Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships 2026

The Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships are subject to SoSS internal demand procedures, and this year the School will support up to three applications to be submitted to Leverhulme. Candidates from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Overview

This scheme is for early career researchers with a research record but who have not yet held a full-time permanent academic post. 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.

Funder deadline

The 2026 round opens on 1 January 2026 and the closing date for applications is the 19 February 2026.

School of Social Sciences Internal Application Process

Potential candidates are asked to submit an Intention to Bid to soss-research@manchester.ac.uk by 4pm on Friday, 7 November 2025 to comprise of:

  • Name of anticipated host discipline and the agreed mentor
  • Confirmation of HoD support for the application
  • Applicant’s 2 page CV
  • A note of primary area of interest (200 characters) and research focus (max 1 page A4 font size 12)

Link for further information

Early Career Fellowships | The Leverhulme Trust. The key details of the fellowships are summarised below, and the highlighted sections should be noted in particular.

Funding

The Trust will contribute 100% of the Fellow’s salary up to a maximum of £56,000 in year one of the award, and 50% of the Fellow’s total salary costs up to a maximum of £28,000 in years two and three of the award, with the balance to be paid by the host institution. Each Fellow may request annual research expenses of up to £6,000 per year to further their research activities.

Duration

Fellowships are tenable for 3 years on a full-time basis and are not renewable. The Trust will support requests to hold the award part-time over a proportionately longer period for health related reasons, disability or childcare commitment.

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 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 4pm on the closing date of 19 February 2026. Candidates must not be registered for degrees, professional or vocational qualifications at the time of commencing the Fellowship.
  • All candidates must have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination not more than 4 years prior to the application closing date. Hence those who formally submitted their doctoral thesis before 19 February 2022 are not eligible unless they have since had a career break. Those wishing to make a case for a career break should present the case for interruption by a period of maternity leave, family commitments, illness, or other exceptional circumstances. Applicants with a disability who wish to make a case for the extension of the four-year eligibility window may do so using the career break section of the application form.
  • Applicants must either hold a degree (any 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. Hence, those who do not hold a UK degree and whose UK academic position commenced after October 2025 are not eligible. The Trust will consider candidates without a UK degree whose UK academic post commenced after October 2025 if they have been in continuous UK academic employment for more than 4 months prior to the deadline. The intention is to support the career development of those building an academic career within the UK.
  • Candidates who have held or currently hold postdoctoral positions to pursue their own independent research totalling 3 or more years 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 (i.e. between their undergraduate University and proposed host University) should nominate a new host institution, or otherwise demonstrate clear evidence of the academic and/or personal reasons for remaining at the same institution, such as access to highly specialist equipment or a highly specialised research team.
  • The matching funding contributed by the host institution must be drawn from generally available funds and must not be associated with any other grants received by the institution. The host department must secure the matching funding for the applicant before the closing date and it must be specifically allocated to the individual concerned. Applications that do not meet these conditions are ineligible and will be rejected.
  • A candidate may submit only one application per year. Previously unsuccessful applicants may reapply.
  • Candidates who have held a Leverhulme Study Abroad Studentship for postdoctoral research are not eligible to apply for an Early Career Fellowship. Please note, this only applies to the 2019 award schemes onwards.

For further information please contact the Research Support Office at  soss-research@manchester.ac.uk.