Funding and awards

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships

We are inviting expressions of interest from post-doctoral researchers considering making an application for the 2025 Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships scheme. The call opens 1 January 2025. The closing date for applications is 20 February 2025 and further information and guidance can be found on the Leverhulme Trust's website. We will be supporting a limited number of applications for the scheme and there will be an internal sift for candidate selection.

About the Fellowships

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and it is hoped that Fellowships will lead to a more permanent academic position, either within the same institution or another institution. Approximately 145 Fellowships will be available in 2025.

Eligibility requirements

• 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. The Trust will consider applications from candidates whose permanent post does not include any research.
• Applicants must hold a doctorate by the time they take up the fellowship.
• Applications are invited from those with a doctorate who submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination not more than four years prior to the application closing date. Hence those who formally submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination before 20 February 2021 are not eligible unless they have since had a career break. Please note that time spent working outside of academia does not qualify as a career break. 
• Those currently registered for a doctorate may apply only if they have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination by the closing date of 4pm on 20 February 2025. 
• Applicants must either hold a 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 2024 are not eligible. The Trust will consider candidates without a UK degree whose UK academic post commenced after October 2024 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. 
• Successful applicants must be based in Exeter to take up the fellowship, it cannot be undertaken remotely.
• 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.
• A candidate may submit only one application per year. Previously unsuccessful applicants can reapply.
• 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 university, or otherwise demonstrate clear evidence of the academic and/or personal reasons for remaining at the same university, such as access to highly specialist equipment or a highly specialised research team.

*For full eligibility requirements please see the Leverhulme Trust’s website

Expressions of interest

If you would like to apply to hold a fellowship in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences you must submit an expression of interest, including:

• covering note explaining why you wish to hold a Fellowship within the identified Department or Research Group and relevance to your proposed research. You should also name your proposed mentor, and confirm they are supportive of your proposal,
• 100-word abstract,
• concise outline of the proposed research programme/plan of action (maximum 800 words), 
• summary of the intended outputs and a CV to include publications to date plus details of any grants, awards or other activities (including any previous, relevant, non-academic employment),
• EOIs should be submitted as one document titled Leverhulme EOI_first name_last name

EOIs should be received no later than 15th November 2024.

Please submit your Expression of Interest to the Departmental Director of Research & Impact (see below for full list), copying to HASS-Researchcluster@exeter.ac.uk.

Further information

For further information on pursuing a Leverhulme ECF application please contact:

PhD Studentships

Exeter is a centre for world-leading research across the Humanities. Our departments are consistently placed at the top of national and international rankings.

Our PhD studentships are available to support any excellent project connecting with, or across, our disciplines. Exeter’s researchers lead in a wide range of fields and debates in the Humanities.

Exeter is a portal to a rich variety of research resources offering unique archives in medieval and modern history, modern and contemporary literature and film. Dynamic partnerships with arts, culture and heritage organisations – British Museum, Historic England, London Film School, National Trust, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Tate Britain among many others – give our researchers access to a remarkable range of research collections and facilities.

Exeter offers PhD students exceptional support:

• A teamed approach to supervision combining research expertise from across our disciplines and access to a personal research mentor
• A dedicated Humanities Graduate School, a single point-of-contact for all programme and practical needs
• A framework of research and career development opportunities across the University and through our network of partners
• An exclusive study suite for Humanities postgraduates
• A well-established postgraduate research culture including annual conferences and journal publications
• Funding opportunities for individual research needs

Applicants may apply to any awards for which you are eligible and which fit your personal research interests. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact us.