Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships

For UK universities to fund up to 18 Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships in a priority research area for that institution

Please note the Leverhulme Trust does not accept applications directly from graduates wishing to pursue doctoral study. Following a review, the Trust Board has decided to increase its commitment to the Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships scheme, leading to the following changes:

• Additional scholarship places are available to support students from underrepresented groups undertake a master’s plus doctoral programme.
• Applications to the scheme will be accepted from consortia of a maximum of two universities.
• A limited number of doctoral scholarships may be allocated to international students. Further information is given in the guidance below, please read this carefully.

Value:

Ten awards of up to £1.95m will be made to UK universities in each round. Each award funds fifteen four-year Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships, with five scholarships to be offered in each year of the first three years of the grant. Three of these fifteen places can be allocated to international students. To provide targeted support to ensure better progression of low income and Black students to doctoral study, universities can apply for additional funding, for up to three students, from these underrepresented groups to undertake a research master’s degree before progressing to a PhD. Please see the following sections for further details.

Duration:

Each grant runs over a period of 8 years

The scheme is open to applications from any UK university. To increase the reach of the scheme and the diversity of institutions the Trust funds, applications will also be accepted from consortia of a maximum of two universities. In the proposal, one university and one principal applicant must be identified to lead. The principal applicant will submit the proposal and, if an award is made, take lead responsibility for financial and reporting matters. The funding contract would be held by the lead university.

A university may submit only one application as lead but may partner in multiple applications as long as they are in different subject areas.

Once a university has selected their preferred bid, they should send the principal applicant’s name, departmental affiliation and email address to Katharyn Lanaro at grants@leverhulme.ac.uk. Access will then be granted to the Leverhulme Trust Grants Management System.

In addition to the standard fifteen four-year doctoral scholarship places, institutions may also recruit three students to a master’s plus PhD programme. Students wishing to pursue the master’s plus PhD route need to fulfil the following criteria:

• Be a UK domiciled student
• Not already have a master’s degree from the host institution
• Be from a low-income household background evidenced by, for example, being in receipt of a full maintenance loan or Special Support loan during their undergraduate studies.

and/or

• Be one of the following categories of ethnicity:
• Black African
• Black Caribbean -- Black Other
• Mixed – White and Black Caribbean
• Mixed – White and Black African
• Other mixed background (including Black African, Black Caribbean and Black Other