ODA Global Innovation Fellowships for Researchers (UK)

Through the ODA Global Innovation Fellowships, researchers in the SHAPE community will be supported to create new and deeper links beyond academia, so enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.

This programme is part of the £337m International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF), which is designed to enable potential and foster prosperity. It puts research and innovation at the heart of the UK’s international relationships, supporting UK researchers and innovators to work with peers around the world on the major themes of our time. It is managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and delivered by a consortium of the UK’s leading research and innovation bodies. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by ODA therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.

South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) is an independent public policy think tank advancing a well-governed, peaceful, economically sustainable and globally engaged Africa. Their work spans foreign policy, governance, the environment, economic policy and social development, linking local experiences with global debates, and provides local and regional decision-makers with independent, evidence-based options for Africa’s future development.

Aims 

• The aim is to have a mutually beneficial partnership between the fellowship award holder and SAIIA, with each able to take advantage of fresh perspectives and expand their networks and reach. It will enable the award holder to strengthen and create new links across policy and academia, enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, and the opportunity to develop new approaches and solutions to policy challenges through providing a different perspective.

Focus Areas 

• Applications are invited in any of the following areas:
  • Democracy and governance in Africa.
  • Climate Finance.
  • Critical Minerals.
  • Re-imagining Democracy through Transformative Foresight and Complexity Thinking.

Funding Information 

• Level of award: The Academy is able to offer awards of up to £150,000 (with Full Economic Costing at 80%).
• Duration of award: Awards are for a period of 12 months.

Eligible costs 

• Funding will be provided on the Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis primarily to cover the salary of the Applicant. The Innovation Fellow will be expected to spend their time in the SAIIA’s office and/or other mutually agreed sites.
• The Academy will provide 80% of the FEC of the Fellowship. The Academy requests that the 80% FEC cost figure is entered into the application form (not the 100% FEC figure). The maximum value of the award made by the Academy is £150,000, meaning that the total cost of the Fellowship at 100% FEC may be up to £187,500. This includes all direct and indirect costs incurred by the employing institution, including space, central support services, and other necessary costs incurred by the employing institution on behalf of the Fellow.
• Eligible costs will be funded under the following headings:
  • Directly incurred salary costs. The award can be used to support the employing institution’s salary costs of the Applicant for the duration of the award.
  • Estates and indirect costs. The award can include the employing institution’s estate and indirect costs incurred as a result of direct staff costs.
  • Relocation and visa costs. The Academy will pay for reasonable relocation costs including one return travel to South Africa before the commencement of work at SAIIA, travel to commence the fellowship in South Africa and travel to return to the UK at the end of the fellowship. Any required visa costs will also be covered by the award.
  • Accommodation and top-up contribution. The Academy will pay up to £2,000 per month for accommodation in South Africa and a top-up contribution of up to £500 per month for the award holder. Provision should be made in the budget for the use of a vehicle or taxi/Uber to travel to and from SAIIA’s office.

Eligibility Criteria 

• The British Academy is inviting applications from early-career and mid-career researchers who are working on the themes outlined below who could contribute fresh perspectives to the specified challenges. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this round of the scheme.
• Applicants might have expertise from a range of disciplinary, conceptual and methodological perspectives, including analytical, policy and practical perspectives.
• Eligible applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award. You must be an early-career or mid-career researcher based at an institution in the UK (e.g., a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]), from disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences that is listed as an approving-organisation in the British Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant. This institution will be issued the Terms and Conditions of the award, if successful.
• This is an opportunity for award holders to form new collaborations and draw on the insights this brings to inform, influence and develop their future development. They seek open-mindedness, a willingness to explore new perspectives and to experiment with innovative approaches. You will have an appetite for working across academia, policy and practice, and will demonstrate a commitment to being genuinely challenge driven and dedicated to integrating the perspectives, needs and priorities of SAIIA.
• All applicants should strongly consider the potential for engagement between academic and non-academic environments and the value this would bring to their career and the value they can bring to the work and purpose of SAIIA.
• Applicants may not hold more than one British Academy award of a comparable nature at any one time.
• Postgraduate students are not eligible to apply for grant support from the Academy, and Applicants are asked to confirm in the personal details section(s) that they are not currently working towards a PhD, nor awaiting the outcome of a viva voce examination, nor awaiting the acceptance of any corrections required by the examiners.

For more information, visit The British Academy.