The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds the majority of particle physics and astronomy research in the UK, offers a prestigious 5-year research fellowship: the Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (ERF).

Each UK institution is permitted to support a limited number of applicants. At Sussex, we are allocated four slots across all STFC science areas. We are therefore inviting expressions of interest from researchers who wish to be considered for one of these slots.

How to Apply

To be considered, please submit the following documents:

• The STFC ERF Expression of Interest Form [DOCX 26.08KB]. This needs to have the scope and detail of an actual research proposal.

or

• A narrative CV in the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format

• A research proposal (maximum 3 pages), ideally structured using STFC’s required format, with clearly defined vision and approach sections

Please send your application to Jonas Lindert by 10 July 2025. Please also arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent directly to the above contact by the same deadline.

If you wish to be considered by more than one research group, please send your application to all relevant contacts, as shortlisting will be carried out independently by each group. 

Next Steps 

Shortlisted candidates will be notified in late July and assigned a mentor to help develop their full application for submission to STFC in early September. The Sussex faculty includes several current and former members of STFC ERF selection panels, who will be available to provide detailed feedback and conduct mock interviews for candidates invited to the STFC panel.

For further information, see http://www.stfc.ac.uk/funding/fellowships/ernest-rutherford-fellowship