The Department of Archaeology and McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge welcome applications for Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships. These highly competitive Fellowships provide career development opportunities for researchers with a proven record of research at a relatively early stage of their academic careers (within 5 years of submitting their PhD). The objective is for Fellows to undertake a significant piece of publishable research during the tenure of the award; the project proposed should therefore not be a reworking or mere extension of the candidate’s doctoral research. Successful candidates will join a large and dynamic group of postdoctoral research fellows at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. 

In Cambridge applications to Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships are supported by matched funding from the Newton Trust. 

In order to be eligible for the competition, applicants must:

• not yet have held a full-time permanent academic post in a UK university or comparable UK institution, nor may Fellows hold such a post concurrently with the Early Career Fellowship. The Trust will consider applications from candidates whose permanent post does not include any research. Those in receipt of a stipendiary Fellowship may not hold this at the same time as an Early Career Fellowship.
• have submitted their doctoral thesis for viva voce examination by 4pm on the closing date of 20 February 2025.   
• must either hold a degree (any 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 2024 are not eligible.