Get that fellowship with the Researcher Canvas

Want to get that fellowship?Writing a fellowship application can feel messy, complex and overwhelming. Brilliant ideas get buried under structure, jargon and uncertainty - and the pressure of a deadline rarely helps clear thinking.The Researcher Canvas Workbook helps you step back and see the whole picture.Built around a one-page visual framework developed over years of coaching researchers through funding applications, this workbook is designed for late-stage PhD students and postdocs preparing their first independent funding application. Rather than starting with a blank page, you work through the Canvas section by section, connecting the pieces that funders actually care about:Your research problem and proposed solutionYour independence as a researcherYour stakeholders and wider impactWhat makes you the right person to lead the workNot just the research. The whole story funders need to say yes.Each section comes with practical prompts and dedicated space to think, so you’re writing and shaping ideas from page one - no blank page, no starting from scratch, no wondering where to begin.By the end, you’ll have more than notes and scribbles. You’ll have clarity, confidence and a funding-ready narrative you can shape into a full application - whether that’s for a research council, a charity, a fellowship scheme or an internal institutional award.Because great applications start with clear thinking, not perfect wording.About the authorDr Emma Williams has spent 30+ years in and around Higher Education helping postdocs and late-stage PhDs write fellowship and funding applications that get results - as a coach, workshop facilitator, and now through this workbook. She trained as a physicist, completing her degree, PhD and postdoc at the University of Cambridge, before moving into researcher development, where she has worked with universities across the UK and beyond.Emma is the author of four books supporting researchers through the trickiest stages of academic careers, and the creator of UNIque, her flagship development programme for women in research, delivered at Imperial College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Strathclyde.Part of the Creatively Empowering Researchers in their Careers series. 6