Program Overview

Introduction to The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship

The Leverhulme Trust was established in 1925 under the Will of the First Viscount Leverhulme to support "scholarships for the purposes of research and education." Since its inception, the Trust has provided funding for research projects, fellowships, studentships, bursaries, and prizes. The Trust places special weight on originality, importance, significance, and merit in the research proposals it considers.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK institution, nor may Fellows hold such a post concurrently with the Early Career Fellowship.
• All candidates must hold a doctorate or have equivalent research experience by the time they take up the Fellowship.
• Those who are or have been registered for a doctorate at any time may apply only if they have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination by the closing date.
• Applications are invited from those with a doctorate who submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination not more than four years prior to the application closing date.
• Applicants must either hold a degree from a UK higher education institution at the time of taking up the Fellowship or hold an academic position in the UK which commenced no less than four months prior to the closing date.
• Candidates who have been, or are currently a Principal Investigator on a three-year post-doctoral research project, or have held or currently hold a comparable three-year post-doctoral position to pursue their own research are not eligible to apply.
• The Research Awards Advisory Committee believes that the development of an academic career is best served by gaining experience at different institutions. Applicants who have not already moved institutions in the course of their academic career should nominate a new host institution, or otherwise demonstrate clear evidence of the academic and/or personal reasons for remaining at the same institution.
• The matching funding contributed by the host institution must be drawn from generally available funds and cannot be associated with any other grants received by the institution.
• A candidate may submit only one application per year. Previously unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
• Candidates may not apply for both an Early Career Fellowship and a Study Abroad Studentship in the same year.

Value of the Fellowship

The scheme is based on a pattern of joint support whereby the Leverhulme Trust will contribute 100% of the Fellow's total salary costs in year 1 up to a maximum of £56,000 and 50% in years 2 and 3 up to a maximum of £28,000 per year, with the balance to be contributed by the host institution. The Trust's contribution in subsequent years will normally increase in line with pay awards and normal increments up to the annual maximum. The Fellow may request up to £6,000 per annum in research expenses to further his or her research activities.

Duration of the Fellowship

Fellowships are tenable for three years on a full-time basis. The Trust will support requests to hold the award part-time over a proportionately longer period for health-related reasons, disability, or childcare commitments. Fellowships must commence between 1 September 2026 and 1 May 2027.

Application Process

• Applicants should contact staff members in the relevant department to act as their mentor and assist them with the preparation of their application.
• Application forms are available through departments.
• Each application submitted to the Faculty Office by Departments must include both the applicant's application form and the mentor's supporting statement. Incomplete applications will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered.

Deadlines

• The faculty deadline for departments to submit completed applications to the Faculty Office is 4pm on Thursday, 13 November 2025.
• Faculty will notify departments with their decision of which applicants have been selected by Thursday, 18 December 2025 at the latest. Only applications selected by the Faculty may be submitted to the Leverhulme Trust.
• The funder deadline for selected applicants to submit online applications to the Leverhulme Trust is 4pm on Thursday, 19 February 2026.