Conferences: terms and conditions

Part 1

Please refer to Part 1 of Terms & Conditions of Award.

Part 2

Scheme Specific Conditions

British Academy Conferences

(1) Use of Grant

• The award is to support the conference described in the application. If it is proposed to vary the programme in any significant way, prior approval must be sought from the British Academy.
• The conference should take place at the British Academy or a venue agreed between the British Academy and the principal Award Holder or online. Conferences may also be held at British International Research Institutes (BIRIs) outside of the UK, but these events must be delivered in a hybrid format to ensure the conference is accessible to audiences in the UK.
• Conferences organised and delivered with the British Academy Events Team are referred to as ‘Home conferences’, while those organised and delivered by Award Holders at other UK or BIRI venues are termed ‘Away conferences’.
• The conference should be accessible and inclusive to the widest possible audience. Speakers and attendees should be asked their access requirements ahead of the event. In-person conferences must be staged in wheelchair accessible venues, and other reasonable adjustments should be made as requested (where budget and other circumstances allow).
• The conference should take place between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027 on dates agreed between the British Academy and the principal Award Holder. The conference should take place over one or two days (or up to three days if it is to be held online). Conferences held at the British Academy must take place between 09:30 and 17:00. Template programmes and advice with regard to timings will be provided.
• Conferences must be open occasions – they cannot be closed, invitation-only events.
• Please note that conference papers are expected to be given in English. If any speakers wish to present in another language, you must ensure that their talk is translated into English.
• For conferences staged at the British Academy, we expect the majority of speakers to present in person. If more than four of the 16 speakers need to present remotely, then the Academy reserves the right to pivot the occasion online.
• Grants may be used only for items eligible under the British Academy Conferences scheme, and in accordance with the items originally requested in the Award Holder’s application. As a reminder, the items for which Academy grants may be used are set out in Table 1. If any exceptions have been approved, they will be specified in the letter of award. Please note that grants are cash-limited, and there is no scope for supplementation of an award.
• The Award Holder will be sent a timeline of key conference dates, which will outline the main logistical and marketing deadlines. The Award Holder must work to the dates included in this timeline.
• The Award Holder will provide the academic theme; develop the overall objectives of the conference; select and approach speakers and chairs and brief them on the required academic focus; work with British Academy staff to identify the best channels to market the conference; aim to put together a proposal for a themed collection of papers arising from the conference to be published in the Proceedings of the British Academy series (or in the Journal of the British Academy), and where approved, act as editor to steer the collection towards publication.
• For conferences held at the British Academy or administered by the British Academy team online, British Academy staff will handle the administration of the conference and the registration of delegates on the days of the conference, as outlined in the application form. The Award Holder will share the speakers’ contact details with British Academy staff; the Award Holder must ensure that speakers consent to this exchange of data in advance.
• For conferences held at other UK or BIRI venues, the Award Holder will handle the administration of the conference, including booking the venue, AV services and catering, arranging speakers travel and accommodation, ticket bookings, handling the logistics on the days of the conference etc. If convenors opt to stream their conferences to allow for engagement with online audiences, this must be arranged with their own institution. Use of the Academy’s social media / Zoom channels for this purpose is not possible.
• For ‘Away’ conferences, the Award Holder is primarily responsible for the promotion of their conference, using their networks and contacts and those of the speakers taking part. The Academy will organise a small marketing campaign to assist the promotion of the conference; including digital promotion. For ‘Home’ conferences, the Academy will work closely with convenors to promote the event.
• The conference will be badged as a ‘British Academy Conference’ or a ‘British Academy/Wellcome Trust Conference’, dependent on the source of funding (all successful applicants will be clearly informed of the source of the funding of their grant when an award has been offered). Award Holders will be expected to include due acknowledgement of the funder and the Academy when promoting, delivering and disseminating the results of the conference funded under this scheme. Promotional wording is to be agreed with the British Academy. Promotional wording and ‘press packs’ will be provided.
• Please note that the strand of British Academy/Wellcome Trust Conferences is not open to those who: have a research grant from the tobacco industry, are applying for funding from the tobacco industry, are employed on a research grant from the tobacco industry.
• The Academy is committed to reducing the environmental impact of the travel we fund. We expect the people we fund to minimise the number of journeys taken by using alternatives where possible (for example video conferencing) and to choose travel that has a lower carbon impact, where practical.

(2) Payment of Grant

• For conferences held at the British Academy or delivered by the British Academy team online, the British Academy will be the financial administrator of the award and will directly handle the agreed funds.
• For conferences held at other UK or BIRI venues, awards are paid to the Award Holder’s institution (except in the case of independent researchers, not affiliated to an institution). Payment will be made by electronic transfer (BACS). The timing of payment is at the Academy’s discretion, but every effort will be made to ensure that funds are released in good time. Please note that it may take up to 28 days for payment transfer to be completed by the Academy’s Finance Office.
• Conference income, where charged, belongs to the host institution (for conferences held at the British Academy or delivered by the British Academy team online, the income will belong to the British Academy).
• For conferences held at the British Academy or delivered by the British Academy team online, the Academy can offer the principal Award Holder up to ten places at the conference for ‘guest’ delegates, for whom the registration fee will be waived (you might think of students or those key academics who – though not invited to speak – you would ideally like to see sitting in the audience and contributing significantly).
• The British Academy Conferences scheme is supported from both governmental and non-governmental funding sources. After an award has been made, the applicant and their employing organisation will be informed about any award made from a non-governmental source.
• The British Academy Conferences scheme is not included in the FEC regime, and all of the research expenses covered by the award are Directly Incurred Costs.
• The Academy regrets that it cannot enter into correspondence with, or on behalf of, Award Holders on the subject of income tax.
• Event cancellation on the British Academy’s side is rare and would likely relate to force majeure. In the event that the conference is cancelled, the British Academy will make every effort to honour the Award. However, Award Holders should be aware that re-scheduling may not always be possible. If the conference cannot go ahead, publication remains an alternative option for realising the aims of the conference.

(3) Reporting and Accounts

• Award Holders must submit a final report, which evaluates the success of the conference, within three months after the end date of the award.
• For conferences held at the British Academy or delivered by the British Academy team online, feedback forms will be sent to all delegates and speakers, to assist with the ongoing evaluation of the British Academy Conferences programme. We also ask that all ‘away’ conference convenors share this feedback form with all attendees.
• Recipients of awards are required to submit an itemised statement of expenditure, signed by the responsible officer in the Host Organisation. If there is an underspend on the grant, the unspent amount should be returned to the British Academy. The report will be deemed incomplete until the grant has been fully accounted for and any financial reconciliation made. The only exception to this relates to Award Holders whose conferences are to be held at the British Academy or delivered by the British Academy team online. They are not required to submit a statement of expenditure as the British Academy will handle the financial elements of the conference.
• In the case of researchers not affiliated to an institution, who have administered the award personally, receipts for single items over £100 must be provided.

(4) Variation and Termination of Award

• The Academy should be informed in writing immediately if the Award Holder intends to move to another institution during the course of the research. The new institution is required to confirm its acceptance of the conditions of award.
• The lead applicant must not have had an allegation of bullying or harassment upheld against them for which there is either a current formal disciplinary warning or an active sanction. The Academy can terminate the award if ​it is subsequently found that any such allegations ​have been upheld or if any such allegations are upheld in relation to this award during the award period.

(5) Publications

• There is a presumption that Award Holders will aspire to publish an edited volume of essays arising from the conference, and an expectation that a proposal would be submitted for such a volume to be published in the Proceedings of the British Academy series, or in the Journal of the British Academy. The Publications Team will discuss the process with Award Holders directly.