A presentation delivered by Mrs Jean Cater, Assistant Director of the Leverhulme Trust on their funding schemes

1. Jean Cater, Assistant Director

2. “…. scholarships for
research and
education….”
Largely funding
research in the UK
higher education
sector: people and their
direct research costs
not overheads or FEC
William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925)

3. The Leverhulme Trust Board
Eight members of Unilever senior management
from diverse, international backgrounds
The Trust is an independent and autonomous
charity
Meets 4 times a year for decisive discussion to
award grants
Has experience of identifying potential and quality
Is resistant to academic fashion
Relies on expert peer review

4. Facts and Figures
Up to £70 millions distributed as grants each year
Across 15 funding schemes
More than 4,000 applications received each year
 Approximately 1,500 live awards at any time
Office staff of 14

5. Grants
 Research Programmes: up to £1.75M for up to 5
years on themes: e.g. The Nature of Knots and
Innovation for Sustainable Living
 Research Project Grants: up to £500K and up to 5
years
For both, at least 75% of the costs to be spent on
research staff (research assistants, doctoral
students) and up to 25% on associated costs

6. Fellowships
 Study Abroad Studentships: 1 or 2 years for
postgraduate study/research abroad
 Early Career: 3 years for those within 5 years of a
doctorate - matching funding with host institution
 Research: up to 2 years for established researchers,
£45,000, replacement costs/research expenses
 International Academic Fellowships: up to 1 year for
academic staff, £30,000, replacement costs/research
expenses
 Major Research: 2 or 3 years, for distinguished
researchers in humanities/social sciences, funding a
replacement post during the award
 Emeritus: up to 2 years for retired academics,
£22,000, research expenses

7. Other awards
 International Networks: normally up to £125k and up to
3 years. Explicit justification for why a network is
the best mechanism for addressing the chosen
research theme
 Visiting Professorships: 3-12 months for distinguished
overseas academics to enhance the skills of the UK
host institution
 Philip Leverhulme Prizes: six subject areas every year,
up to £100k for outstanding early-mid career scholars
 Artists in Residence – contrasting disciplines
relaunching April 2014
 One triennial major initiative:
Doctoral Scholarships (2014)
Arts Scholarships (2015)
Research Leadership Awards (2016)

8. How to apply…
 A two-stage process for Research Project Grants and
International Networks - c. 1000 Outline Applications
received annually → peer review - c. 12 weeks to
process – no closing dates.
 If a positive recommendation (c. 50% success rate) this
leads to an invitation to submit a Detailed Application (3
deadlines: September, December, March).
 Detailed applications submitted to peer review
(nominated and independent referees) → decisions by
Trust Board (c. 40% success rate). Overall c. 25%
success rate.
 All other schemes have a one-stage application
process, normally annually, with decisions delegated to
expert panels and subject to due scrutiny by the Trust
Board.

9. We do not fund…
Medical research of direct relevance to clinicians, health
professionals and/or the pharmaceutical industry
Policy-driven research where the principal objective is to
assemble an evidence base for immediate policy
initiatives
Research of which advocacy forms an explicit
component
Research which is aimed principally at an immediate
commercial application
Applications in which the balance between assembling
a data bank or data base and the related subsequent
research is heavily inclined to the former

10. Particular weight is given to ...
The originality of the proposed work beyond incremental
development and beyond the immediate subject
Research which reflects the personal vision and
enthusiasm of the applicant
The removal of barriers between traditional disciplines
Intellectual curiosity and the willingness to take
appropriate risks
Fresh directions and departures from existing working
practices of the applicant or discipline
The responsive mode, where the choice of topic lies with
the applicant: no preferred areas

11. To sum up…
 The Trust wants to support high-quality scholarship/
original research
 Many awards support basic, fundamental (“blue
skies”) research and cross-disciplinary (or multi)
projects
 A sound methodology is crucial, clearly expressed,
with a clear strategy for the proposed outcomes
 Why the Leverhulme Trust? Could/would/should this
work be funded elsewhere? Maybe a bid is not for
the Trust!
 We rely on robust peer review by the global
academic community: choose referees wisely!
 All disciplines are eligible, but the Trust avoids
assuming the tasks of other specialist agencies, e.g.
medicine and RC priority areas

12. Common errors…
 Claims to quality or significance measured by
metrics/”impact”/H-indices/institutional standing
 The supposition of a hidden agenda/quota system –
all eligible subjects are considered equally valid
 A failure to write in transparent terminology: avoid
jargon and use language for the lay person where
asked to do so!
 A overly-detailed review of the literature and a lack
of a clear definition of the research idea or design -
why it is of interest, what and how it will be done
 Inadequate planning: hastily prepared, poorly
thought-through, mis-spelt applications

13. Examples of recent grants ...
 Shelled heteropods: morphology, taxonomy and
distributions
 Connecting the high and low energy views of the Milky
Way
 The medieval parish churches of Norwich
 Tolerating tigers: do local beliefs offset human-carnivore
conflicts?
 Travel and communication in Anglo-Saxon England
 Hecke algebras and Kac-Moody groups
 Childhood and nation in world cinema
 Instabilities in partially ionised prominence plasmas

14. Contact details
1 Pemberton Row
London
EC4A 3BG
Tel: 020 7042 9888
www.leverhulme.ac.uk
https://twitter.com/LeverhulmeTrust