Royal Society University Research Fellowship facts for kids

The Royal Society University Research Fellowship (URF) is a special award for talented young scientists. It helps them do important research in the United Kingdom. The Royal Society, a famous group of scientists, gives out this award. They choose scientists who show great promise to become leaders in their fields.

This fellowship supports many areas of natural science. This includes life sciences (like biology), physical sciences (like physics and chemistry), and engineering. However, it does not cover clinical medicine, which is research directly related to treating patients.

The URF program helps scientists build their own careers in scientific research. It allows them to work independently on their ideas. Scientists who receive this award are often expected to get permanent jobs at universities later. As of 2023, a fellowship can be worth up to £1.83 million over eight years. The award covers up to 80% of the scientist's salary. The university where they work usually pays the remaining 20%.

These fellowships are given out every year. In 2022, 50 new University Research Fellowships were awarded. These scientists worked at 28 different universities across the UK and Ireland. In 2015, only about 8% of all applications were successful. This shows how competitive and special the award is.

Famous Scientists Who Received the URF

Many brilliant scientists have been awarded the Royal Society University Research Fellowship. As of 2017, some of these notable people include:

• Frances Ashcroft (1985–1990), Oxford
• Terri Attwood, University College London (1993-1999) and University of Manchester (1999-2002)
• Jean Beggs
• Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (2007–2013), University College London
• Richard Borcherds
• Sarah Bridle (2008–2012), University of Manchester
• Brian Cox (2005–2013), University of Manchester
• Gideon Davies (1996–2005), University of York
• Athene Donald (1983), University of Cambridge
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski (2000-2007), University of Cambridge
• David Jones (1995–1999), University College London
• Andrew P. Mackenzie (1993–2001), University of Birmingham
• Zita Martins (2014–2017), Imperial College London
• Shahn Majid (1993-2003)
• Angela McLean, University of Oxford
• John Pethica
• Tanya Monro (2000-2005), for research at the University of Southampton
• Tom Sanders (2016-2019), University of Oxford
• Suzie Sheehy (2017 - ) for research at the University of Oxford
• Nigel Scrutton (1991-1999) for research at University of Cambridge and University of Leicester
• Beth Shapiro (2006-2007), University of Oxford
• Stephen Warren
• David J. Wales (1991-1998), University of Cambridge
• Kathy Willis
• Tara Shears (2000-2008)