Leakey Foundation Research Grants

About this program

The Leakey Foundation offers Research Grants supporting exploratory and innovative research on human origins, evolution, and behavior across disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, genetics, geology, and primate studies. Awards provide up to $20,000 for advanced PhD candidates and $30,000 for post-PhD researchers, with applications due January 10 or July 15. Applicants must be advanced doctoral students or hold a PhD, be affiliated with a university, museum, or research institution, and propose research directly relevant to human origins; there are no citizenship restrictions. Funds may cover essential research expenses such as fieldwork travel, living costs, supplies, and research assistance, but not salaries, overhead, equipment, publication costs, or tuition.