The aim of the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants is to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences through very flexible small-scale funding. Awards can facilitate initial project planning and development; support the direct costs of research; and enable the advancement of research through workshops or conferences, or visits by or to partner scholars. Awards may be given for any combination of eligible activity and cost up to the overall limit of £10,000.
The Academy seeks to facilitate the support of award-holders to make the best use of the research funding they have been given. To this end, the Academy is happy to offer support during the award period to help manage or amend the grant where needed.
Suspension of a Small Grant; part-time working etc
A Small Grant does not pay for the time of an award-holder, so an award cannot be ‘suspended’ as such, nor held ‘part-time’, but the end date can be extended as indicated below.
Extension of a Small Grant
BA Small Grants can be held over any period from 1 to 24 months. Applicants may apply to extend their award for a variety of reasons – to allow for interruptions to research due to ill-health, parental leave, family responsibilities, academic requirements, availability of participants and so on. This list is not exhaustive.
- Where the request is for extension within the 24-month normal period, extensions would normally expect to be granted on receipt of a request by email, and subsequent confirmation in the Flexi-Grant system.
- In exceptional circumstances, a grant may be extended up to an absolute maximum of 36 months – this facility is to be regarded as an exception and will not normally be agreed unless there are clear reasons why the grant cannot be completed within the normal timeframe. Under no circumstances may a grant be extended beyond 36 months.
Award-holders should keep in mind that they are prohibited from applying for a new grant until any existing award has been completed and satisfactorily reported.
Transferring a Small Grant
Most Small Grants are administered by the award-holder’s employing institution, and during the course of an award, they may move to another job. Provided the move is to another UK institution, the grant can be taken with the award-holder. The award-holder can apply to the Academy to transfer the award to the new employing institution
You will need to provide:
- Written confirmation from your current employing institution confirming that they are aware of your request to transfer, including an interim financial statement indicating the balance of the grant unspent at the (proposed) date of transfer.
- Written confirmation from an appropriate finance officer at your proposed new employing institution confirming their ability and willingness to support your grant during the remainder of the award, and agreement to administer the balance of the funding.
- A request in the Flexi-Grant system to transfer the award to the new institution
Transferring a Small Grant to an alternate PI
In some circumstances a PI (Principal Investigator) may be unable to continue to hold the grant, either when they accept another position outside the UK or for other reasons. In such cases the Academy will consider a request for the grant to be resigned and transferred to a Co-applicant (if there was one named in the original application).
You will need to provide:
- Written confirmation from your co-I that they are able, willing and eligible to take over as PI on the grant.
- Written confirmation from an appropriate finance officer confirming their awareness of the proposed change, and their ability and willingness to support your co-I as new PI during the remainder of the award, and agreement to continue to administer the balance of the funding.
- A request in the Flexi-Grant system to resign the award and transfer it to the co-I