UK: Dance Research Matters Network and Programme Lead Opportunity

Deadline: 27-Jan-23

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is inviting applications for the Dance Research Matters Network and Programme lead opportunity.

Objectives

• They want the Dance Research Matters Programme to:
  • Raise the profile and value of dance as a research area
  • Catalyst wider interest in dance research
  • Include early career researchers and artists to empower them
  • Promote the diversity of dance cultures
  • Connect dance disciplines and cultures together to enable future collaborations
  • Consider holistically the dance agenda from the ground up
  • Diversify the approaches to sector issues by sharing knowledge and expertise
  • Build towards the future of dance research and practice-based disciplines
  • Understand better the challenges facing the practice-based community
  • Engage the public in dance as a research field through community interaction

Examples of disciplinary areas of focus:

• Dance history
• Dance theory
• Dance anthropology
• Dance education
• Dance science
• decolonial knowledges
• Embodied knowledges
• Indigenous knowledges
• Choreography
• Performance practices
• Dance technology
• Dance and health, therapy
• Dance and disability
• Environmental
• Business and commercial dance
• Dramaturgy of dance

Examples of network partners:

• Dance companies
• Early career researchers
• Community groups
• Choreographers
• Universities, colleges, and educational settings
• Dance charities
• Dance therapists
• They are keen to ensure all parts of the UK are represented through the networks.
• All successful networks will be expected to work collaboratively with the programme lead.

What are they looking for?

• The aim for your network is to promote collaboration of dance researchers and the wider dance sector to consider sector specific issues that strengthen the dance and practice-based research community.
• The role of the programme lead is to provide AHRC with insight into how to generate legacy and embed change for the dance sector. You will achieve this through capturing insights and coordinating with the networks, possibly with innovative practice-based techniques.

Funding Information

• Total fund: £500,000
• Maximum award: £100,000
• The cost of your network can be up to £100,000. AHRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.
• The programme lead cost can be up to £100,000. AHRC will fund 100% of the full economic cost.
• Duration: Network and programme lead duration 18 months.

Programme Lead Activities

• You will map the dance research ecosystem, including areas such as:
  • How and where dance research happens
  • How and where dance research intersects with other areas of dance such as professional performance and choreography, education, community dance
  • How and where dance research intersects with other research disciplines, particularly embodied
  • Assess the impact of dance research as a practice-based research area
  • Assess the health of the career landscape for dance researchers
  • Language used by dance research community
• You will also:
  • Provide ongoing monitoring of the networks activities
  • Evaluate the outputs and impacts of the networks and present your findings and recommendations
  • Seek out and generate learning opportunities throughout all stages of the programme
  • They are keen to support ways of delivering and presenting these activities that are innovative and represent the needs and uniqueness of the dance specific practice-based community.

Eligibility Criteria

• You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding.
• To apply for this funding opportunity, you must be at an eligible research organisation. This is any UK higher education institution that receives grant funding from one of the UK higher education funding bodies, or a UK Research and Innovation-recognised research institute or organisation. 
• Each network should be led by a principal investigator and can have multiple, including international, co-investigators.
• Each network must:
  • have a mix of partners and stakeholders (for example dance companies, industry professionals, community groups)
  • Cover a range of dance genres, disciplines, and cultures
  • Provide opportunities for career development including early career researchers
  • Demonstrate familiarity with the breadth of the UK dance research community
  • Focus on 1 or more contemporary themes or challenges facing the dance research community
  • Be committed to promoting inclusivity and diversity as a fundamental principle
• Ideally, they hope that the networks will have distinct, though possibly overlapping, areas of interest and collaborative approaches so that collectively they will form a strong portfolio which will maximise the impact of the programme.
• You can apply for the programme lead if you are part of a network application applying to this funding opportunity.
• You must demonstrate:
  • A good understanding of the needs of the practice-based community
  • Experience of monitoring, evaluation and learning processes, report writing and developing recommendations
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Commitment to promoting inclusivity and diversity as a fundamental principle
  • The ability to build and maintain relationships with a diverse spread of network participants
  • Teamwork, able to work constructively and collaboratively with the networks and AHRC colleagues

Contractual Eligibility

• Applicants must either:
  • Be employed by the research organisation submitting the proposal
  • have an existing written formal arrangement with the organisation confirming that they support managing your payment for the award as if you were an employee, if not employed by the submitting organisation (that is, employed elsewhere and seconded to the submitting organisation, or not employed at all (for example, retired investigators, honorary or visiting fellow)). Standard AHRC eligibility criteria apply to this funding opportunity.

For more information, visit AHRC.