1. Professor Gordon Marshall
Director

2. …. scholarships for such purposes of research and education…as my Trustees may in their discretion direct.
Annual expenditure of £60 millions across some 15 funding schemes, largely funding research in the UK higher education sector
William Hesketh Lever ( )

3. The Trust Board Trust is an independent and autonomous charity
Board comprises nine former members of Unilever
senior management, from diverse international
backgrounds
Meets four times each year for decisive discussion
Has experience of identifying potential and quality
Is resistant to academic fashion
Relies on expert peer review

4. Types of awards
Research Programmes: up to £1.75k (including ‘Tipping Points’, ‘Value’, ‘Resilience’)
Research Project Grants: normally up to £250k
Fellowships: Early Career, Major Research, Research, Emeritus, and Academy
Collaboration: International Networks, Visiting Professorships and Fellowships, Study Abroad Fellowships and Studentships
Philip Leverhulme Prizes: approximately 35 annually, spanning 6 rotating subject areas, each prize worth £70k
Arts Portfolio (Fine and Performing Arts): Bursaries, Innovative Teaching, Artists in Residence
Occasional exceptional awards

5. Distribution of funds (%) 2011

6. Application processes
Two-stage process for Research Project Grants, International Networks, Arts Portfolio awards: more than 1000 Outline Applications received annually; all taken to Stage 1 peer review (approx. 12 weeks)
Positive recommendation (Approximately 50%) leads to invitation to submit a Detailed Application (3 deadlines per annum)
Detailed Applications then submitted to Stage 2 peer review and decision by Trust Board (success rate approximately 40%)
All other schemes have a one-stage application process, normally annual call and deadline, with decisions delegated to expert panels and subject to due scrutiny by the Trust Board; success rates 15>35%)

7. Special attention is given to…
The originality of the proposed work beyond incremental development and beyond the immediate subject
The removal of barriers between traditional disciplines
Providing support for outstanding scholarship, in terms of talent, vision, intellectual curiosity and willingness to take appropriate risks
A departure from existing approaches - or fresh direction
The responsive mode, where the choice of topic lies with the applicant in the majority of schemes

8. Project Awards by Discipline

9. To sum up… All funding agencies might expect: high quality;
an excellent project; a talented applicant; clarity of expression; sound methodology; a persuasive strategy for disseminating findings
The Leverhulme Trust also encourages: risk-taking; originality; trans-disciplinarity; intellectual excitement
Note the prominence given to, respect for, and reliance on robust peer review
All disciplines are eligible, but the Trust avoids: assuming the tasks of other specialist agencies such as Government (including Research Councils) and the Wellcome Trust (medicine); and projects in countries with a well-developed research infrastructure

10. …Our approach is
Tell us (in plain language) what research you want to do, and why it is compelling, and if that sounds persuasive then we will try to fund the work

11. Common errors in applications
Claims to scholarship, quality or significance, measured purely in terms of metrics, impact, or institutional standing
The supposition of a hidden agenda or quota system in Trust grant-making
Failure to address the research topic or question in transparent terminology, where requested to do so

12. https://twitter.com/LeverhulmeTrust
Contact details
1 Pemberton Row
London
EC4A 3BG
Tel: