Horizon Scan: Research Funding in 2020

2020: all eyes to the horizon

What does 2020 hold in store for those working in the world of research funding? Here's what's on the horizon in the months ahead.
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Fundermentals Top 10 2019

It's been quite a year. One, I think, that we'd all rather forget. 

Well, as ever, you can trust Fundermentals to do the wrong thing. Here, with a reminder of every twist and turn of the Year that Brexit Never Was, is the top ten most popular articles on the site this year. 

The Inside Track on Applying to Leverhulme

Sunlight soap: the beginning of it all (photo: Øklands trykksaker CC BY 2.0)

Academics love the Leverhulme Trust. Other funders may be bigger, or bolder, or more ambitious. But Leverhulme seems to sing the song that academics want to hear. It funds blue skies research without the layers of political varnish. Your work doesn’t have to fit a particular discipline. It doesn’t have to be a collaboration. You don’t have to link with industry, or focus on capacity building.

For Leverhulme, it’s the research, stupid. It funds curiosity-driven research that reflects an individual vision. It disregards disciplinary boundaries. It can take risks. It can fail.

No wonder academics love it.

But what makes it tick? What is it looking for? How does it assess applications? And what are your chances of being funded?

Five Ingredients for a Perfect Research Funding Bid

Five ingredients for a perfect recipe.
Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash

Is there a formula for a successful funding proposal? Not quite, but there are five elements that you should definitely keep in mind when drafting your application.