Restricted Call: Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Awards

17/02/2022

21/03/2022

The Leverhulme Trust have announced their Research Leadership Awards. These awards are designed to: “support talented scholars who have successfully launched a university career but who need to build a research team of sufficient scale to tackle a distinctive research problem. This creates an opportunity for the development and demonstration of research leadership; that is, for the direction of a modest team or group, whose research may significantly change the established landscape in a particular field of inquiry”. Funding available: up to £1 million over 4-5 years for staff salaries and associated costs only. Please discuss the funding categories and the costing of your grant with your relevant grants administrator or a member of your Research Development Team.

Proposals are welcome in any research area, with the exception of the following: · studies of disease, illness and disabilities in humans and animals · research that is intended to inform clinical practice or the development of medical applications · research areas currently identified as a priority by the research councils or other significant public funders · policy-driven research where the principal objective is to assemble an evidence base for immediate policy initiatives · research where advocacy is an explicit component · research aimed principally at an immediate commercial application · proposals in which the balance between assembling a data bank or database and the related subsequent research is heavily inclined to the former

Eligible applicants must have held a university post for at least two years but will not yet have developed their academic career such that the trajectory of their research contribution has become firmly established. The Research Funding Team have confirmed with the Leverhulme Trust that this is a strict and non-negotiable requirement. - Be at an early stage of your academic career such that the trajectory of your research contribution has not become firmly established - Have a contract with a university in the UK that extends beyond the end of the grant award (i.e. beyond 2027 for 4 year awards and 2028 for 5 year awards). The Research Funding Team have confirmed with the Leverhulme Trust that applicants must currently hold a post which extends beyond the lifetime of the proposed award. These awards are not designed for those who already hold significant research funding, so it would not be appropriate for someone whose post is supported through a research grant to apply to the scheme.