Leverhulme Trust
Could Leverhulme Trust fund your project? Check fit free. Draft if yes — or shortlist better matches.
- Applications
- Accepted
- How to apply
- Two-stage application
Works for Registered charities, CIOs, CICs and community groups.
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leverhulme.ac.ukAbout Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust, established in 1925, advances knowledge through bold academic research and education, rooted in a philanthropic legacy of social and community advancement. Its core values champion originality, intellectual risk-taking, interdisciplinary breakthroughs, and academic excellence, nurturing transformative ideas that challenge disciplinary boundaries. Funding decisions prioritize investigator-led innovation, enabling outstanding researchers to pursue speculative projects with long-term scholarly and societal impact, fostering individual talent, capacity building, and global intellectual leadership across all career stages.
What Leverhulme Trust funds
The Trust supports academic research and education, funding investigator-led projects that emphasise originality, intellectual risk-taking, and interdisciplinary approaches. They prioritise research with personal vision and scientific merit, enabling scholars to pursue speculative ideas that might not attract conventional funding. The Trust funds natural sciences and engineering through dedicated fellowship programmes, and offers Research Project Grants to UK universities and higher education institutions. These grants cover research salaries and project costs across a broad range of subjects, but exclude medical and clinical research, research aimed at influencing policy, work with immediate commercial application, database assembly, advocacy, capacity building, networking, and skills development.
Who can apply
The Trust funds UK universities, other institutions of higher education, and UK-based independent research institutes or organisations (on trial). Applicants should be based in the UK. For Research Project Grants, PhD students registered overseas are not permitted. The Trust does not provide partial funding to continue or complete theses which have been initiated independently of a Trust-funded project. For the Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships, applicants should not have had sabbatical leave or other support relieving them from teaching and administrative duties for a total of one year or more in the three years preceding submission.
What Leverhulme Trust doesn't fund
The Trust does not fund medical and clinical research, research aiming to influence current policy, research with immediate commercial application, assembling a database, advocacy, capacity building, networking, skills development, continuation funding, or applicant salaries. They also do not support PhD students registered overseas or provide partial funding for theses started independently of a Trust-funded project.
How they like to fund
The Trust funds investigator-led projects that emphasise originality, intellectual risk-taking, and interdisciplinary approaches. They prioritise research with personal vision and scientific merit, enabling scholars to pursue speculative ideas that might not attract conventional funding. The Trust offers both multi-year Research Project Grants and one-off fellowship programmes. They welcome unsolicited applications.
How much does Leverhulme Trust give?
Leverhulme Trust runs 3 grant programmes. Every figure below is sourced from their published guidance.
Last verified 8 August 2026 · 47 sourced facts
- Two-stage process
- 3 rounds a year
- Decisions in ~13 weeks
- Multi-year funding
- 1 rounds a year
- Single-year grants
- Online portal
- 1 rounds a year
- Decisions in ~20 weeks
- Single-year grants
Those are the published figures. What your charity could realistically get — and whether you'd clear their rules on income, location and legal structure — is what the free fit check answers.
What Leverhulme Trust funds — and what they won't
Originality, importance, significance, merit; personal vision, risk-taking, interdisciplinary
The full exclusions list (3)
- PhD students registered overseas are not permitted. The Trust does not provide partial funding to continue or complete theses which have been initiated independently of a Trust-funded project.
- Part-time working allowed at no less than 50% FTE. Incomplete applications rejected.
- Applicants should not have had sabbatical leave or other support relieving them from teaching and administrative duties for a total of one year or more in the three years preceding submission.
Good to know
How to apply to Leverhulme Trust
Leverhulme Trust takes applications via two-stage application.
- Published programme route: two-stage process.
- Check whether your charity is in scope before you spend time on a full bid.
How it works
- 1Describe your project. Once — used for this funder and others.
- 2See if this could be a fit. Honest check on cause, place, size, and rules.
- 3Draft if yes. From your real data — or move on if not.
See if Leverhulme Trust could be a fit. Draft if yes.
Frequently asked questions
How much funding does Leverhulme Trust provide?
Leverhulme Trust runs 3 grant programmes — Research Project Grants: Up to £500,000 · Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships: Up to £57,500.
Where does Leverhulme Trust fund charities?
Leverhulme Trust funds charities operating in UK.
Does Leverhulme Trust accept unsolicited applications?
Leverhulme Trust accepts unsolicited applications from eligible organisations. Current programme status is on this page — do not assume a round is open.
What does Leverhulme Trust not fund?
Their published exclusions include: PhD students registered overseas are not permitted. The Trust does not provide partial funding to continue or complete theses which have been initiated independently of a Trust-funded project.; Part-time working allowed at no less than 50% FTE. Incomplete applications rejected.; Applicants should not have had sabbatical leave or other support relieving them from teaching and administrative duties for a total of one year or more in the three years preceding submission.. The full exclusions list is further up this page.
How do I apply for funding from Leverhulme Trust?
Leverhulme Trust takes applications via two-stage application. Published programme route: two-stage process.
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