Want to get that fellowship?Writing a fellowship can feel messy, complex and overwhelming. Brilliant ideas get buried under structure, jargon and uncertainty.
The Researcher Canvas Workbook helps you step back and see the whole picture.
Built around a one-page visual framework, this workbook guides you through everything funders care about not just your research solutions but the wider problem, your independence, your stakeholders, and what makes you the right person to lead the work. Not just the research but the whole story.
Designed for late-stage PhD students and postdocs applying for their first independent funding, it offers practical prompts, space to think, and a clear way to connect ideas that often stay fragmented.
By the end, you'll have more than notes and scribbles. You'll have clarity, confidence, and a funding-ready narrative.
Because great applications start with clear thinking, not perfect wording.
About the Author :
Hello! I'm on a mission to enable researchers to take the next career step positively and proactively. Harnessing my 30+ years (gulp!) in and around Higher Education - from physicist to training business owner - I speak, write and train on all things researcher development. My favourite soapboxes include women's development in Universities and encouraging researchers to investigate all things enterprising. I bring creativity, empathy and usually a large coffee to my work. I have named my coffee machine - Jacob.Despite choosing physics because you didn't have to write I have found myself enjoying the writing process. Following on from What Every Postdoc Needs to Know, I published The UNIque Guide for Women: Confidently embracing your career in research and beyond. Taking the successful cohort course and making the materials more widely available. Leaving Academia: ditch the blanket, take the skills is the latest 'baby' in the fold. This short but powerful book resonates with those thinking about their careers - not just in academia. Written alongside the rest of my book cohort - the very best way to write a book.I live near Cambridge with my family, two house rabbits called Frodo and Gimli and a flock of mad chickens (the latter dilute the house of boy - three sons and a husband - a little bit!). Very much the house of nerd! When I'm not reading development books to feed into my work, I can be found reading sci fi and fantasy.
Review :
Get That Fellowship with the Researcher Canvas is exactly the book early career researchers wish they'd had sooner. Part workbook, part guide, and part motivational coach-in-your-corner, Emma Williams PhD offers a clear, generous, and deeply practical roadmap for navigating the fellowship application process and moving confidently towards research independence. J. Montgomery
Dr Emma Williams' Researcher Canvas is one of those tools that makes you wonder why no one structured things this way before. What I love most is how it simplifies complexity. Fellowships (and research planning in general) can feel overwhelming and tangled - but the Canvas cuts through that and helps you see what actually matters so you can take action. Debbie Jenkins
While this workbook is aimed squarely at post docs looking to get a fellowship..I think it's the sort of workbook that would be invaluable in any sort of grant application. Emma's canvas approach has a lot of flexibility and I think it could be adapted to use you in the creation of a CV or indeed any sort of grant application. It's also got lots of great quotes. Anne Walsh
A great book packed with tailored support for postdocs. This is a fantastic resource for anyone navigating the journey of academic independence. It has given me the framework to organise my thoughts and prompted me to think, reflect, and get writing!! I totally recommend it for those planning to apply for a fellowship in the next 6-12 months.P. Centeno
The Researcher Canvas is a must have for any researcher. I found the hardest part of funding applications knowing how to pull all my thoughts together into one format. Often, we are guided by the layout of the funding application, which can stifle the actual process of understanding the why of the research and the why of what makes us the best person for the undertaking. The Researcher Canvas is a form of structured freedom. It helps you gather the essentials of any funding application but in a way that isn't dependent on the application form. This means that not only is it relevant to the present, but also to unknown opportunities that will arise in the future. As such, it is an invaluable tool for any researcher. R. Daynes Kearney
I find applying for fellowships is an extremely daunting task, and something I have had at the forefront of my mind for a while now as an Early Career Researcher. The guide is also very personable, I felt like Emma and I were in the same office, chatting about all of these concepts over coffee and filling them in together, it made me feel like she was on my side! I firmly believe this book should be a staple in every researchers office - I've already told my peers about it! K. Gates
