Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship opportunities hosted by the Centre for Music and Science

The Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships scheme is now open for the 2027 competition. These three-year fellowships enable early-career researchers to undertake a significant independent research project. The University of Cambridge provides matched funding for successful candidates through the Isaac Newton Trust, and the Faculty of Music welcomes applications from candidates whose work would benefit from being hosted in Cambridge.

Within the Faculty, the Centre for Music and Science is especially interested in hearing from candidates whose proposed projects connect with one or more of our currently supported research topics: computational music cognition; music and pleasure; computational analysis of musical style; the dynamics of music popularity; individual and cross-cultural differences in music cognition; and the psychology of microtonal jazz. Prospective applicants should contact Peter Harrison, CMS Director, at pmch2@cam.ac.uk in advance to discuss how their proposed work could fit the Centre and its research programme.

Applicants wishing to apply through the University of Cambridge should submit draft materials to the Faculty of Music by 12 noon on Thursday 22 October 2026, UK time. Applications will first be reviewed by the Faculty, with the final decision on whether Cambridge can host an application made at University level. Candidates supported through the internal competitions will be asked to commit to applying through Cambridge alone, and will then work with Cambridge colleagues to refine their application ahead of the Leverhulme Trust’s national deadline of 4pm on Thursday 18 February 2027.

For the Faculty review, applicants should email the following application documents as Microsoft Word documents, not PDFs, to Faculty Manager Jennifer Goodwin at facultymanager@mus.cam.ac.uk:

• An academic CV (maximum two sides of A4).
• A list of major publications (maximum one side of A4).
• A statement of current research (maximum 250 words).
• A detailed statement of proposed research (maximum two sides of A4), structured as set out below.

Applicants must also arrange for two references, one of which must be from beyond Cambridge, to be sent directly to the Faculty of Music by the deadline.

The detailed proposed research statement should include:

1. Title of proposed research.
2. Name of proposed mentor.
3. Abstract of proposed research (about 200 words).
4. Proposed programme, including methodology. Applicants should demonstrate that the research programme is viable, specific, original, and achievable within the proposed timescale.
5. Planned research outputs, such as a monograph, journal articles, book chapters, or digital resources.
6. Plan of action, setting out a clear and realistic timetable for the three-year Fellowship.
7. Plans for publication or dissemination, including potential publishers or journals.

Applicants interested in a CMS-hosted application should contact Peter Harrison before the internal deadline. Current or previous holders of full-time permanent academic posts in UK universities or comparable institutions, and current or former stipendiary Junior Research Fellows at Cambridge or Oxford, are not eligible to apply. Applicants should consult the Leverhulme Trust guidance, the Isaac Newton Trust information for Cambridge applicants, and the Faculty of Music’s guidance for full eligibility and application details. General queries may be sent to facultymanager@mus.cam.ac.uk.