Deadline: 11-Sep-23
The Nuffield Foundation is seeking proposals for the Research, Development and Analysis Fund.
The grants are awarded to projects that inform the design and operation of social policy and practice across their three core areas of Education, Welfare and Justice.
Focus Areas
- Education: The scope of their interest in education covers all life stages and phases from early years1 (including pre-natal), through school, to further and higher education and vocational learning. They are interested in all influences on educational opportunity and life chances, including educational provision, informal learning, family and home environment, genetics, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic and placerelated factors. Most recently, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on education at all phases and stages is an additional perspective that would be of interest.
- Welfare: Their Welfare portfolio aims to improve economic and social well-being across the life course. Their approach is motivated by how certain individuals and groups are potentially vulnerable to adverse outcomes, and how those risks can be mitigated, or channelled in a positive manner.
- Justice: Their work in Justice is central to their mission to advance social well-being and to understanding the foundations and pathways to a just and inclusive society, and the restrictions to achieving it. They believe that a well-functioning, fair, and effective system of justice is essential for day-to-day life and for public trust, respect, and confidence in the law and institutions of state. Following a recent review of work in their Justice domain, they have refreshed their funding priorities.
Types of projects they support
- Research reviews, synthesis and translation
- Data collection and analysis
- Intervention development and early evaluation
- Developmental projects.
Funding Information
- For larger grant applications, between £750,000 and £3 million, they are looking for projects that take an interdisciplinary approach.
- These projects should address the most significant themes and developments that will shape the UK public policy and agenda, and wider society, over the next decade and beyond.
What they offer?
- Applications for grants up to £750,000 will be considered twice a year, with deadlines for submission of Outline applications in March and September.
- They welcome applications between £750,000 and £3 million for more strategic projects once a year, with an Outline application submitted in March.
- As shown in Figure 1 , most of the grants they award are below £300,000. There may be occasions where an application costs over £500,000. In these circumstances, they recommend that applicants contact us in advance of submitting an application.
- They occasionally offer smaller grants of under £15,000. These applications can be assessed on a quicker timetable and they would seek to expedite smaller grants where they think there is a strong case for an accelerated decision.
- Grants usually last between six months and three years, although they may consider longer or shorter timelines.
- Larger grants
- They expect these to address the most significant themes and developments that will shape the UK public policy agenda and wider society over the next decade and beyond.
- Applications at this level must also bring a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary approach to addressing the questions they examine, including proposals for working collaboratively across research, policy and practice.
- They must be connected in some way to at least one of their three core domains, but it is likely they will cut across more than one of these three areas or extend beyond them, engaging with other social policy fields. They pay particular attention to the value for money offered by applications for larger grants.
Eligibility Criteria
- UK context
- In general, they award grants for projects focused on the UK context. They also welcome applications from UK-based organisations to carry out collaborative projects, possibly involving overseas partners, and/or using data relating to other countries, for example, where:
- These provide useful comparators or lessons to be learned for the UK experience in their areas of substantive interest.
- Policy or practice overseas might be adapted for the UK.
- In general, they award grants for projects focused on the UK context. They also welcome applications from UK-based organisations to carry out collaborative projects, possibly involving overseas partners, and/or using data relating to other countries, for example, where:
- Staffing
- Principal Investigators
- All proposed projects must be led by a named Principal Investigator (PI), who is the lead applicant.
- Where there are Co-Principal Investigators, one PI must still be named as the lead applicant. This is for administrative purposes only.
- PIs must take overall responsibility for the application and be the main point of contact with the Foundation throughout the application process and for the duration of any subsequent grant period.
- They award grants to organisations (the ‘host institution’) rather than individuals, and the PI must be based at the host institution.
- Co-Investigators
- Individuals who will assist the PI in the management and leadership of the project may be named as CoInvestigators (Co-Is).
- Co-Is should only be named if they have a significant role in the management and implementation of the project.
- Project staff
- Other project staff can be named in the application, as well as any roles that are expected to be recruited for.
- Applicants need to provide information on how project staff, particularly those at earlier career stages, will be supported and developed.
- Principal Investigators
- Other funders
- In some cases, they will accept applications for projects that are being considered by another funder.
- Applicants must state in their Outline application if they are applying, or have applied, for funds for their project elsewhere.
- They will judge the application on its merits but reserve the right to contact the relevant person at the other funding organisation(s) for information.
- Proposals that have been unsuccessful elsewhere will only be considered if they are of high quality and central to their areas of interest. Applicants should provide details of where they have previously applied, and any feedback provided by the other funder.
- Although the Foundation does not contribute to general appeals for pooled funding, in some circumstances they will consider partnership funding. Where applicants wish to propose a partnership funding model, they would expect them to argue the case for such an approach within their Outline application.
- Applicants should provide the name and contact details of the proposed co-funder.
- They would usually expect to contact the proposed co-funder to discuss the feasibility of co-funding prior to a funding decision being made by the Foundation.
- In some cases, they will accept applications for projects that are being considered by another funder.
- Multiple proposals
- They are willing to consider more than one Outline application from the same organisation but it is unlikely that they would shortlist more than one Outline application from a single PI within a given funding round.
For more information, visit Research, Development and Analysis Fund.