British Academy and Nuffield Foundation invites Applications from Early and Midcareer Researchers in UK

Deadline: 04-Jun-21

The British Academy and the Nuffield Foundation is inviting applications from early and midcareer researchers, policymakers and practitioners to participate in a research and policy innovation workshop and develop innovative and interdisciplinary research proposals that advance the organisations’ shared interest in enhancing people’s lives in the context of their communities.

The British Academy’s Cohesive Societies programme aims to shed light, and develop suggestions for policy change, on how societies can remain cohesive in the face of rapid political, social, economic and technological change, drawing on a range of salient themes and policy areas for both government and civil society. The Nuffield Foundation, whose aim is to advance social wellbeing with research that informs social policy, has identified limitations in the collective understanding of the role of community in social and individual wellbeing in the UK, and its effect on the ability of interventions to address disadvantage, as a major social policy challenge of the 2020s. These interests also resonate with policymakers’ seeming reorientation towards greater consideration of place and community.

The British Academy aiming for this programme to support genuinely new approaches, produce mutual and lasting benefits for researchers, policymakers and practitioners, strengthen the relationships between these three key communities within the policy ecosystem, and find tangible, evidence-based policy solutions that could have an important and positive impact on society.

The workshop will take place at a series of virtual sessions from 13 to 24 September 2021, with a final virtual session on 13 October 2021.

Funding Information

At least £500,000 in funding is available to deliver the research proposals that result from the workshop and more funding may subsequently be made available to develop the programme of work if proposals and projects demonstrate sufficient promise.

Eligibility Criteria

To apply to attend the workshop:
- You must be employed by, volunteering for, or affiliated with, an UK-based institution or organisation.
- If you are from a policy or practice background, you must be able to demonstrate in your application how your skills and experience would contribute to the objectives set out for the workshop.
- If you are from an academic background, you must have no more than 15 years’ experience working in an academic institution. A PhD is not essential.
- You must attend as an individual, being prepared to form new research groups with other workshop participants, unconstrained by existing obligations to any research group or institution.
To apply for funding after attending the workshop:
- You must be employed by, volunteering for, or affiliated with, an UK-based institution or organisation.
- They will not accept applications that are under consideration by another funder. You are subsequently free to seek funding from other sources should your application be unsuccessful.
- They expect Principal Investigators to be researchers rather than those working in policy and/or practice. However, they are open to discussing an alternative approach on a case-by-case basis and you should contact them to discuss before submitting a funding application.
Types of work that are ineligible for funding:
- Projects led by individuals unaffiliated to any particular organisation.
- Projects led by schools or further education colleges.
- Projects led by someone for whom undergraduate or taught study is their main activity.
- PhD fees or projects where the main purpose is to support a PhD.
- The establishment of academic posts.
- Ongoing costs or the costs of ‘rolling out’ existing work or services.
- ‘Dissemination-only’ projects, including campaigning work, which are not connected to their funded work.
- The provision of charitable services, replacement for statutory funding, or social services or social welfare provision.
- Requests for financial help or educational fees from or on behalf of individuals.