Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships 2027: Expressions of Interest

The Department is inviting Expressions of Interest from suitably qualified candidates for the competitive Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, which will open for applications from 1 January 2027. This Expression of Interest is only for those wishing to propose projects based within the Department of Education, University of Oxford.

The Fellowship is for a duration of three years, full-time. Leverhulme will also consider part-time requests for candidates with health-related reasons, disabilities or childcare commitments.   This call offers the opportunity for early career researchers who have a research record, but who have not yet held a full-time permanent academic post to undertake a significant piece of publishable work.

This scheme is run by the Leverhulme Trust. Please read the guidance on the Leverhulme Trust website carefully before submitting an Expression of Interest.

Eligibility

Applicants must:

• Have a PhD by the time they take up the Fellowship
• Have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination by the time the Fellowship application process closes (4pm on 18 February 2027)
• Must not be registered for degrees, professional or vocational qualifications at the time of commencing the Fellowship.
• Have submitted their thesis for examination not more than 4 years prior to the application closing date (18 February 2023). Allowance may be made for exceptional circumstances e.g. family commitments, illness, maternity leave, etc. Please note that time spent working outside academia does not qualify as a career break.
• Not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK or non-UK institution.
• 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.
• Be resident in the UK for the duration of the award.
• Have not held a Leverhulme Study Abroad Studentship for postdoctoral research.

Applicants may submit only one application per year.

Expressions of Interest

This is a highly competitive Fellowship, and the Department will only support a limited number of submissions. Before submitting an Expression of Interest, interested researchers must already have the support a senior member of the Department for their proposed research project, which should align with the Department’s research strategy and strengths.

Applicants should submit an Expression of Interest form together with a short CV (max. 2 sides of A4, font size 11), a case for support (max. 2 sides of A4, font size 11) and mentor letter of support (max 1-page, A4, font size 11) to research.facilitation@education.ox.ac.uk by the deadline of 12pm/noon (UK time) on 27 November 2026. All Expressions of Interest will be assessed against the criteria from the Leverhulme Trust funding call.

Applicants will receive confirmation from the Department in January 2027 if they are to be invited to submit an application in full to the Leverhulme Trust.