Global Professorships Programme 2023 guidance notes
Please find below our guidance on completing an application for Global Professorships Programme 2023
The British Academy’s Global Professorships are large investigator-led awards to attract internationally recognised established scholars to work in the United Kingdom, to undertake new, coherent and cutting-edge research projects. With the Global Professorships, the Academy is looking to support researchers that are proposing ambitious, beyond the state-of-the-art research that breaks new ground.
It is expected that up to 8 awards will be offered in this round. Each award will provide funding for four years to outstanding international researchers not currently working in the United Kingdom, to bring their research expertise to the UK and strengthen the UK research base.
The Global Professorships are supported by the UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology.
The total funding available from the Academy over the four years of the award is up to £90o,000 with the host institution not required to provide any additional resource.
The deadline for applications is 5pm (UK time) on Wednesday 1 November 2023.
The Academy views the Global Professorships as an opportunity for established researchers to undertake high-risk, curiosity-driven research in the humanities and social sciences in a UK research institution. The Global Professorships are awards for individuals in an institutional setting. Applications must be for new, coherent and cutting-edge projects. The Global Professorships are expected to add significant value to the UK host institutions and vice versa, and thus the projects must be significant, leading to novel and innovative collaborations.
With the Global Professorships, the Academy is looking to support academics that are proposing ambitious, beyond the state-of-the-art applications that break new ground. The Academy views the Global Professorships as an opportunity to apply to undertake high-risk, curiosity-driven research in the humanities and social sciences that enables the award-holders and their UK host institutions to achieve a step change in their respective research programmes.
The Academy wishes to encourage applications from historically and/or structurally disadvantaged groups and female researchers.
The aims of the Global Professorships are to:
Applicants should be intending to work in any aspect of the humanities or the social sciences. Outputs involving creative practice (e.g. musical composition and performance, visual practice, creative writing and film making) are welcome but will be considered to fall within the British Academy's remit only when they form part of an integrated project of critical or historical significance.
Global Professorships are expected to commence between 1 March to 30 September 2024.
This call is expected to be able to support approximately 8 British Academy Global Professorships.
Awards are expected to run for 4 years.
Award-holders will be able to apply via an accelerated route for a Global Talent Visa. For further information, see https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/international/global-talent-visas/
The cost of the visa and any associated costs for the applicant and their dependants (e.g. including Immigration Health Surcharge costs) are eligible under this programme.
The British Academy realises that an application for a Global Professorship is a major professional, personal and family commitment. British Academy staff are available to discuss with potential applicants how arrangements could be made to facilitate applicants undertaking such a significant commitment.
The British Academy will not necessarily require successful applicants to give up their existing appointment outside the UK. The Academy sees the following options as possible in applying for an award under this programme:
The Global Professorships are intended to be highly flexible. The following guidelines will normally apply. However, in exceptional circumstances, additional flexibility may be available. Please contact [email protected] for further information.
- Career background and history – The Academy is aware that individuals will have had different opportunities to balance their research with other commitments during their career or may come from diverse or non-traditional career backgrounds. For example, having taken extended leave including parental or medical leave, or having returned to research following time in other roles or having had periods of significant teaching or administrative workload that may have impacted on the applicants’ research. There is a question in the application form (the personal statement) that will enable applicants to provide further information so that the Academy can take this into account when assessing applicants’ track record.
- Reasonable adjustments – Applications from researchers with disabilities are welcome and encouraged. The Academy will provide adjustments to ensure they can participate fully in the selection process. If an adjustment is required when accessing the application form or for any other part of the application process, then please contact inte[email protected]. In addition, costs that are required for the researcher to undertake their award will be considered eligible regardless to what is set out in paragraph 34-42 below. The Academy welcomes any questions applicants may have on this matter. The costs of reasonable adjustments required to support researchers with disabilities will also be an eligible cost throughout the duration of the award.
- Maternity, paternity, shared parental leave, adoptive or extended sick leave - There is provision for maternity, paternity, shared parental leave, adoptive or extended sick leave for the award holder funded through the grant as defined in the UK host organisation’s standard organisational policy. Award-holders may choose to stay in the UK during the period of leave, or to return to their home/third country. An extension will be added to account for any time lost within the original period of the award and an additional amount of time will be added on top for up to 6 months.
- Childcare arrangements - Support for the cost of childcare support will be considered as part of the allowable research expenses during the award for the award holder funded through the grant. This includes instances where the award holder wishes to support their child(ren) themselves, such as travelling with them whilst undertaking their research.
- Relocation and visa arrangements - The eligible costs include provision for all reasonable relocation costs for the award holder relocating to the UK, as well as their dependents. The cost of the visa and any associated costs for the applicant and their dependants are eligible under this programme. Award-holders will be able to apply via an accelerated route for a Global Talent Visa. For further information, see https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/international/global-talent-visas/
- Portability of awards – If the award holder moves UK host organisation before the start or during the award, the award will be moved to the new UK host organisation (provided that the new host organisation is in the UK and meets the host organisation eligibility criteria).
- Field research – As appropriate, the award holder will be able to undertake as much field research, in the UK and/or internationally, as necessary for the conduct of their award.
- Time on grant - The Global Professorship awards are expected to take up 100% of the applicant’s working time. However, we do understand that there are certain responsibilities that applicants may need to continue at their home institution overseas, particularly in instances where the Global Professorship is taken up as a secondment (e.g. PhD supervisions). It is up to the applicant to make clear in the application what agreement they and their proposed UK host institution have reached in this respect.
- Additional Needs Funding – The British Academy has set aside specific funding to support any additional needs that applicants and award holders may require. This funding would be in addition to the amount already requested for research expenses. For further information, see https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/additional-needs/
Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Grants are available to mid-career and senior researchers in any discipline within the humanities and social sciences (recognised in their field or with exceptional promise) who are currently employed outside the United Kingdom, on a permanent contract (which may be part-time or full-time) or, if temporary, would normally be a contract that will not end during the course of the grant unless expressly agreed with the Academy prior to the application being submitted that such an application would be considered eligible.
- Applicants must hold a doctoral degree (or have equivalent research experience).
- Applicants must be available to take up an unpaid leave of absence, a long-term secondment or employment at an eligible UK institution (see paragraph 17 above). If this is unclear from an applicant’s national setting, then the Academy welcomes communication with applicants prior to applications being submitted.
- The award must be held at a UK-based institution recognised by the Academy. The following types of organisations will be eligible to apply to host the Fellowship:
- Higher Education Institutes that received funding from one of the UK higher education funding bodies.
- Research institutes (RIs), for which research councils have established a long-term involvement as major funder as part of the national research base.
- British International Research Institutes
- Approved relevant Independent Research Organisations.
- Public Sector Research Organisations.
- Awards are only available to individuals, to be held in an institutional context. Co-applicants are not permitted.
- Awards will not be made retrospectively: this means that the work for which support is requested must not have commenced before the award is announced. Applications must be for new research ideas that are coherent on their own and are cutting-edge.
- Applicants are required to provide a formal statement of support from a senior member of their proposed host institution in the UK (normally expected to be a Pro-Vice-Chancellor or equivalent, or at minimum Head of Department/Faculty/Institute).
Candidates should be based outside the UK at the time of application. Applicants who are working outside the UK but are employed primarily by a UK institution are not eligible to apply.
Applicants must demonstrate that they have been in contact with their UK host institution prior to the application. Please note that the British Academy is not able to assist with locating or facilitating contact with UK host institutions.
Duplicate applications for the same purpose to more than one British Academy funding programme will not be accepted.
The British Academy emphasises the very strong and clear expectation of the linkage between the individual career development of the award-holder and the research goals and strategies of the host UK institution. This may, naturally, act as a self-limiter on the number of applications that any single institution will wish to support. Nonetheless, the Academy expects that institutions will only submit up to 4 applications to this round. If this expectation is exceeded by an institution the Academy reserves the right to introduce more explicit demand management limits on specific institutions for this and other schemes.
The Academy welcomes applications from a diverse range of eligible UK host institutions.
The aim of the Global Professorships is to support a cohort of world-class research leaders across research and innovation in the UK, recognising the breadth of career paths and current circumstances. As the host for a Global Professorship, organisations will be required to make the following commitments:
- Protected research time – Each award is expected to involve a specific research focus, but the Academy does not have a preferred model for the balance of time to be spent between research and teaching, which may vary over the course of the award and depends on the award holder and UK host institution’s preference and needs. Applicants will be expected to explain how their proposed research focus will fit with the research goals and strategies of their host UK institution, and to describe how these will be delivered.
- Consider Diversity & Inclusion – The Academy is committed to increasing diversity in the research workforce recognising this is a key part of ensuring research excellence. Host organisations are expected to set out in their supporting statement how they will provide supportive workplace structures to ensure diversity. This supporting statement must include consideration of the diversity of applicants that host organisations support to apply to the scheme and how they have ensured a transparent and equitable process for identifying and supporting applicants. It should not include personal details of potential candidates nor any details that may enable them to be identified. Supporting statements that do not report on this process will lead to the application being considered ineligible.
- Concordat for Research Career – The host organisation is expected to adhere to the principles of the Concordat to support the development of research careers.
The total funding available per award in this call is up to £900,000 over 4 years.
The British Academy expects to offer a flexible model of costing for these awards.
More specifically, funds may be sought to cover the following elements, with indicative figures (these are not fixed upper limits and are intended as a guideline only – flexibility, within reason, will be allowed):
- Directly incurred salary costs of the award-holder (e.g. £100k p.a.) – the salary is to be negotiated between the applicant and the UK host institution. The Academy will be monitoring the proposed salaries from an equality, diversity and inclusion perspective;
- Research expenses, including travel, subsistence, accommodation, consumables, training, conferences, dissemination, and one-off relocation and visa expenses (e.g. £10k p.a);
- Research assistance, directly supporting the goals of the Global Professorship (e.g. additional member of staff in the relevant department/team) (e.g. £50k p.a.) – this will be supported where a reasonable case is made in line with the type of work that is required to be undertaken;
- Estates and indirect costs of the UK host institution in administering the award (e.g. up to £20k p.a. for estates and up to £45k p.a. for indirect costs). Please note that the Academy and its peer reviewers will assess applications on value for money as outlined in the assessment criteria. This programme is not offered using Full Economic Costing and any application not considered to have been costed within reason and/or value for money will not be offered an award.
Bids for the cost of childcare will be considered as part of the allowable research expenses. If a claim for childcare is included, please supply sufficient justification for the case to be assessed.
Consumables include the purchase of specialist software (not readily available at the UK host organisation), datasets, photocopies, microfilms, etc., and any other minor items that will be used up during the course of the award. Applicants may apply for short-term consultancy or salary costs for expert staff, or short periods of research assistance.
The Academy expects award-holders to minimise their travel and carbon footprint using alternatives where possible (for example video conferencing), and choose travel that has a lower carbon impact, where practical.
The following items are not eligible for funding (applicants registered with special needs may consult the Academy about possible exceptions prior to application):
- purchasing of assets;
- PhD studentships;
- computer hardware including laptops, electronic notebooks, digital cameras, etc;
- books and other permanent resources;
- the preparation of camera-ready copy, copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing, nor any other editorial task;
- subventions for direct production costs (printing, binding, distribution, marketing etc);
- costs of publication in electronic media;
- carbon offsetting;
- open access fees.
Applicants are also required to submit a statement from an appropriately authorised member of staff of their host UK institution, who will normally be expected to be a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, or at a minimum Head of the relevant Faculty/Department/Institute. This statement will be expected to provide a clear indication of the institutional support to be provided to the applicant, and to discuss the fit with the UK host institution’s research goals and strategies. The Academy expects this supporting statement to make clear how the application will take forward the institution’s strategy for equality, diversity and inclusion.
As stated above, the Academy is committed to increasing diversity in the research workforce recognising this is a key part of ensuring research excellence. Host organisations are expected to set out in their supporting statement how they will provide supportive workplace structures to ensure diversity. This supporting statement must include consideration of the diversity of applicants that host organisations support to apply to the scheme and how they have ensured a transparent and equitable process for identifying and supporting applicants.
Applicants must ensure that this supporting statement is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) before the application submission deadline, which will be 5pm (UK time) on Wednesday 1 November 2023. Please note this deadline is final. The statement must be submitted before that deadline. Any application without a supporting statement submitted on time will not be accepted. Before listing the UK host institution’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor or Head of Faculty/Department/Institute on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this statement by the deadline.
It is essential that you enter the correct email address for this supporting statement, otherwise they will not receive the automated messages delivered from the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS.
We strongly advise that you complete your application as early as possible to allow the Pro-Vice-Chancellor or Head of Faculty/Department/Institute enough time to provide their statement in the system. Please note that statements must be provided through the GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy.
Any statements received after the deadline, or outside of the system, will not be accepted, and the application will be withdrawn from this competition.
All eligible proposals submitted in response to this funding call will be assessed by relevant British Academy peer reviewers and then considered by a final selection panel.
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- The excellent research track record and/or promise of the applicant;
- The quality, ambition and originality of the proposed research vision and programme, with the aim to support state-of-the-art applications that break new ground;
- The distinct research contribution and added value that the applicant will be able to make to the UK host institution, and the suitability of the UK host institution for the applicant’s research project that enables the award-holders and their UK host institutions to achieve a step change in their respective research programmes;
- Value for money.
The British Academy has a Code of Practice for assessing applications, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications. The Code of Practice also covers Data Protection, the Academy’s ethics policy and the appeals procedure. The Code of Practice may be viewed on the Academy’s website at https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/code-practice. Feedback is not a feature of the British Academy’s Global Professorships programme and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying to this programme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.
Please contact [email protected] for further information.
Applications can only be submitted online using the British Academy Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/). If you have not previously used the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® GMS and were not registered in the previous e-GAP system, please follow the registration process from the Flexi-Grant® homepage. Applications cannot be submitted on paper or in any other format.
Before completing the online form, all applicants should check that they comply with the eligibility requirements and ensure all necessary information is presented in the application. These requirements are strictly adhered to, and applications without all the necessary information, or evidence to show the assessment criteria are met, will be rejected.
Registered approving organisations will be available in the search bar. If your organisation is not listed and is not affiliated with any organisations already in the system, then please contact us at [email protected] to request the addition of the organisation.
The deadline for submissions and UK host organisation approval is Wednesday 1 November 2023 (5pm UK time). Applicants will not be allowed to make any changes to their applications or submit any additional information after the 1 November deadline.
When completing your application on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, it is recommended that you take particular note of the following points:
- Personal details: When registered in the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, a user has the option to add or update personal information such as contact details, log-in details (including email address and password), interests, research and employment details, at any time. This represents a personal record of your account in the system and will help to populate the contact details in any application form you complete. It is useful if this information is kept up to date, but it is not essential to the progress of an application.
- Automatic log-out: You are strongly advised to save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of information. In particular, you should be aware that if the system does not detect any activity for 1 hour it will log out and save the application at that time. Please note that moving between pages within an application form will save the page that you are exiting but completing a field on a page is not considered an activity. It is recommended that you write the text for longer sections/fields in a word processor such as Word and then copy and paste into the relevant text box to avoid being timed out in this way.
- Multiple sessions: You should not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open at the same time as this may cause information to be lost. Only one user should edit an application at a time, otherwise changes might be lost.
- Word limits: When completing boxes that have a restricted length (note that it refers to words) you should note that if you exceed the specified amount you will not be able to save when you press the save button. You should type the text for the longer-length boxes in a word processor. You will then be able to check the word count and paste it into the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You will then still have a copy of the text to return to in the word processor. The word limit applies to text boxes.
- Plain text: If entering plain text, please avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You should generate and view a PDF of your application to check that the application appears as you want it to by clicking on ‘print application’.
- Email addresses: The British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS relies heavily on automatic email contact. It is essential that you ensure you enter accurate email addresses where requested as it may cause considerable delay in the submission/processing of your application if any of these are incorrect. You cannot make changes to email addresses after your application has been submitted for approval.
- Submission of application: You will not be able to submit your application until you have completed each section in full. You should submit your application for approval by a designated approver at your host organisation at least 5 working days before the closing date to allow for your host organisation’s administrative procedures. Please note that the institutional approver is NOT your Head of Department – the institutional approver is a person within the UK host organisation who has authority for approving all applications submitted to the British Academy. We strongly advise that you submit your application as early as possible to allow enough time for your host UK institution PVC or Head of Faculty/Department/Institute to provide their statement of support in the system, and to allow your host UK institution enough time to approve your application. Please be aware that your PVC/Head of Department/Faculty/Institute will need to mark their sections as ‘complete’ before you will be able to submit your completed application form.
- Application sharing: All applications must be started by the applicant who is to be the Principal Investigator (PI) on the award. You can invite other contributors to join the application (e.g. Head of Department, Finance Office contact etc.), but in order to do so your contributor will need to be registered in the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® system first. You will need to ensure you have their registered email address to invite them to participate in your application. You can let other British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS users view your draft application in advance of submission by providing their email address. They will be able to log in using their existing password and see your application and, depending on permissions, amend your application.
- Application deletion: You can delete your application at any time although it is often a lot easier to just re-edit your existing application. We will be able to recover a deleted application for a period of 7 days after deletion. After this, it will be permanently removed from the system.
- Application returned for editing: The approver can return your application to you for further editing before the closing deadline of the call. See ‘Submission of Application’ above.
- Guidance: In the tables below you will find in the left-hand column each question as set out in the application form and in the right-hand column useful guidance on its completion.
- Further clarification: If any of this advice is unclear, or you need further information, please do not hesitate to seek clarification from the British Academy’s International Team (contact details at the end of these notes)
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CREATE A PDF OF YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION (by clicking ‘Print Application’), AND CHECK IT THOROUGHLY, INCLUDING EMAIL ADDRESSES, BEFORE SUBMITTING IT FOR APPROVAL BY YOUR UK HOST ORGANISATION. IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO RECTIFY MISTAKES IN TIME FOR THE DEADLINE.
WORD LIMITS APPLY TO PLAIN TEXT ONLY.
All FIELDS MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK* ARE MANDATORY.
YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE MULTIPLE BROWSER WINDOWS/TABS OF YOUR APPLICATION OPEN AT THE SAME TIME AS THIS MAY CAUSE INFORMATION TO BE LOST. ONLY ONE USER SHOULD EDIT AN APPLICATION AT A TIME, OTHERWISE CHANGES MIGHT BE LOST.
The application can be completed by using the navigation tabs on the application summary page, with each page categorised as follows:
Page 1: Research Proposal
Page 2: Financial Details
Page 3: Lead Applicant Details
Page 4: PVC/Head of Department Statement
Page 5: Equal Opportunities
A full list of question fields to be completed as part of the application can be found in the following table. Each box in the table represents a page of the application form: the left-hand column contains the questions within each of these pages as set out in the form; the right-hand column contains useful guidance on its completion. A red asterisk (*) indicates which questions are mandatory and therefore must be complete before the application can be submitted.
Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the form.
Summary table
When your application form is complete, all sections on this summary table will be marked as ‘Complete’. The ‘Complete’ status will only appear when all the mandatory fields in that section have been completed. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk ‘*’. Only once all mandatory fields are marked as “Complete”, and all Contributors are all marked as “Complete” will a ‘Submit’ button appear for you to be able to submit your application.
Subject Area*
Please select the Subject Area from the drop-down menu that is most relevant to this proposal.
These grants will be awarded to researchers intending to work in any aspect of research relevant to the humanities or social sciences.
Title of Research Proposal*
Please state the title of tour proposed research.
Abstract*
Please provide a short abstract summarising your proposed research in terms suitable for an informed general audience, not one specialised in your field. This is a mandatory field and the limit is 150 words.
Start Date/ End Date*
To select a date in the future using the calendar feature in the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system, click on the month and year in between the two arrows at the top of the box. To change the year keep clicking on the box – a second click will produce a decade. Use the arrows to move back or forward in time. To change the month, a second box will appear where you can select the month you wish and then you can type the year you require in the box provided. Click on the date and the calendar will take you to the month and year you have selected where you can select the relevant date for display.
Please note that awards are to be held over a period of 4 years, from a starting date not earlier than 1 March 2024 and not later than 30 September 2024.
Proposed Programme/Plan of Action*
This opportunity reinforces and builds on the UK’s internationally renowned research reputation in the humanities and social sciences by providing funding to attract world-class, globally-distinguished established academics to work in the United Kingdom. The awards demonstrate and further enhance the UK’s commitment to international research partnerships and collaborations and are intended to strengthen the UK’s research capacity and capability in the humanities and social sciences, thereby supporting the UK Government’s priorities including growth, productivity, the development of high-skilled jobs, and social and cultural well-being.
The proposal must;
- clearly specify the programme of activities (research, teaching, etc.) to be conducted during the course of the award, and
- show its relation to the research goals and strategies of the UK host institution.
Applicants should give an account of their research which is complete in and of itself and should not rely on special prior knowledge on the part of assessors.
A research assistant may be employed during the course of the Global Professorship. If it is planned to include a request for such a post, applicants should clearly state the nature of the work to be undertaken by the research assistant, and the arrangements for ensuring adequate supervision. Applicants should state the skills and qualifications sought. Research assistance, directly supporting the goals of the Global Professorship will be supported where a reasonable case is made in line with the type of work that is required to be undertaken;
The limit for the proposed programme field is 1500 words, and for the plan of action the limit is 800 words.
Planned Research Outputs/Plans for Publication/Dissemination*
Under ‘planned research outputs’, please only state the type of output expected. The word limit for this is 300 words. Please give more detail about potential publishers etc. under ‘plans for publication’, for which the limit is 500 words. In assessing value for money, the assessors may take into account the intended outcome as compared with the amount of money sought, although it is fully appreciated that some modes of research are more expensive than others and proposals will not be discriminated against on grounds of cost alone.
Digital Resource/Deposit of Datasets*
It is a condition of award that digital outputs (e.g. further data, software tools) created as a result of research funded by the British Academy be deposited in an appropriately accessible repository. Applicants should ensure that their work is informed by the appropriate level of technical expertise.
Language Competence*
The Academy expects that applicants will have any language skills necessary to conduct the research. If relevant, please state the level of language competence of the applicant and other participants, or otherwise explain how the objectives of the research will be met.
Other Participants
Please describe the contribution to the project to be made by other participants, particularly considering how their involvement might allow you to demonstrate the contribution you will make to advancing the research goals and strategies of the UK host institution.
Please give a list of the names, appointments and institutional affiliation of all other participants involved in the proposed research. Please also describe the rationale for the involvement of these other participants and the added value that will bring to the project, citing any particular specialisms and expertise.
Added Value of Collaboration*
Under ‘added value of collaboration’, please provide any comments you wish to make on the particular relevance, timeliness or other aspects of the collaboration, and the benefits envisaged. Applications should demonstrate the UK host institution’s strong interest in the Professorship, how the Global Professor will be supported and/or mentored, and how the Professorship will be mutually beneficial to both the overseas researcher and the UK host institution. Applicants should demonstrate how a visit to a UK higher education or other research institution will be beneficial to them at the particular stage of their career.
Ethical Approval*
Have you obtained, or will you obtain, ethical approval from your employing institution or other relevant authority? Please answer this yes/no.
Please use this text box to outline any further information related to ethical approval that you wish the Academy to be aware of.
Special Ethical Issues*
Are there any special ethical issues arising from your proposal that are not covered by the relevant professional Code of Practice? Please answer this yes/no, it is not expected that any special ethical issues will arise that are not already covered by relevant professional Codes of Practice. If this is not the case, please outline in the below free text box below.
Research Security*
Please use this field to detail any research security risks that the application may encounter and how these will be mitigated
Source of Funding
Please provide details of other support given or applied for in connection with the current proposal.
Please indicate whether any other grant applications relating to this project have been submitted, either to the British Academy or to any other funder. Applications submitted to the British Academy by separate applicants will not be accepted if it is considered that both (or all, if more than two) applications relate to the same project, whose components would not be viable as independent pieces of research.
Applicants are requested to keep the British Academy informed of the outcomes of any other applications (by email to [email protected]). Failure to do so may jeopardise the application’s prospects of success. In cases where simultaneous applications to the British Academy and to another funding agency covering the same elements of a project are both successful, the applicant will be asked to choose which award to accept.
Financial Details/ Justification*
Funds are available to support a flexible model of costs, including costs incurred by the UK institution in agreeing to host the Global Professor.
More specifically, funds may be sought to cover the following elements, with indicative figures (these are not fixed upper limits and are intended as a guideline only – flexibility, within reason, will be allowed):
- Directly incurred salary costs of the award-holder (e.g. £100k p.a.) – the salary is to be negotiated between the applicant and the UK host institution. The Academy will be monitoring the proposed salaries from an equality, diversity and inclusion perspective;
- Research expenses, including travel, subsistence, accommodation, consumables, training, conferences, dissemination, and one-off relocation and visa expenses (e.g. £10k p.a);
- Research assistance, directly supporting the goals of the Global Professorship (e.g. additional member of staff in the relevant department/team) (e.g. £50k p.a.) – this will be supported where a reasonable case is made in line with the type of work that is required to be undertaken;
- Estates and indirect costs of the UK host institution in administering the award (e.g. up to £20k p.a. for estates and up to £45k p.a. for indirect costs). Please note that the Academy and its peer reviewers will assess applications on value for money as outlined in the assessment criteria. This programme is not offered using Full Economic Costing and any application not considered to have been costed within reason and/or value for money will not be offered an award.
Bids for the cost of childcare will be considered as part of the allowable research expenses. If a claim for childcare is included, please supply sufficient justification for the case to be assessed.
Consumables include the purchase of specialist software (not readily available at the UK host organisation), datasets, photocopies, microfilms, etc., and any other minor items that will be used up during the course of the award. Applicants may apply for short-term consultancy or salary costs for expert staff, or short periods of research assistance.
The Academy expects award-holders to minimise their travel and carbon footprint using alternatives where possible (for example video conferencing), and choose travel that has a lower carbon impact, where practical.
The following items are not eligible for funding (applicants registered with special needs may consult the Academy about possible exceptions prior to application):
- purchasing of assets;
- PhD studentships;
- computer hardware including laptops, electronic notebooks, digital cameras, etc;
- books and other permanent resources;
- the preparation of camera-ready copy, copy-editing, proof-reading, indexing, nor any other editorial task;
- subventions for direct production costs (printing, binding, distribution, marketing etc);
- costs of publication in electronic media;
- carbon offsetting;
- open access fees.
The Academy expects award-holders to minimise their travel and carbon footprint using alternatives where possible (for example video conferencing), and choose travel that has a lower carbon impact, where practical.
Applicants should prepare accurate costings for the proposed research expenses and should be particularly careful not to overestimate the resources required.
Costs should be clearly itemised and justified in terms of the research programme.
Please note that awards are cash-limited, and there is no scope for supplementation of an award. Projects should be fully costed from the outset.
Please do not use ‘£’ signs in the amount boxes.
Value Sought*
Please state the total cost requested from the British Academy which should not exceed £900,000 over the four-year award.
Place of Ordinary Residence*
Please use the search bar to enter the country in which your present employing institution is based.
Nationality*
Please use the search bar to enter your nationality.
Present Appointment, Employing Institution and Department*
Please give details of your current appointment. Please note that independent scholars are not eligible to apply to this call.
Permanent Position*
Please indicate here if your current position overseas is permanent or not. If you wish to explain your answer further, please use the Personal Statement section to do so.
Position Start* and End Date
Please enter the start date of your current position and if you are on a temporary contract. Please also enter your contract end date (this contract should normally not end during the course of the grant).
Employing Organisation*
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your UK host institution to process it and provide their approval by the closing date.
Please select the proposed UK host institution. The majority of appropriate establishments are registered in the system. If your proposed UK host institution is not there, however, please contact the institution’s research support services, or equivalent, and ask them to provide the British Academy’s International Team (contact details below) with contact details of an appropriate person in the organisation to act as an approver on its behalf.
All applications must be approved by the UK host organisation authorities e.g. research grants office, finance department, etc. The approving department will receive email notification once you have completed your application and submitted it. They will be asked to provide approval and then submit the application to the British Academy. It is strongly recommended that the applicant maintains an open dialogue with the approving department at the UK host institution as the British Academy cannot be held responsible for emails being caught in spam filters or not being received. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process. Once the UK host institution has checked your application, they will contact you if any changes are required; please note that if changes need to be made, these will have to be done before the 1 November 2023 deadline as they cannot be done afterwards.
Proposed Host UK Institution and reasons for Choice of Host Institution
Please indicate here your choice of UK host institution, including the appropriate Faculty, Department, Research Institute or College where you propose to work. Please explain the reason(s) for your choice of UK host institution (the institution/research institute, department) and highlight how your research goals fit within the context of the strategy of the UK host institution. In addition, please explain what you will bring to the UK host institution (the university/research institute, department), how they can expect to benefit from your Global Professorship and what the expected wider benefits to the UK will be.
Please ensure that you also select this institution as the approving institution (and not your present institution overseas). Note that the application must be approved by a relevant authority in the UK host institution as part of the application process. Without such authorisation, the application will not be eligible for consideration. A supporting statement is also required, normally expected to be from a Pro-Vice-Chancellor or equivalent, or at minimum Head of Department/Faculty/Institute.
PhD Confirmation
Applicants working towards a PhD, or awaiting the outcome of their viva/submission of corrections are not eligible to apply.
Please therefore confirm that you have a PhD by answering yes.
If you are an established scholar with relevant equivalent experience, but no doctorate, please select 'no' and indicate under 'personal statement' below why you should be eligible for consideration:
PhD Award Date
Please enter the award date of your PhD
PhD Discipline
Please select the relevant discipline of your PhD
Personal Statement
The Academy is aware that individuals will have had different opportunities to balance their research with other commitments during their career or may come from diverse or non-traditional career backgrounds. For example, having taken extended leave including parental or medical leave, or having returned to research following time in other roles or having had periods of significant teaching or administrative workload that may have impacted on the applicants’ research. Please use this question to provide further information, so that the Academy can take this into account when assessing applicants’ track record.
There is a word limit of 400 words.
Key Career Appointments and Posts
Please Provide your Key Career Appointments and Posts as a list.
Key Career Publications, Grants, and other Career Highlights
Please provide a list of key relevant publications, grants, and highlights, that you think most appropriate for an award under this scheme.
Where did you hear of this scheme? *
It helps the British Academy to target appropriate resources towards the promotion of the scheme to know where an applicant hears about it. As appropriate, please select from the drop-down menu or describe in the text box.
Head of Department Statement*
Applicants are required to submit a statement from an appropriately authorised member of staff of their UK host institution, who will normally be expected to be a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, or at minimum Head of relevant Faculty, Department, Research Institute, etc. The statement will be expected to provide a specific indication of the institutional support to be provided to the applicant, and to discuss the fit with the UK host institution’s research goals and strategies. The Academy expects this supporting statement to make clear how the application will take forward the institution’s strategy for equality, diversity and inclusion. Applicants must ensure that the supporting statement is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) before the application submission deadline, which will be 5pm UK time 1 November 2023. Please note that this deadline is final. The statement must be submitted before the application can be approved. Any application without a supporting statement will not be able to be submitted. Before listing the UK host institution’s PVC or Head of Faculty/Department/Institute on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this statement by the deadline. It is essential that you enter the correct email address for the Head of Department, otherwise they will not receive the automated messages delivered from the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS. We strongly advise that you complete your application as early as possible to allow your Head of Department enough time to provide their statement in the system. Please note that Head of Department statements must be provided through the GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any statements received after the deadline, or outside of the system, will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.
Equal Opportunities
This section is optional however the British Academy would greatly appreciate it if you can complete the details to assist us in our diversity monitoring.
The British Academy is committed to its policy of Equal Opportunity in the provision of its grants and awards. Please help us to monitor the effectiveness of this policy by providing information concerning your age, gender, ethnic origin and disabilities (if any).
This information will be kept separately from the rest of your application and will not be seen by those involved in making decisions in the selection process.
THE ACADEMY WILL ONLY PROCESS COMPLETE, SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS.
Once you have submitted your application for approval by your host UK institution, automatic emails will be sent to your host UK organisation approver asking them to log on to the system. You will not be able to edit your application after it has been submitted to your host UK organisation for approval. The host UK organisation approver will either: approve and submit your application, ‘send back’ your application and contact you to request modifications (if before the 1 November 2023 deadline) or decline your application and contact you.
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your host UK organisation to process it (including requesting changes) and provide their approval by the closing date. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process, but please check with your proposed host UK institution as their internal timetables may require earlier submission.
If your host UK organisation approver requests modifications through the British Academy GMS email facility, they can unlock your application, allowing you to edit it. They can do this by selecting ‘Return to Applicant’. An automatic e-mail will be sent to you alerting you of this fact. Once you have completed and saved the requested changes, please re-submit your application for approval by your host UK organisation.
Once your host UK institution has approved your application and submitted it to the British Academy, it will not be possible to make any changes.
Please note that once the closing date has passed, UK host organisation approvers cannot approve applications and submit them to the British Academy and unapproved applications are removed from consideration. No late applications will be accepted.
It is recommended that you check that your application is submitted in time. To see the details of the host UK organisation approver and to check the status of your application, you should log into the British Academy GMS and click on the link to the Application Portal where a summary of your application will be displayed.
Once your application has been submitted, complete with the reference and PVC/Head of Faculty/Department/Institute statement, and if it has been approved, you will not be contacted again by the British Academy until the decisions have been made. You can track the progress of your application by logging in again to the Flexi-Grant system at any time. Results are issued by email.
Applicants in any doubt about their eligibility or any other aspect of their application are advised to contact the International Team at the British Academy, where staff will be pleased to assist.
The British Academy
International Office
Email: [email protected]
10-11 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH