Call for Proposals: “Scottish Council on Global Affairs” Funding Program (UK)

The Scottish Council on Global Affairs (SCGA) is the first all-Scotland international relations institute providing a hub for collaborative policy-relevant research and a home for informed, non-partisan debate on all areas of global affairs, broadly defined.

SCGA forges new relationships and deepens existing ties with universities and civil society in the rest of the United Kingdom as well as with centres of expertise in Europe and across the world.

SCGA’s core mission is threefold:

• to provide a much-needed institutional framework to facilitate and amplify multi-disciplinary research and to link this expertise with policy stakeholders in Scotland, the UK and beyond.
• to promote informed discourse and debate on international affairs within Scotland through informed commentary and an exciting series of public-facing events.
• to forge partnerships with cognate civil society and research institutions in the UK, Europe and beyond to amplify the global reach of Scottish expertise.

Available Funding

Three types of funding awards are available:

• Insight Awards
  • Insight Awards (up to £7500 but smaller projects are also welcomed to apply) fund research activities that will produce new policy-relevant insight on an aspect of global affairs. This may be a stand-alone project or part of a larger, ongoing research project. The Insight Award scheme can be used for seed corn funding in pursuit of a larger funding bid. If successful, the applicant will need to obtain ethics approval prior to commencing research.
  • All funds must be spent on activities that occur before 31 July 2024 and all expenditures must therefore be completed by this date. Examples of activities for funding include: research assistance, initial project planning and development, travel for research, workshops, public events, and seminars. Funding cannot be used to cover replacement teaching, replacement salary or computer equipment.
  • Criteria:
    • Quality of planned research
    • Clearly defined goals to produce new policy-relevant insight
    • Identifiable outcomes, including knowledge exchange and impact outcomes
    • Identifiable and feasible timeline for completion
    • Research connects to one or more of SCGA’s themes:
      • Human Rights, Immigration, Migration, Refugees
      • Foreign Policy, Peace Building, Conflict Resolution
      • International Law, Trade and Global Governance
      • Defence and Security
      • Global Public Health, International Development
      • Sustainability, Fisheries, Climate Change, Energy
    • Priority will be given to projects involving researchers from more than one organisation or institution in Scotland
    • Priority will be given to projects that are interdisciplinary in nature
• Connections Awards
  • Connections Awards (up to £2500) fund activities designed to establish new and lasting connections and networks across global affairs researchers and analysts primarily based in Scotland, including across Scottish universities.
  • All funds must be spent on activities that occur before 31 July 2024 and all expenditures must therefore be completed by this date. Examples of activities for funding include: research assistance, initial project planning and development, travel for research, workshops, public events, and seminars. Funding cannot be used to cover replacement teaching, replacement salary or computer equipment.
  • Criteria:
    • Clearly defined goals and strategies to produce new and lasting connections across and among Scottish-based research
    • Identifiable outcomes, including knowledge exchange and impact outcomes
    • Identifiable and feasible timeline for completion
    • Connections relate to one or more of SCGA’s themes:
      • Human Rights, Immigration, Migration, Refugees
      • Foreign Policy, Peace Building, Conflict Resolution
      • International Law, Trade and Global Governance
      • Defence and Security
      • Global Public Health, International Development
      • Sustainability, Fisheries, Climate Change, Energy
    • Projects must involve researchers from more than one organisation or institution in Scotland
• Engagement Awards
  • Engagement Awards (up to £2500) fund global affairs-related activities designed to engage policy, community, and industry audiences and actors with academic researchers. Projects may be linked to existing research or organisational activities or design new research, policy priorities, products or services through mutual exchange. All projects should establish new or strengthen existing engagement between academic researchers and non-academic organisations and communities. Academic researchers are strongly encouraged to seek advice from their impact offices.
  • All funds must be spent on activities that occur before 31 July 2024 and all expenditures must therefore be completed by this date. Engagement Awards primarily cover costs associated with disseminating results arising from existing research in policy circles or through public events (such as travel, research support, workshop costs) or costs arising from developing a new policy-relevant project in collaboration with non-academic organisations (meeting costs, development of new partnerships). Funding cannot be used to cover replacement teaching, replacement salary, conference attendance, or standard computer equipment.
    • Clearly defined strategies to produce and sustain engagement across academic and non-academic communities
    • Identifiable outcomes, including knowledge exchange and impact outcomes
    • Identifiable and feasible timeline for completion
    • Engagement focus relates to one or more of SCGA’s themes:
      • Human Rights, Immigration, Migration, Refugees
      • Foreign Policy, Peace Building, Conflict Resolution
      • International Law, Trade and Global Governance
      • Defence and Security
      • Global Public Health, International Development
      • Sustainability, Fisheries, Climate Change, Energy
    • Projects must involve researchers from more than one organisation or institution in Scotland.

Eligibility Criteria

• Funding is open to researchers and policy analysts based in Scotland. Approval of applicant’s employing institution is required.
• Funding involving researchers from outside Scotland is encouraged, but the Principal Applicant and a majority of participants must be ordinarily based in an institution in Scotland.
• Insight Awards: Funding is open to researchers based in Scotland. The principal investigator should include an email from their line manager supporting the application. Independent researchers not affiliated with any particular higher education institution may apply.
• Connections Awards: Independent researchers not affiliated with any particular higher education institution may apply.
• Engagement Awards: Independent researchers and organisations may apply.

For more information, visit Scottish Council on Global Affairs.