Leverhulme Research Leadership Awards

Leverhulme Research Leadership Awards

This scheme aims to create an opportunity for talented early career scholars to develop and demonstrate research leadership by supporting the career development and the project management of a modest team or group and through the development of their own intellectual leadership, leading to research that may significantly change the established landscape in a particular field of inquiry.

The University of London welcomes all qualified applicants to submit an expression of interest to apply through the University, which can support a maximum of one application in this round. 

Due to this restriction, there will be an internal process to review the expressions of interest that we receive and select the application that will be supported. The deadline for sending expressions of interest (EoI) - see below for format - to Institute Directors is 17th March 2025. Please ensure a copy of any submitted EoI is sent to [email protected].

The scheme aims to create an opportunity for talented early career scholars to develop and demonstrate research leadership by supporting the career development and the project management of a modest team or group and through the development of their own intellectual leadership, leading to research that may significantly change the established landscape in a particular field of inquiry.

In the 2025 competition, the Trust Board is keen to focus the scheme on early career-stage academics who have yet to have the opportunity to lead a team; the eligibility criteria have been amended to reflect this. Please read the eligibility section carefully.

We are limited to one bid only. 

Application Process

Expressions of interest must be submitted by the end of 17th March 2025 to the director of the chosen institute, copying [email protected]. Descriptions of our institutes can be found here. The EoI should include:

•    A single A4 page outlining your qualifications and experience.
•    Justify your eligibility under the scheme (please refer to the scheme guidance).
•    Up to 250 words, outlining your research idea and potential team structure.

All EoIs will be then reviewed by an internal panel. The Applicant who is to be supported  will be notified by the end of the week commencing 24th March 2025, and will have two months to work with us on their application. 

Scope and eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for a Research Leadership Award at the time of application, you must:

• Have had at least two years full-time or equivalent experience in a research or teaching post in a university after the date of your PhD award
• Already hold a permanent academic appointment at a UK university at lecturer level or equivalent, or be nominated for the award by a UK university that undertakes to offer a contract for the duration of the award, with the expectation that a permanent role would be offered by the end of the award. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK and be resident in the UK during the tenure of the award.
• Be at an early stage of your academic career such that the trajectory of your research contribution has yet to become firmly established. This means that you must not:
  • Have held an equivalent award or fellowship that provided funds to establish an independent research group 
  • Have held project grant funding in excess of £100k in a single award*
  • Have led a team of research staff, or managed PDRA staff.

*Personal funding that exceeds £100k in a single award is allowable (i.e. Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship, etc) provided the award had no provision for managing staff. You will be asked to confirm your eligibility for the award in a 300-word statement.

Research Leadership Awards are tenable in UK universities with research degree awarding powers, where award holders will be employees of the university at which they hold their award and subject to that university’s terms and conditions of employment. Where the nominated candidate is not already a permanent member of the university academic staff, the Trust would expect a permanent role to be offered by the end of the award.

Applicants at Senior Lecturer, Reader/Associate Professor or Professor level or equivalent are therefore not eligible to apply.

What the Trust offers

Support for research staff and students

At least 75% of the resources requested must be used to provide funding for staff costs. This can include:

• Where the applicant already holds a permanent appointment at the university – a maximum of 24 months’ teaching replacement, usually starting at the most junior point of the lecturer scale at the institution concerned, for an individual to undertake the applicant’s teaching duties during the award.
• Where the applicant does not hold a permanent appointment at the university, their salary – including NI, superannuation and London allowance, where applicable, up to a maximum of £250,000 (prorated for durations less than 60 months). The Trust expects the university to contribute any remaining salary costs throughout the duration of the grant.
• Salaries for research staff, including research assistants, research technicians and postgraduate students.

The expectation of the Trust is that the applicant will dedicate a minimum of 0.8 FTE to the award.

Research assistants should have a research degree or equivalent research experience.

The tuition fees and maintenance costs of one or more PhD studentships may be included, provided they are set at the base rate for Research Council awards for UK students. Support for an overseas student is allowable but requires explicit justification, addressing how their specific skills are to contribute to the project. The additional costs of overseas student fees will need to be waived or covered by the institution.

There will be no provision for overhead costs.

Associated research costs

These can be included up to a maximum of 25% of the total budget. This percentage is a maximum and not a target. 

The following are examples of such eligible costs:

• pool technical services, computing, clerical staff costs
• travel and subsistence costs directly related to the research activity—these can include conference attendance, provided that such attendance can be shown to make a direct contribution to the research project
• consumables directly related to the research activity 

Useful links

Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Awards call page

Guidance for Applicants

Application Help Notes

Frequently Asked Questions

Link to School of Advanced Study, University of London Member Institutes, Centres and the Digital Humanities Research Hub

Find out more about the institute directors