What is a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award?
The Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award supports early-career researchers to develop and demonstrate research leadership by establishing and managing a modest research team and advancing their own intellectual leadership.
The scheme is designed to enable research that has the potential to significantly reshape understanding within a field, offering the time, resources and flexibility to pursue ambitious, investigator-led programmes of work.
The University of Manchester is proud to support this highly competitive scheme, which provides funding for staff salaries and associated research costs over a four- to five-year period.
The award supports research across science and engineering, with specific exclusions set by the Leverhulme Trust.
Key information
Institutional deadline: This award is subject to an internal deadline. The deadline for this award has now passed and no new applications will be accepted for the current call.
Call deadline: Currently closed.
Research area: The award supports research in science and engineering, excluding:
- Studies of disease, illness or disability in humans or animals
- Research intended to inform clinical practice or medical applications
- Policy-driven research aimed at immediate policy initiatives
- Research where advocacy is an explicit component
- Research aimed principally at immediate commercial application
- Proposals primarily focused on database construction rather than related research.
Funding: Up to £1 million is available to cover staff salaries and associated costs over a period of four to five years.
Before you apply: Due to the highly competitive nature of this scheme and institutional limits on applications, prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact us well ahead of the funder’s deadline to confirm eligibility, assess alignment with Faculty and University priorities and allow time for internal selection processes.
Benefits of the Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award
Award holders receive substantial funding to establish and lead a research team and to develop their research leadership capacity at a critical stage of their career.
Manchester supports researchers at all career stages, promoting equality of opportunity and offering guidance on leadership awards, funding routes and support for childcare or other responsibilities.
As an award holder at Manchester, you’ll benefit from:
- The opportunity to lead and manage a research team
- Access to specialist facilities and interdisciplinary research environments
- Support from senior academic mentors
- Guidance from the Faculty Fellowship Development Team throughout the selection and application process.
Application process
Due to the highly competitive nature of this scheme and institutional limits on applications, prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact us well ahead of the funder’s deadline to allow time for internal selection processes.
At the time of application, you must:
- Have at least two years’ full-time (or equivalent) experience in a research or teaching post at a university after the award of your PhD.
- Hold a permanent academic appointment at lecturer level or equivalent at a UK university or be nominated by a UK university that undertakes to offer a contract for the duration of the award.
- Already have the right to work in the UK and be resident in the UK during the award.
You must also be at an early stage of your academic career, meaning you must not:
- Have held an equivalent award or fellowship to establish an independent research group.
- Have held project grant funding exceeding £100,000 in a single award (with specific exceptions for personal fellowships without staff management).
- Have led or managed a team of research staff.
Applicants at Senior Lecturer, Reader/Associate Professor or Professor level (or equivalent) are not eligible.
Applicants may be asked to confirm eligibility in a written statement as part of the application process.
You must contact a department well in advance of the funder deadline to confirm support and and discuss internal selection arrangements.
Some departments and institutes operate additional internal processes or provide tailored support for applicants. These arrangements may affect how and when you apply and, in some cases, require an Expression of Interest (EOI) or internal selection before submission to the funder.
Contact:
- For advice on departmental fit and internal processes, contact a potential supervisor in the first instance by searching Research Explorer.
If, after carefully reviewing Research Explorer, you are unable to identify a suitable supervisor whose expertise aligns with your proposal, you may contact the Department\’s Head of Research for further guidance. - For all other queries, including application development support, please contact the FSE Research Development and Innovation team.
You will be asked to discuss:
- Your proposed research programme
- Its strategic fit with departmental and Faculty priorities.
Be prepared to provide:
- A CV
- A brief outline of your proposed research vision.
Due to the restriction of one application per institution every three years, the University operates:
- A Faculty-level sift, followed by
- A central University selection process.
Only one applicant will be nominated to submit a full application to the Leverhulme Trust. Sufficient time must be allowed for these internal stages.
Once departmental support is confirmed, you can prepare your application for submission to the funder. The selected candidate will be invited to prepare a full application for submission to the Leverhulme Trust.
Further detail about the scheme and eligibility is available at the Leverhulme Trust.
Applications are assessed by the Leverhulme Trust through peer review and panel evaluation. Final funding decisions are made by the Trust.
What our award holders say
“Being awarded the Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award was an amazing – once-in-a-lifetime – opportunity to do creative, exploratory and more adventurous research with a good-sized team of PDRAs and PhD students that other fellowship schemes cannot offer.
Importantly, it gave us the freedom and time to venture into exciting new collaborative and interdisciplinary areas and to take full advantage of the broad range of facilities available at The University of Manchester.”
Dr Louise Natrajan / Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award holder
Frequently asked questions
Search Research Explorer to identify a potential supervisor whose expertise aligns with your proposed project, then contact them directly to discuss your application.
Prospective applicants receive support identifying an academic sponsor, refining their research proposal and navigating internal review. You’ll also have access to guidance on developing a competitive application, feedback from senior academics, and information about facilities and research groups you can incorporate into your proposal.
Eligibility criteria vary between funding schemes. Most require a strong academic track record commensurate to your career stage and circumstances. Check the scheme's criteria.
Further questions? Get in touch
Award scheme questions
- For queries about eligibility or scheme rules, contact the Leverhulme Trust:
- Email: grants@leverhulme.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7042 9878.
Manchester-specific queries
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Departmental fit and internal processes
- For advice on departmental fit and internal requirements, contact a potential supervisor in the first instance by searching Research Explorer. If, after carefully reviewing Research Explorer, you are unable to identify a suitable supervisor whose expertise aligns with your proposal, you may contact the Department’s Head of Research for further guidance.
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Application development and other Faculty queries
- For all other queries, including application development support, please contact the FSE Research Development and Innovation team.