Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship

Notify Faculty of intention to apply by: 16 December 2024

Deadline for submission for internal selection: 6 January 2025

Funder Deadline: 20 February 2025.

The Faculty will support a limited number of applications (six at most) to this funding scheme for the 2025 round. Which applications we can support will be confirmed around mid-January 2025 following an internal review process. The deadline for applications for submissions for internal review will be 5pm, 6th January 2025.

The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship provides funding each year for full time three-year research fellowships across the UK. Applicants must be within four years of being awarded their doctorate and cannot be permanent post holders. Applicants supported by the Law Faculty may already be based in this Faculty, in another department or college in Oxford, or currently be based at another institution. If awarded funding, then the Fellow would be employed by the Law Faculty for the fixed period of the funding.

The scheme pays 50% of salary and employer benefit costs, up to a total of £28,000 a year, plus up to £6,000/year for research expenses. The remaining salary costs are covered in part by the Social Sciences Division which sets aside some John Fell Fund money to match in part the Leverhulme funding, and the Faculty will also underwrite these applications and cover the remainder of the costs. Since the Faculty is required to underwrite the applications, there will be a gathered field exercise so that the Faculty’s Dean and Associate Dean for Research may review draft applications and approve those that they wish to support and underwrite. 

Read the full scheme details on the Leverhulme website.

2025 scheme  Faculty internal selection process

All potential applicants should submit:

• A statement of their current and previous research (up to 250 words) – This should make clear what the applicant’s areas of expertise and experience are but also establish that the proposed research is original, significant and publishable and not merely an extension of the candidate’s prior work at doctoral level

• (b) A detailed statement of proposed research – This should include proposed aims, objectives, methodology and outcome (e.g. publication plans). It should enable the internal review panel to form an estimate of the scope and importance of the proposal. The methodology should be clear and explicit, comprehensible to a non-expert. A bibliography should be included for any references. The statement plus bibliography must not exceed two sides of A4 (use Arial font size 11, margins no smaller than 2cm and line spacing no smaller than single line, submit as Word document or PDF).

• (c) A letter of support from their potential mentor (can be submitted by either the candidate or the mentor) noting the quality of the research proposal, the suitability of the candidate for pursuing the proposed research programme, how the proposed research fits into and contributes to the Faculty's existing research, and how it meets the Leverhulme Trust’s priorities as a funder. The main body of the mentor’s letter should be at least 500 words in length and can be up to 1500.

• (d) An academic CV (3 pages max)

to research@law.ox.ac.uk by 5pm Monday 6th January 2025.

Notifications of intention to apply for this scheme must be submitted to research@law.ox.ac.uk by Monday 16th December 2024. For this, we formally only require an e-mail expressing your interest in applying, but it is also helpful to provide your actual or expected DPhil submission date, plus, if your DPhil is not from a UK university, details of other undergraduate or postgraduate degree qualifications or fixed term teaching posts in the UK. Please also confirm if a Faculty member has already agreed to act as a mentor and support your application. 

Questions about this scheme may be sent to research@law.ox.ac.uk