British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants – United Kingdom

The awards are co-funded on an on-going basis by the Leverhulme Trust and public funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The Academy also offers awards supported by private funders with a thematic focus including the Wellcome Trust, the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies, the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, British Accounting and Finance Association, Journal of Moral Education Trust, Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, the Honor Frost Foundation and EY. The Academy also expresses its partnership with the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Taiwan through this scheme.

Purpose of Grant

• Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. The first recourse for funding should be to your own institution (where applicable).
• Applications for collaborative or individual research projects are equally welcome under this scheme. Applications from international groups of scholars are welcome, provided there is a UK-based scholar as lead applicant for the duration of the award period.
• Funds are available to facilitate initial project planning and development; to support the direct costs of research; and to enable the advancement of research through workshops or visits by or to partner scholars.
• Grants are not intended to support interchange between UK and overseas scholars where there is no planned programme of activity to meet a clearly specified research objective (dissemination of results of research conducted under the aegis of the project for which funding is sought is a permitted purpose, but applications will only be considered if this dissemination occurs through workshops bringing together a closed group of participants to advance a specifically identified research idea, rather than open call conferences), nor are grants intended solely to support attendance at open conferences organised by a third party or international organisation.
• All applications should demonstrate that funds are sought for a clearly defined, discrete piece of research, which will have an identifiable outcome on completion of the Academy funded component of the project.

Funding Information

• The maximum grant is £10,000 over two years – applications will not be considered for less than £500.
• Applicants should not apply for expenditure that will take place over more than 24 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
  • Grants are available for research, at postdoctoral or equivalent level, in the fields of the humanities and the social sciences. Equivalent experience may include holding, or having held, an established post, having a record of publications in the field and/or having teaching experience.
  • Postgraduate students are not eligible to apply.
  • Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands or currently employed overseas by a recognised UK overseas research organisation.
  • UK research organisations based overseas may apply to be recognised by demonstrating that they satisfy both the following conditions:
    • Organisations which are, or which are constituent parts of, charities registered with the Charity Commission; and
    • Which must be able to demonstrate an independent capability to undertake research in the field or discipline in which they wish to be funded, and to lead the research for which funding is received.
  • Awards will not be made retrospectively: this means that the work for which support is requested must not have commenced before the award is announced.
• The Academy offers awards in this scheme in two rounds of competition each year.

For more information, visit British Academy (BA).