AHRC responsive mode: standard research grant (Grant)

Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Who is eligible to apply

Your application must include a project lead and at least one project co-lead. Each team member must contribute to:

• the development of the research grant application

• project leadership and management

• joint publication of authored research

Project leads

Project leads must be actively engaged in postdoctoral research and be of postdoctoral standing. This means you must have a doctorate or can demonstrate in your application that you have equivalent research experience or training. You must have a level of skills, knowledge and experience that is appropriate to your proposed project.

You must be either:

• employed by the research organisation submitting the application

• have an existing written formal arrangement with the research organisation confirming that you will be able to carry out the research as if you were an employee

• scheduled to move to the research organisation before the proposed start date of the application

Project co-leads

Project co-leads are supported by this funding opportunity and includes project co-lead internationals, as per the guidance below.

Other roles

Other roles that are supported by this funding opportunity are listed in the ‘How to apply’ section below.

For more information on eligibility, please read our research funding guide.

Who is not eligible to apply

We do not support project studentships (funding PhD study) within this funding opportunity.

International applicants

As the lead funder for this opportunity, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) welcomes international researchers to apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’.

Please read sections two and three of our research funding guide for full details on eligibility of researchers, organisations, and costs.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.

We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:

• career breaks

• support for people with caring responsibilities

• flexible working

• alternative working patterns

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

Scope

Projects should aim to:

• enable arts and humanities researchers to establish or enhance effective working relationships with fellow researchers (both within and beyond the arts and humanities, and within and beyond the UK), as well as practitioners, and the wide range of individuals and organisations who may benefit from their research

• provide opportunities for less experienced researchers to develop their expertise and their careers by working collaboratively with senior researchers on well-defined projects and by leading projects themselves

• maximise the value of research outcomes by promoting their communication and dissemination with individuals and organisations outside academia and, where appropriate, to facilitate the knowledge transfer of those outcomes to both the research community and other contexts where they will make a difference

We’re looking for researchers with applications for well-defined collaborative research projects. However, you may include elements of individual research if you can show how this will add value.

Collaborations can involve:

• a single institution or a combination of institutions

• researchers working in different research areas

• disciplines within the arts and humanities, or between an arts and humanities discipline and another subject area. In such collaborations the arts and humanities element of the project should lead in shaping the research questions, methods and so on

• researchers working in other sectors

• researchers based abroad

The proposed collaboration should be appropriate for the specific needs of the research project.

We expect the project lead and any project co-lead’s time commitment to be proportionate and relative to the project that they are proposing. There is no minimum or maximum requirement.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.

Duration

The maximum duration of these awards is five years.

Projects must start at least nine months after the submission date of your application.

Funding available

The full economic Cost (FEC) of your project must be between £300,000 and £1.5 million.

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) will fund 80% of the FEC.

Costs associated with project co-lead internationals will be funded at 100% FEC but must not exceed 30% of the total FEC of the project. Please read sections two and three of our research funding guide for further details on eligibility of these costs.

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.

As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.

See further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process, noting that all elements of your application form will be shared with the assessors.

Eligibility criteria

At the point of application submission, each will be assessed on the following criteria:

• all applicants and named staff must be eligible under the funding opportunity requirements

• the application must meet the aims and criteria of the funding opportunity

Applications which do not meet these criteria will be rejected with feedback on why it could not proceed.

Expert review

We will invite three experts to independently review your application against the specified criteria for this funding opportunity.

Applications that receive two unsupportive scores from the first two reviews will be rejected before a third review is sourced and will not proceed to the applicant response stage. A review is considered unsupportive if it is marked as ‘not recommended for funding’ or ‘not suitable for funding’ (score one to three). If an application receives a fundable score in the first two reviews, a third review will be sourced.

Applicant response

If you are invited to the applicant response stage, you will have 14 days to address the comments from the three reviewers and you may submit up to 500 words for each review.

Applications that receive an average review score of 4.5 or below across the three sets of reviewers’ comments will be sifted out before the applicant response stage and will not proceed to panel. The only exception to this is if an application receives an average review score of 4.5 or below but has two out of three review scores averaging 5.5 or above (for example , two scores of 6, 6 or 6, 5). In this case, the application will proceed to panel, and the applicant will be given the opportunity to respond.

Panel

Following expert review, panel introducers will use the evidence provided by reviewers and your applicant response to moderate the quality of your application and rank it alongside other applications. After which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

Find out more about AHRC’s assessment process.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within nine months of receiving your application.

Feedback

Written feedback will only be provided in the form of the anonymised expert reviews and the final grade from the panel.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in peer review

Reviewers and panellists are not permitted to use generative AI tools to develop their assessment. Using these tools can potentially compromise the confidentiality of the ideas that applicants have entrusted to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to safeguard.

For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

• vision

• approach

• applicant and team capability to deliver

• ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

• resources and cost justification

Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Click here to start application on the UKRI Funding Service: Are you leading the project? - UKRI Funding Service

We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.

The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.

Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.

To apply

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this ‘UKRI Funding Finder’ page.

1. Confirm you are the project lead.

2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email support@funding-service.ukri.orgPlease allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.

3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this ‘UKRI Funding Finder’ page.

4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.

5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.

6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.

Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. You should:

• use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words

• insert each new image onto a new line

• provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)

• ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format

Watch our research office webinars about the Funding Service.

For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:

• how applicants use the Funding Service

• how research offices use the Funding Service

• how reviewers use the Funding Service

References

Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. Applicants should use their discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.

References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors for example (Smith, Research Paper, 2019).

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment.

Deadline

This funding opportunity is always open, with no closing date, so there is no specific deadline for applications.

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) will begin the assessment process as soon as an application is received, ensuring that applicants receive a timely decision. AHRC is committed to holding regular decision points throughout the year.

Due to system limitations, a closing date will appear on the Funding Service. Please disregard this date while preparing your application and submit it when you are ready.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.

If your application is rejected and invited for resubmission, we aim to complete the assessment process within nine months of receiving your resubmission, rather than from the date of your original application.

Personal data

Processing personal data

AHRC as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.

We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email enquiries@ahrc.ukri.org

Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include:

• individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)

• declaration of interest

• additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section

• conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection

• the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Publication of outcomes

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 550

In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:

• opinion-formers

• policymakers

• the public

• the wider research community

Guidance for writing a summary

Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:

• context

• the challenge the project addresses

• aims and objectives

• potential applications and benefits

Core team

List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:

• project lead (PL)

• project co-lead (UK) (PcL)

• project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))

• specialist

• professional enabling staff

• research and innovation associate

• technician

Only list one individual as project lead.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Discipline classification: primary

Word limit: 5

Please provide the primary research area of your application.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

You must select only one of these research disciplines.

This information will be used for the purposes of processing your application and in the selection of appropriate assessors. The research disciplines are:

• archaeology

• area studies

• classics

• cultural and museum studies

• dance

• design

• development studies

• drama and theatre studies

• education

• history

• human geography

• information and communication technologies

• languages and literature

• law and legal studies

• library and information studies

• linguistics

• media

• music

• philosophy

• political science and international studies

• social anthropology

• theology, divinity, and religion

• visual arts

Discipline classification: secondary

Word limit: 50

Please describe, using keywords, the research area of your application and where relevant the approach, time period or geographical area.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

This will further help with the selection of appropriate assessors.

Vision

Word limit: 550

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

• is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)

• has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area

• is timely given current trends, context, and needs

• impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment

Within the ‘Vision’ section we also expect you to:

• identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Approach

Word limit: 2,750

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

• is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives

• is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed

• uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)

• summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)

• will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts

• describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work

• the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work

• the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others

• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

• contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge

• the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships

• contributions to the wider research and innovation community

• contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

As a minimum, all named members of the leadership team should be discussed within this section of the form.

Additions

Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service. For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation or individual who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities. Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details:

• the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)

• the project partner contact name and email address

• the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:

• confirm the partner’s commitment to the project

• clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them

• describe any additional value that they bring to the project

• have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Do not provide letters of support from host, or project co-lead(s) research organisations, as well as other UK research organisations.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical or RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work? If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

• the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations

• how you will manage these considerations

If you are collecting or using data, you should identify:

• any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further re-use of data)

• formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit: 1,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

• project staff

• significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)

• any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities

• all facilities and infrastructure costs

• all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified

• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes

• maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Additionally, where relevant you should explain:

• support for any project partner organisations

We do not provide funding for individual items of equipment over £10,000. Please read our research funding guide for further information.

Archaeology: radiocarbon dating

Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) provides funding to the National Environment Isotope Facility (NEIF) to allow our research communities to make use of their radiocarbon dating function. If your project requires radiocarbon dates you must, in the first instance, request these from the NEIF.

For more information, please read our research funding guide.

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process if required.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

• breaks and delays

• disruptive working patterns and conditions

• the loss of ongoing work

• role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Reviewers and panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Related content

• AHRC research funding guide

• AHRC policies and standards

• UKRI policies and standards

Related opportunities

• AHRC responsive mode: Catalyst Award: round six

• AHRC responsive mode: collaborate with researchers in Luxembourg

• AHRC responsive mode: Curiosity Award: round six

• AHRC responsive mode: UKRI NSF-SBE lead agency

• AHRC responsive mode: working with Brazilian researchers

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page.

Important note: The Helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the ‘UKRI Funding Finder’ opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact enquiries@ahrc.ukri.org

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.orgPhone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

• Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm

• Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

See further information on submitting an application.