From DAFNI

DAFNI Fellowship Programme 

The DAFNI Programme is excited to announce the launch our new DAFNI Fellowship Programme, which will start from April 2026. Each Fellow will become an ambassador for DAFNI, including being involved in sustainable research, promotion of your research within the DAFNI Centre of Excellence for Resilient Infrastructure Analysis, building networks across government, industry and academia and inputting into DAFNI’s Roadmap. 

DAFNI is the Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure, part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s world class research programme under the UK government’s UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) initiative. 

What the DAFNI Fellowship Involves 

DAFNI Fellows form a part of the DAFNI programme’s initiative to strengthen Government, Industry and Academia relationships within the strategic theme of Building a Secure and Resilient World, and boost engagement with the DAFNI platform within the infrastructure engineering scientific community. 

Fellows will be supported by the wider DAFNI programme to develop and promote their research. This includes opportunities to develop and present their research and innovation to the wider DAFNI network of academic, government, and business supporters. In addition, Fellows will receive support from the DAFNI team in the integration of their research outputs to this wider audience through use of the DAFNI platform.  

The key responsibilities of a DAFNI Fellow include: 

• Showcase your expertise by leading and contributing to white papers and reports for the Centre of Excellence. Share your innovative ideas, gain visibility within the DAFNI and infrastructure engineering communities.
• Bring research onto the DAFNI Platform, working with the DAFNI team. The platform has a number of datasets and models in its catalogue collections. You will be contributing to a growing body of knowledge around infrastructure research that will be promoted within the community and contribute towards our Centre of Excellence initiatives.  
• Participation in outreach and community engagement. We understand the importance of promoting research and engaging with the community and stakeholders. The funding provided by this Fellowship will be for travel to enable dissemination of research and promotion of DAFNI. 
• Collaborate with the DAFNI team to lead workshops tackling key UK Infrastructure challenges, connecting you directly with influential stakeholders in government, academia, and industry.
• Involvement and input to the DAFNI Conference. Your insights and expertise will help ensure our conference is driven by domain experts. This is an opportunity to build new skills and network within our community whilst driving the direction of our science. 
• Take an active role in shaping the DAFNI Fellows Cohort by sharing your expertise and guidance. As a Fellow, you will help foster collaboration, build valuable networks, share your knowledge, and steer the development of DAFNI in the future. 

Funding available 

To support the work of the DAFNI fellows, particularly with respect to research dissemination and networking, we are funding up to 10 DAFNI Fellowships at £10,000 per Fellow (100% FEC). The funding can be used for staff time and travel. 

This funding of £10,000 will run from April 2026 to June 2027.