Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship 2027

The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies invites expressions of interest for the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship from suitably qualified researchers in the early stages of an academic career who wish to base their research in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. 
 
Applications are welcome in all areas of Asian, Middle Eastern and related studies.  Fellowships are tenable for three years on a full-time basis.

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  • Applicants must have submitted their doctoral thesis for examination by the closing date, and no more than four years before the closing date, i.e. not before 19 February 2023, unless they have had a career break.
  • Applicants must not hold or have held a permanent academic position in a UK university or comparable institution and must have a doctorate or equivalent research experience.
  • Applicants must also either hold a 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. Hence, those who do not hold a UK degree and whose UK academic position commenced after October 2026 are not eligible. 
 
The eligibility rules for the fellowship are complex, and applicants should check these carefully. Read the eligibility rules here:  https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/early-career-fellowships.  

 

The Faculty will normally be able to support one application to the Leverhulme Trust. Please note that being selected by the Faculty does not ensure the award of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, but we will work with you to ensure as strong a submission as possible. The application stages to be followed are: 
 
  1. apply to the Faculty 
  1. if put forward by the Faculty, enter into discussion with our Research Facilitator to strengthen your application 
  1. submit your application to Leverhulme for consideration. 
 
Please note that you cannot apply to Leverhulme identifying Oxford as your place for holding the Fellowship without first applying through the Faculty.  
 
You will need to identify a named mentor from among the permanent members of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, who must provide a statement of support. Kindly see below.
 
Applications should be sent electronically to rachel.kowalski@humanities.ox.ac.uk by the above date marked ‘Leverhulme ECF 2026’ in the subject header. They should comprise: 
 
  • a CV, maximum 2 pages 
  • a statement of proposed research, maximum 2 pages – to include aims, objectives, methodology and outcome 
 
Applicants may include details of any circumstances that have affected their research progress (for example, illness or parental leave).

 

The deadline to submit your application to the Faculty is 4pm, Wednesday 2 December 2026.  

 

All applications received will be reviewed by the Faculty. Recommendations will then be forwarded to the Humanities Division, which will confirm which candidates it can support.

These applicants will be supported by our Research Facilitators in the completion of the full application to the Leverhulme Trust for its deadline of 18 February 2027.