The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships are intended to assist those at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. It is hoped that the appointment would lead to a more permanent position for the individual, either within the same or another institution. The objective is for Fellows to undertake a significant piece of publishable research during the tenure of the award, and the project put forward should therefore not be a reworking or mere extension of the candidate’s doctoral research project. Approximately 145 Fellowships will be available in 2022.

Fellowships can be held at universities or at other institutions of higher education in the UK. The Fellow must be resident in the UK for the duration of the Fellowship.

Fellowships are tenable for 3 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.

Eligibility

• 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. Those in receipt of a stipendiary Fellowship may not hold this at the same time as an Early Career Fellowship.
• All candidates must hold a doctorate or have equivalent research experience by the time they take up the Fellowship.
• Applications are invited from those with a doctorate who had their doctoral viva not more than four years from 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 at the time of the application deadline must hold an academic position in the UK (e.g. fixed-term lectureship, fellowship) which commenced no less than 4 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.