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Grants

The Society makes grants both to individuals and to organisations in support of cultural and scientific activities which increase innovation, outreach and diversity in Leeds and its immediate area. It also supports local museums and galleries and publications relating to the city.

Learn more about our grants

About the Society

The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, founded in 1819, is a charity that promotes interest in science, literature and the arts – in the city of Leeds and beyond. We have meetings, lectures, entertainments, publications and visits.

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2019 Annual Review

Includes Reports on Society Events and Grant-funded projects for the year end: 2019

Society Events in 2019

  • Penny Wainwright The Chas. F. Thackray Company
  • Annual Science Fair in the Leeds City Museum
  • Steven Burt Leeds in 1819 – foundation year of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society
  • Alan Roberts Repairing People – Innovations and Possibilities in Medicine
  • Unveiling the Martin and Synge plaque
  • Kersten Hall “In Praise of Wool”: Archer Martin, Richard Synge & the blobs that won Leeds a Nobel Prize
  • Summer Outing A visit to Sheffield Assay Office and Kelham Island Museum
  • Alan Watson The Growth of Large Collaborations in Science 29
  • The Bicentenary Conference
  • Simon Phillips Why Grass is Green and Blood is Red
  • Bicentenary Dinner
  • Priestley Lecture: Piers Forster From Climate Science to Climate Action?
  • AGM & Dinner and Musical Entertainment

Reports received during 2019 on Grants awarded by the Society

  • Women of Westminster: The MPs That Changed Politics
  • Left Bank Opera Festival 2018
  • Life and Work of Archer Martin and Richard Synge
  • Whoever heard of a Black Artist?
  • Headingley Festival of Ideas 37
  • The Brick Man
  • Production of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana 39
  • Essays on Musical Exchange between Britain and Europe, 1500–1800
  • The Downhearted Drayman
  • A History of Clinical Specialties in Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 1767-2018
  • Leeds’s Long-finned Pilot Whale

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Grants

The Society makes grants both to individuals and to organisations in support of cultural and scientific activities which increase innovation, outreach and diversity in Leeds and its immediate area. It also supports local museums and galleries and publications relating to the city.

Events

Since 1819, the Phil & Lit has been inviting the people of Leeds to hear from knowledgeable and entertaining speakers. Many are leaders in their field of science, arts or current affairs. We also hold an annual Science Fair and organise occasional visits.