifestyle and Metabolism: Nick Harvey (nch@mrc.soton.ac.uk) and Jonathan Swann (J.Swann@soton.ac.uk)

• Perioperative and Critical Care: Michael Grocott (mike.grocott@soton.ac.uk) and Denny Levett (d.levett@soton.ac.uk)

• Respiratory and Allergy: Graham Roberts (g.c.roberts@soton.ac.uk) and Thomas Wilkinson (t.wilkinson@soton.ac.uk)

 

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