Faculty of History Process
The Faculty of History is inviting applications for the 2026 round of MSCA European* Postdoctoral Fellowships. Due to the volume of applications we typically receive, and the high level of support these applications require from the Faculty Research Office, this year the Faculty is inviting candidates to submit an Expression of Interest application (details below) to the Research Office by Thursday 14 May 2026. Candidates selected will be provided with support to develop and submit their applications to the EU. Please contact us at rf@history.ox.ac.uk as early as possible if you are interested in applying for one of these Fellowships.
Prospective applicants should contact a permanent post-holder within the History Faculty as soon as possible to ask if they are willing to act as a supervisor for your fellowship. All Expressions of Interest must have the agreement and confirmed support of an Oxford supervisor in the Faculty where you wish to be based. If you want your Expression of Interest to be considered by more than one Faculty, you must have the agreement and confirmed support from a supervisor in each Faculty.
To submit an expression of interest you should submit the following documents via email to rf@history.ox.ac.uk before the deadline of Thursday 14 May 2026:
- Completed EoI and project proposal form, including a maximum 5-page outline of your project proposal. The EoI form is available for download at the bottom of this page, and has been designed to match the fields and headings of the ERC’s proposal template, in order to streamline the process of developing a full application for those candidates selected by the Faculty. You should bear in mind when writing your proposal outline that it will be reviewed by Faculty staff, some of whom will be outside of your specialism. This will also be the case for the EC’s Marie Curie reviewing panel.
- A maximum 2 page CV: this can be appended to the EoI form and your application submitted to the Faculty as a single document if you wish.
The deadline for expressions of interest is Thursday 14 May 2026. If selected, you will be provided with support to develop your application for the scheme deadline on 9 September 2026.
The Faculty of History’s internal selection will be rigorous, and we will only be able to put forward the strongest applications. Please note that in the interest of fairness, we will be unable to accept any applications received after the internal Faculty deadline.
Scheme Details
These Fellowships fund post-doctoral researchers of any discipline to undertake a research project of their choice. International mobility is essential, and fellowships include personal and career development objectives. Applications must therefore be written jointly between the applicant, the prospective supervisor and the host Oxford Department/Faculty. Postdoctoral Fellowships are aimed at researchers who already have a doctorate awarded or equivalent research experience (more than 4 years full-time research experience). Applicants should have a maximum of eight years’ experience in research from the date of the award of their doctorate (with various exceptions), and not have resided in the country where the Fellowship will be hosted for more than 12 months in the 36 months before the call deadline.
* The Faculty of History does not support applications for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships.
Further information on the scheme is available here
