Applications for this fellowship are currently open
The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship Competition is now open. Please refer to the Leverhulme Trust website for further information and application guidance.
The Isaac Newton Trust will match the Leverhulme award in support of individuals who successfully apply for Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships to be held at the University of Cambridge starting between 1 September 2024 and 1 May 2025. There will be an internal competition within Cambridge to determine which applications can be supported with match-funding from the Trust.
Eligibility
Candidates must have submitted their PhD no earlier than 22 February 2020 (unless they have had a career break) and not later than 16:00 on 22 February 2024*. However, the Leverhulme Trust will accept applications from candidates who submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination between 22 February 2019 and 22 February 2020 if their work has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – you should explain your case in your application. Applicants should currently either hold a degree from a UK HEI or at the time of application have held an academic position (e.g. a fixed-term fellowship) in the UK for at least 4 months (i.e. were appointed before 31 October 2023). Additionally they should not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK institution (NB this includes stipendiary Junior Research Fellowships at Oxbridge Colleges – see FAQs), nor may Fellows hold such a post concurrently with the Early Career Fellowship.
Other conditions apply. Full details of the Leverhulme Trust’s eligibility rules and application procedure should be consulted before applying.
Submitting an application via CRASSH
Applicants wishing to hold a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in CRASSH should send the materials listed below to fellowships@crassh.cam.ac.uk, by 12:00 noon on Monday 30 October 2023. Applicants should be seeking to pursue projects that are interdisciplinary and/or particularly innovative in their approach to methods and outcomes, and which may therefore fit better at CRASSH than elsewhere in Cambridge. We typically receive a large number of applications at CRASSH, and applicants should justify their choice of host department very clearly.
The Isaac Newton Trust will inform candidates and departments of those selected in good time for them to be able to apply for an award by the Leverhulme Trust deadline, 16:00 on 22 February 2024.
CRASSH requires the following application documents:
- a cover sheet (download)
- a brief c.v. (not exceeding two sides), and
- a draft of the three items required for the Leverhulme application:
- a list of your major publications (maximum one side)
- a statement of your current research (maximum 250 words)
- a detailed statement of your proposed research (maximum two sides)
We will also require two letters of reference, at least of which one should come from outside Cambridge. These should come from two of the three referees you intend to ask to support your eventual application to Leverhulme if your application is selected. Your referees should send their references directly to fellowships@crassh.cam.ac.uk by the 30 October deadline.
Salary
Please note that successful applicants will normally be placed on Scale Point 41, progressing one point up the scale each year of their Fellowship. Significant postdoctoral research experience may justify starting at a higher Scale Point. Note in particular that our matched funding partners (the Isaac Newton Trust) do not support starting salaries higher than Scale Point 44 on the University’s Single Salary Spine and it is not possible for the Department to make up the deficit of starting salaries higher than this. Information about Cambridge salary scales may be found in this document.
For all queries please contact fellowships@crassh.cam.ac.uk.
