The Leverhulme Trust
Funds curiosity-driven research across every discipline, explicitly welcoming work that crosses boundaries or would struggle elsewhere. Research Project Grants, Research Fellowships, Early Career Fellowships and Research Leadership Awards are the main routes, judged on originality rather than strategic fit.
- Kind of funder
- Foundation or trust
- Where it funds
- UK-wide
- Indicative award size
- £10k – £1.3m
- Approx. annual research spend
- £120m
- Who can apply
- Universities, Research institutes, Individual researchers
- Career stages
- Postdoctoral, Early career, Established researcher
Research Project Grants up to around £500k; Research Leadership Awards up to £1.25m.
Research areas
Named schemes (3)
Research Fellowships ↗
For experienced researchers in any discipline, to complete a piece of research
Open5 Nov 2026up to £70k per awardpulled from Leverhulme 2026-09-11Early Career Fellowships ↗
Three-year fellowships for researchers near the start of their career, with the host institution matching half the salary. Any discipline, one round per year.
Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£120k – £180k per awardchecked 2026-05-01Research Project Grants ↗
Up to around £500k over five years for original research in any discipline. Leverhulme explicitly welcomes proposals that cross conventional boundaries or that other funders would consider risky.
Rolling / recurringCheck funder site for current round£50k – £500k per awardchecked 2026-05-01