Some academic once denied a grant (7)
I believe the answer is:
concede
'grant' is the definition.
(I know that grant can be written as concede)
'some academic once denied a' is the wordplay.
'some' indicates a hidden word (some parts of the word are used).
'CONCEDE' is hidden within 'academic once denied a'.
(Other definitions for concede that I've seen before include "Admit; yield" , "Surrender, yield" , "Make concession" , "Yield; grant" , "Acknowledge - abandon" .)