Innovation Fellowships Scheme 2022-23 Route B: Policy-Led (Governance, Trust and Voice) scheme guidance notes

The British Academy has been funded by the UK Government, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to continue its support of a new scheme, the Innovation Fellowships. The Academy is also working on this scheme in partnership with other partners, including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), as per this funding call.

The Innovation Fellowships Scheme will provide funding and support for established early-career and mid-career researchers the Humanities and Social Sciences to partner with organisations and business in the creative and cultural, public, private and policy sectors, to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions. Through the Innovation Fellowships, our researchers in the SHAPE community will be supported to create new and deeper links beyond academia, so enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.

This call will contribute to the Academy’s public policy theme of Governance, Trust and Voice, and specifically our efforts to support inclusive and evidence-based multi-level policy-making. Through this call we are supporting researchers to work side by side with policymakers to explore how the UK can develop effective multi-level governance structures which encourage participation, engagement and cooperation to strengthen our capacity to identify and respond to local, regional and national evidence needs and the major policy challenges ahead.

This funding call will enable award-holders to work directly with two central Whitehall Departments and supporting their multidisciplinary evidence needs in the broad areas of economic growth and innovation, levelling up and communities, areas which require effective evidence and decision-making at multiple levels of scale and place.

The Academy is able to offer awards of up to £120,000 for 12 months in duration (on the basis of Full Economic Costing at 80%).

The Innovation Fellowships scheme has two routes:

• Route A: Researcher-led;
• Route B: Policy-led.

Earlier in 2022, we invited applications for funding for a researcher-led Innovation Fellowship (Route A), through which applicants applied with a partner which they have identified. We also invited applications for a policy-led Innovation Fellowship (Route B) through which applicants will work with our named policy partner, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

This current call is for Route B with the Academy working with our partners, the ONS and DLUHC, and will be situated within the Academy’s public policy theme of Governance, Trust and Voice. The current Scheme Guidance Notes give details for Route B (Policy-led), and specifically in relation to our partnership with the ONS and DLUHC. Please note that only one application for this call may be submitted. Applicants are permitted to apply through both Route A (Researcher-led) and Route B (Policy-led), but they cannot be successful via both routes, i.e. hold an Innovation Fellowship for both Route A and Route B at the same time.

Each route requires an established researcher to work with a UK-based partner organisation on a specified policy or societal challenge that contributes to the scheme aims described above for a period no less than 12 months. All Innovation Fellows under the different routes will have the opportunity to participate in cross-learning and other cohort-based activities.

The British Academy is inviting applications from early-career and mid-career researchers who are working on the themes outlined below from each partner and who could contribute fresh perspectives to a specified challenge set by the partner Departments ONS and DLUHC. Applicants might have expertise from a wide range of disciplinary, conceptual and methodological perspectives, including analytical, policy and practical perspectives. You must be an early-career or mid-career researcher based at an institution in the UK (e.g. a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]), from disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Through the Innovation Fellowship Scheme, you will have the opportunity to work in a deeply embedded way with policy and analytical teams, which will enable you to develop outcomes that enhance our understanding of and response to societal challenges, and offer solutions to shape policy and practice. You will be able to draw on the expertise and insights of policymakers and practitioners, and benefit from their continued engagement in the project. This is an opportunity for all participants to form new collaborations and draw on the insights these bring to inform and influence future policy and research.

We seek open-mindedness, and a willingness to explore new perspectives and to experiment with innovative approaches. You will have an appetite for working across academia, policy and practice, and will demonstrate a commitment to being genuinely challenge-driven and dedicated to integrating the perspectives, needs and priorities of the partner.

For Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowships, applicants should apply to work with one of the British Academy’s named partners, the ONS or DLUHC. The researcher’s employing institution must be a UK-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Independent Research Organisation (IRO). In the application, the researcher must detail the challenge they seek to address in response to the policy areas set out by the partner and the nature of any existing relationship with the partner (if applicable). If successful, the relationship with the partner organisation will be managed by the researcher, i.e. the Lead Applicant, with responsibility for the success of the award residing with the Lead Applicant’s employing institution, and be conducted in line with the Terms and Conditions of Award. Within the context of the policy topics set out by the partnering Departments ONS and DLUHC, the British Academy welcomes applications from researchers that can also bring a focus on subnational or place-based policy-making.

The theme of this call is focused on the Academy’s public policy theme of Governance, Trust and Voice. In setting out this theme, the Academy is aiming to support researchers to work with policymakers to explore how the UK can develop effective multi-level and intergovernmental structures which encourage participation, engagement and cooperation and strengthen our capacity to identify and respond to local, regional and national needs. We are particularly interested here in working to support multidisciplinary evidence needs at different levels of scale and place.

The Academy’s policy work across many areas has consistently demonstrated that in order for policies to work across different levels of governance, these levels must operate in strong partnership, with both vertical and lateral collaboration. This requires coordination across multiple spheres: from the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, to the flows of information between agencies on shared policy areas, to the development of policy and its implementation. All of these issues come together under the Academy’s work on governance, trust and voice.

Within this broad theme, this call focuses on specific policy issues set out by the partners. The aim is to ensure that our partner Departments have access to the broadest range of SHAPE expertise, and that the most integrated approaches are utilized in order to support the development of effective and multidisciplinary approaches to pressing policy challenges. In particular, ONS and DLUHC share a need to integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches to evidence and data in order to inform the evidence base for policy in specific areas outlined below. Applicants must indicate clearly in their application the areas of interest they will be addressing and the analytical team that they will be affiliated to.

The British Academy and its partners under this call, ONS and DLUHC, are aiming to support up to six Innovation Fellowships.

These Fellows will engage with ONS developing work in two core areas: subnational statistics and analysis in support of levelling up policies and other local policy making, and the R&D landscape. The Academy and the ONS invite applications from individuals interested in working in any of the two areas listed below.

While the Academy and ONS do not have preconceived ideas about the disciplinary background of the Fellow, the applicant will need to demonstrate a solid understanding of the relevant issues. Strong data and analytical skills will be required, but this can be from a qualitative or quantitative background, or both. Good geospatial / geography skills as well coding in data analysis skills are desirable and may be beneficial for some of the potential areas of work, but are not essential and applicants who do not have these skills and feel they have relevant experience and expertise in other ways should still apply. Applicants with a strong and demonstrated ability to conduct interdisciplinary work are welcomed. The role requires the person to gain ‘Security check’ level clearance before starting the work.

ONS are delivering a large project in collaboration with DLUHC in response to commitments made in the Levelling Up White Paper in order to improve the evidence available for making locally targeted policy decisions, improve the tools used to access and interrogate that evidence, and build capability and capacity for subnational statistics and analysis by improving the way that data, methods and expertise are shared across central and local government, the devolved governments, academia, and the private sector. ONS led across the government statistical service to set out a subnational data strategy that was heavily referenced in the white paper and launched a subnational indicators explorer, based on the metrics and mission outlined in the white paper on the day the white paper was published.

ONS are now in the process of establishing regionally based teams, called ONS Local, who will be key in building capability within local areas to support decision making by local leaders. They will do this through four key parts to their service offer:

• Providing data and analytical advice, as well as collecting user priorities to inform ONS plans.
• Supporting users to navigate the data landscape, access data platforms, and connecting to expert advice at ONS for specific data sets.
• Hosting regular events based on analytical themes, sharing knowledge and presence within existing networks, and using their political and analytical knowledge to facilitate policy making.
• Using their unique position within central government to understand, identify, and align priorities for both local and central decision makers, alongside capturing user needs, and connecting geographically disparate users facing similar challenges.

The Fellowship/s in this area would be focused on filling evidence gaps through new analysis, data sources or methodology. Fellows would be expected to work flexibly within ONS Local and closely with other teams in ONS and DLUHC to scope and deliver a project or set of projects that deliver new insight or infrastructure to support these aims. These could cover a piece of methodology research to support work on delivering a ‘subnational statistics development framework’, considering how to improve estimates at granular levels of geography by complementing survey data with administrative or other innovative data sources. It could cover an area of research that is in high demand from local stakeholders as ONS gathers, reviews, and prioritises requirements and feedback from ONS Local events. Or it could involve leading innovative work to establish new ways to measure some of the less established Levelling Up Metrics, for example ‘pride in place’.

The Fellow would be attached to the Public Policy Analysis Directorate within the ONS Local division, while also working very closely with the subnational statistics and analysis division.

Research & Development and Innovation have long been understood to be important drivers of economic growth. Robust data in this area is vital for developing and monitoring policy, making comparisons internationally and feeding into wider economic measurement. However, measurement of the data is inherently difficult and international comparisons challenging due to different policy landscapes.

A Fellow would work with the ONS to contribute to a programme of work to redevelop and build understanding of R&D in the UK. As part of a small team, the Fellow would be involved in a range of varied work which could include: determining how administrative data in R&D could be further used to complement survey data; looking at coherence with other sources of innovation data for use in the production of national accounts; considering the structure of economies internationally to help understand how the UK’s R&D landscape compares; using data collected on different basis to help produce a consistent and coherent series of R&D activity overtime; undertaking qualitative research with businesses to understand more on the types of R&D being undertaken and the impacts.

The Fellow would be attached to the Economic Statistics Production and Analysis Directorate within ONS.

This Fellowship will engage with DLUHC’s developing work in three core areas: Integration & Communities; Levelling Up and Economic Growth (including innovation investment zones); the Union and Devolution. The Academy and DLUHC invite applications from individuals interested in working in any of the areas listed below.

DLUHC has specialised research requirements, operating in a context where timely access to high-quality evidence-based analysis can mean the difference between success and failure. While the Academy and DLUHC do not have preconceived ideas about the disciplinary background of the Fellow, the applicant will need to demonstrate a solid understanding of the relevant issues. Strong data and analytical skills will be required.

The role requires the person to gain ‘Counter Terrorism Clearance’ level clearance before starting the work.

A Fellowship in this area will work with the team delivering the Partnerships for People and Place (PfPP). The PfPP is a pilot programme which is funded through Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund which is supporting innovative programmes working across multiple Government Departments. PfPP is focusing on how central Government can work more effectively in places and in a more joined-up way across Departments, looking to diagnose the role of central Government in delivering outcomes on the ground, in places. The core aim of PfPP, and therefore a core focus of the Fellowship, will be to help understand whether and how closer working between different parts of central Government and local places can bring measurable benefits to local communities and people.

The Fellow will be able to work on an exciting range of policy topics across England, including mental health and multiple disadvantage, youth unemployment and energy efficiency and fuel poverty. PfPP is a short term programme, running for two years with delivery concluding at the end of March 2023. The Fellow will join at a time when a large amount of data will be received on the outcomes of the programme. The Fellow will use quantitative and qualitative analytical skills and research techniques to explore the factors enabling and inhibiting the acceptance and adoption of evidence and recommendations to improve effective place-based working by Government. The Fellow will explore what the evidence shows about the most appropriate ways of developing and supporting local public services across England; how local Government spending translates into outcomes and how allocative efficiency (those activities that offer highest economic and social returns) in local Government is best promoted; what characteristics of public services are best devolved to the local tier and what we can learn from international comparisons; what works in ensuring that policies are truly inclusive for all parts of a community or place; and the relationship between different models of hyper-local governance and socio-economic outcomes for individuals and neighbourhoods.

A Fellow will be embedded in DLUHC’s Communities and Integration Directorate, which runs the PfPP programme. The Fellow should have strong social scientific knowledge and analytical techniques to undertake this role, with a background in relevant branches of social science, economics and econometrics.

A Fellowship in this area would explore which factors, or characteristics, make some areas perform better than others at different spatial scale (towns, cities, regions). It would seek to understand issues related to institutional capacity and capability – what are they, how should they be measured, and which dimensions best advance desired outcomes? Other areas of interest include understanding what kinds of policy interventions and outcomes, set at which levels of scale, achieve better results; what the evidence is for mixes of policy interventions that support local economic growth across different local areas, and how do we measure impact and value for money; how to deepen our knowledge of the interactions between different aspects of society and the economy that have led to economic and social disparities, and how to create a mutually reinforcing positive relationship between the two; and understanding the interactions between policies designed to deliver local growth, such as changes to planning regulations, and other key policy areas, such as environmental sustainability or social cohesion.

The Fellow would be part of the levelling up group (policy or analysis).

A Fellowship in this area would explore the interplay between innovation, research, education (further and higher), business investment, management quality, Government (including economic and industrial strategy) and improved productivity. How are the component factors that drive productivity measured and tracked (for example R&D, innovation, business investment, etc)? How can effective models for this interplay best be enabled and understood in terms of value for money and impact? What are the complexities in measuring productivity and how would an improved evidence base contribute to policy development? How good are the data on where productivity issues lie (which sectors and places) and how does this vary across local places around the country? How might accounting for natural capital impact measures of growth and productivity?

The Fellow would be part of the levelling up group (policy or analysis).

A Fellowship in this area would work to improve the way that evidence drawn from devolved approaches in a range of policy areas across the UK is brought together to improve the understanding of all levels of Governments about what works in different contexts, learning from the natural policy variation that devolution facilitates. The UK Government is working closely with Devolved Governments to improve use of comparable UK-wide data and to better share evidence on what works to deliver better public sector outcomes across the UK. The focus under this objective can range from work to directly consolidate and assemble comparable UK-wide evidence, analysis and data in particular high priority policy areas, to working with policy colleagues to inject data, analysis and evidence from across the UK into intergovernmental relations discussions between ministers and senior officials. There could also be opportunities for a fellow to lead additional research projects relating to broader questions on the operation of devolution across the UK.

The Fellow would be attached to the Union and Constitution Group, which leads work in UK Government to ensure devolution is operating effectively across the UK and delivering for all parts for the UK.

This Fellowship will be working with and alongside teams in each Government Department, but will be conducting independent research and analysis in one or more areas of work to address a specified set of policy-driven research question(s), which are agreed at the outset of the Fellowship and aligned with the policy areas outlined above. The Fellow will have a dedicated sponsor within the Department and additional support and mentoring will be provided.

Work-planning will centre on the agreed programme of research and analysis from the outset, but the Fellow will be expected to reserve some time for responsive and demand-led analysis. An indicative list of these tasks might include: writing papers and shorter notes, oral briefings for senior officials and ministers, meeting external and cross-government partners, as well as organising and running masterclasses. The Fellow would agree the outline of a work programme with their Department sponsor and team after being awarded the Fellowship.

The Fellow will be expected not only to work within and across the ONS and DLUHC, and other areas of Government as required, but also to engage with the wider research community as relevant to the area of work. The Academy’s policy team will be available to help support these efforts, but individuals should indicate in their applications where they are aware of external evidence, insights, networks of expertise and data sources which can be brought to bear on the policy questions.

The ability to communicate clearly and succinctly, highlighting policy relevance to non-experts, is of importance to all Departmental work. So too is the ability to work collaboratively with others and to do so at pace, sometimes delivering to tight deadlines. The Fellow will need to agree to respect each Department’s values and standards of behaviour and sign an agreement to that effect. Failure to do so may result in the termination of the Fellowship.

For security reasons, and in line with ONS and DLUHC policy, successful applicants will have to be security cleared before the final arrangements for a Fellowship can be confirmed. The level of security clearance required for the ONS Fellowships is ‘Security Check’. The level of security clearance required for the DLUHC Fellowships is ‘Counter Terrorism Clearance’ level. This will need to be processed once an offer has been made to the successful candidate and the formal confirmation will be contingent on the person obtaining this level of clearance. UK nationality is not required, but applicants will need to have a minimum of two years residence, including 12 months of continuous residence in the UK in the preceding five years. Successful applicants must have permission to work in the UK and undertake all work while in the UK. Applicants who are not UK nationals can find more information on nationality requirements on the gov.uk website, and must contact the Department they wish to work with before applying since there may be country specific security limitations that would prevent access to the necessary material and make a successful Fellowship impossible. For ONS, applicants may contact Sheila Powell at [email protected]. For DLUHC, applicants may contact Maria O'Beirne at Maria.O'[email protected]. Loss of clearance during the Fellowship period, for example, due to personal conduct, will risk termination of the secondment. All security clearance decisions are personal to the applicant and depend on a range of factors.

Successful candidates will be selected on the basis of the quality and relevance of the activity and outputs proposed in the application. Award-holders will be expected to play a role in promoting the approaches and methods that are the focus of their award in their own academic environments and the Government Department they are working in. Expected activities and outputs will be specific to the policy areas and departmental teams the Fellow will be working with and can involve, but are not limited to:

• Evidence notes/policy briefings – reports, notes and responses to key challenges/approaches for developing connections with policy leaders or innovators;
• Data analysis – identifying and analysing datasets that may be relevant to enhancing understanding and framing new solutions;
• Case studies – exploring practical or policy-orientated solutions, engagement between academic and non-academic environments and the wider benefits to individuals/communities/regions;
• Briefings/blogs/presentations/podcasts/videos and other outputs to reach a variety of policy audiences and environments;
• Conferences/workshops/webinars/toolkits and other training opportunities which enable knowledge exchange with a wider academic and policy audience.

The British Academy welcomes proposals for high-quality research in all its subject areas, i.e. disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences. While all proposals should be situated in an appropriate field of study, they may vary considerably in their approach to conceptualisation, methodology and/or outputs, depending on the discipline. In some cases, creative and professional practice may play a significant role in shaping the methods and/or outcomes of research. In all proposals, whether practice-led or not, a clear scholarly rationale is required for the choice of research methods, processes and outputs.

Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowship awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis. Applicants must enter the costs in the application form, Financial Details section, at 100% FEC. The maximum that can be claimed is £150,000 at 100%, of which the Academy will pay 80% (i.e. up to £120,000 if the full sum is requested).

There are four elements to the Full Economic Costing. The Directly Incurred Salary Costs are the costs of the time of the Lead Applicant as this is a Fellowship award. Directly Incurred Research Expenses include costs of travel and subsistence, as well as project costs. Note that there is a minimum spend expected on this research expense element of at least £12,500 at 100% FEC (£10,000 at 80% British Academy contribution). The other elements are Directly Allocated (Estates) Costs and Indirect Costs which cover costing for space, central support services and other necessary costs incurred by the employing institution in supporting the Fellow.

The Academy recognises that the upper limit on the contribution that the Academy’s funding can make to this award – £120,000 – might not be sufficient to cover all of the costs up to 80% of the Full Economic Cost value required. In those cases, an employing institution may need to be willing to make additional contributions to the overhead costs involved.

The Lead Applicant must commit between 0.4 and 0.8 FTE time to the Fellowship, providing justification for the time percentage as part of the application, especially if the time commitment is below 0.5 FTE. All of the grants awarded are expected to be used for the purposes specified in the application and agreed in the award-letter.

Awards can be held for 12 months. Awards are expected to commence no earlier and no later than 31 March 2023.

Competition Opens: 23 November 2022

Application Deadline: 16 January 2023, 12:00 GMT

Decisions (notification via email): by mid-March 2023

Starting period of Award(s): no earlier and no later than 31 March 2023

Duration of Award(s): 12 months

It is expected that up to 30 awards per year will be made across both routes, of which around 6 are expected to be made under Route B (Policy-led) (Governance, Trust and Voice). However, this is dependent upon the amount of funding required for each of the successful awards.

This is a new scheme and the strength of competition is difficult to estimate. We are unable to give guidance on the likely success rate. Please note that we regret it will not be possible to give feedback on applications to the Innovation Fellowships Scheme.

Award-holders will be expected to act as champions for academic-policy engagement within their institutions and partner organisations, and to liaise with and feed insights into relevant British Academy public policy programmes, as well as through broader British Academy networks. This is expected to involve:

• working within and across the partner Department as required by the agreed programme of work and the role;
• discussing their analyses and insights with the British Academy policy teams and engaging in regular catch-ups and discussions about their work;
• engaging with individuals both within and beyond academia as relevant to the programme of work;
• proactively identifying opportunities to promote and advance the role of the SHAPE subjects.

In addition to the responsibilities above, award-holders are required to complete two reports:

1. A final report from award holders within three months of the award’s end, detailing the progress of the activities in which they participated.
2. A post-award report three years after the award’s end showing the impact of the award on their subsequent career.

Please find information on eligibility for the scheme below.

All applications require one Lead Applicant. Eligible Lead Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award at a UK-based institution (e.g. a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]). If your organisation is not currently registered on the Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant, please contact us via [email protected] to discuss possible registration. N.B. Lead Applicants must also meet the requirements set out above in the ‘Working at and with the ONS and DLUHC’ section; in particular, the requirements about security clearance.

Applications are welcome from early-career researchers and mid-career researchers. Applicants must self-define their career stage in the application, providing further details about career breaks or other circumstances, if relevant. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this round of the scheme.

Applicants for the Innovation Fellowships Scheme should be intending to pursue challenges that can benefit from the contribution of Humanities or Social Sciences expertise.

N.B. Postgraduate students are not eligible to apply for grant support from the Academy, and Lead Applicants are asked to confirm in the personal details section that they are not currently working towards a PhD, nor awaiting the outcome of a viva voce examination, nor awaiting the acceptance of any corrections required by the examiners.

Lead Applicants must be based in an institution which must be listed as an approving-organisation in the British Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant. This institution (e.g. a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]) must be based in the United Kingdom and will be issued the Terms and Conditions of Award, if successful.

Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowship awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis. Applicants must enter the costs in the application form, Financial Details section, at 100% FEC. The maximum that can be claimed is £150,000 at 100%, of which the Academy will pay 80% (i.e. up to £120,000 if the full sum is requested).

There are four elements to the Full Economic Costing. The Directly Incurred Salary Costs are the costs of the time of the Lead Applicant as this is a Fellowship award. Directly Incurred Research Expenses include costs of travel and subsistence, as well as project costs. Note that there is a minimum spend expected on this research expense element of at least £12,500 at 100% FEC (£10,000 at 80% British Academy contribution). The other elements are Directly Allocated (Estates) Costs and Indirect Costs which cover costing for space, central support services and other necessary costs incurred by the employing institution in supporting the Fellow.

This is a Fellowship award paying for the time of the person appointed as the Innovation Fellow. Therefore, the cost for the time of the Lead Applicant should be submitted as Directly Incurred Salary Costs. The award can be used to support the employing institution’s salary costs of the Lead Applicant for the duration of the award at between 0.4 and 0.8 FTE. It is expected that the majority of funding requested will cover the Lead Applicant’s salary costs.

A minimum of £12,500 at 100% FEC (BA contribution at 80% of £10,000) for each award must be used to cover engagement with the project and partner by the Fellow, and such costs include the following:

• Travel and subsistence within reasonable limits.

Directly incurred project costs (e.g. workshops, website development, podcasts, transcription costs, specialist software).

Standard Directly Allocated Costs (including Estates Costs) may be attributed to this award. However, it cannot include any directly allocated salary costs.

The award can include the employing institution’s indirect costs incurred as a result of direct staff costs. The Indirect Costs heading will be calculated by the institution according to TRAC and needs to be declared only by means of a single figure, with no need for information about its derivation or justification. These include nonspecific costs charged across all projects based on estimates not otherwise included as Directly Allocated Costs. They include costs of the institution’s administration such as personnel, finance, library and some departmental services.

N.B. It is anticipated that most of the funding sought will be to support the costs associated with the Lead Applicant’s time (through direct salary contribution). The balance is expected to be no more than 25% research expenses (with a minimum £10,000 British Academy contribution to spend

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; equipment costs; 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.

See guidance on submitting references and a supporting statement below.

A reference must be provided by one nominated referee. The referee must be nominated by the Lead Applicant.

• The nominated referee must not be based at the same employing institution as the Lead Applicant or the partner (ONS or DLUHC). The primary consideration is that they are able to comment independently and authoritatively on your application (i.e. someone in your field, who is independent from you, the Lead Applicant, and the partner). You do not need to know them personally, but you should make sure they are able to provide a reference before adding them to your application. They will be expected to comment on the research capability and capacity of the Lead Applicant, and the quality and interest of the activity proposed for support under the scheme. In particular, they are expected to comment on the anticipated benefit to the applicant’s future engagement ambitions; the improvement of connection with policy leaders at national, local or regional levels; the positive change to both academic and non-academic environments that is anticipated to arise from the activity; the feasibility of the timetable and organisation of activity; the likelihood of other activity developing from the Academy’s initial investment; and the suitability of the costs presented.
• Nominated references from the Lead Applicant’s former/current supervisor (including PhD supervisor) will not be accepted.
• The referee must not be a member of the British Academy’s Council.
• The reference may be obtained from a person based within or outside the UK, but must be submitted in English. If a reference is not submitted in English, it will not be accepted and may render the application ineligible.
• Before listing your referee on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this by the deadline. It is essential that you enter the correct email address for your referee, 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 referee enough time to provide their reference in the system. The reference must be submitted before the application can be approved. Any application without the supporting reference will not be able to be submitted.
• Please note that the reference must be provided through the GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any reference received after the deadline, or outside of the system, will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.

The Lead Applicant is required to obtain a statement of support from their Head of Department as part of this application.

• The Head of Department should be the person who heads the Department, Faculty, Institute or other unit of an Independent Research Organisation (IRO) in which you are currently working. As Head of Department, they will be expected to comment on their level of support for the application and the career development benefit to be gained by the Lead Applicant if the award is made. They will be expected to confirm that the Lead Applicant will be released from duties at the employing institution for the duration of the award and be able to return to the employing institution once the award ends.
• Please note that the Head of Department statement must be received before you can formally submit the application for approval, and you are strongly advised to ensure that your Head of Department submits the statement well in advance of the formal applicant deadline for this round of competition as noted above.
• If the Lead Applicant is also Head of Department, the statement must be provided by another suitable individual, e.g. Deputy Head or Head of School.

Your nominated referee and Head of Department must be invited to contribute to your application via the Flexi-Grant system. Please see further guidance below:

• They can be invited through the ‘Contributors’ tab displayed on the application form summary page. Once they have been invited, they will receive an email notification with instructions on how to contribute.
• You can monitor the progress of your participant’s activity through this section of the application form, and issue reminders as required. Once the recipient has accepted your invitation, their status will be displayed as ‘active’. Upon completion of their section of the application form, their status will be displayed as ‘complete’.
• Once participants have completed all their sections of the application form, please remind them to select ‘Save & Submit’ on the application form page or select ‘Submit your contribution’ on the summary page.
• You will not be able to submit your application form until the status of all participants shows as ‘complete’ in the ‘Contributors’ tab.

Please also note that an application cannot be submitted until all required contributors have submitted their contribution first. We recommend your supporting participants fulfil their requirements at least 5 working days before the submission deadline to ensure there is sufficient time for organisational approval. The employing institution approver must approve the completed application by the submission deadline.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

1. The research expertise of the applicant in their chosen area of interest from the section ‘Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowships’ on pages 5-7;
2. The experience and suitability of the applicant in engaging closely with policy counterparts and future colleagues in the ONS or DLUHC, respectively, and/or experience in working with policymakers on similar topics or areas of interest previously;
3. The anticipated benefit and impact on the ONS or DLUHC’s areas of interest as expressed above on pages 5-7 and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions;
4. The anticipated contributions to the Academy’s wider work on Governance, Trust and Voice;
5. The ability of the applicant to be able to provide policy relevant, clear and succinct oral briefings (will be assessed at interview if applicants are invited to interview);
6. Value for money;
7. The career benefit to the Lead Applicant may also be considered at the final stage of assessment.

All eligible proposals submitted in response to this call will be considered by a Final Awarding Panel, which will conduct interviews with a shortlist of applicants. The Final Awarding Panel will meet after the call for applications is closed. When the Panel meets it will include an interview element as part of its assessment. Applicants are required to be available to attend these interviews as a mandatory part of the assessment process.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the application by mid-March for immediate start before the end of the first quarter of 2023. The approving organisation will be asked to give its consent before the award is confirmed.

Opening date: 23 November 2022

Closing date: 16 January 2023, 12:00 GMT

Research to commence: no earlier than and no later than 31 March 2023

Notification of result: by mid-March 2023

The Academy has a Code of Practice for assessing research applications, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications for research support. The Code of Practice also covers Data Protection, the Academy’s ethics policy and the appeals procedure.

Feedback is not a feature of the Innovation Fellowships Scheme and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding Committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying in this scheme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.

There must be no duplication of funding for the same purpose. Applicants may not hold more than one British Academy award of a comparable nature at any one time. For example, it would not be possible to hold two British Academy grant awards at the same time; but it may be possible to hold a British Academy grant (i.e. Talent Development Award or BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant) and a British Academy Fellowship at the same time, depending on the amount of time required for the Fellowship.

Please note that an application cannot be accepted if there is a report outstanding on any previous research grant awarded by the Academy to the Lead Applicant named in the current proposal. Failure to follow this guidance will result in your application being withdrawn from this round of competition. Duplicate applications for the same purpose to more than one Academy scheme will not be accepted.

Find information on the application process below.

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 previously registered in the 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.

Applicants should be aware that this application form will be considered by appropriate Panel Members who will be subject specialists. Applications assessed as being worthy of funding will be submitted to the Final Awarding Panel for final decision on awards. The application will be treated as confidential at all times.

When completing your application, it is recommended that you take 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 does not form part of the specific application form for any individual scheme but represents a personal record of your account in the system. Please keep this information up to date.
• Automatic log-out: You are strongly advised to save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of text. The Flexi-Grant website will automatically log people out if no activity is detected. It is recommended that you work offline in a separate word processor and copy and paste completed text online once complete.
• Multiple sessions: Do 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.
• Word limits: If you exceed the word limit, you will not be able to save the page you are working on. Longer-length text should be completed separately and backed up in a word processor.
• Plain text: If entering plain text, please avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by the Flexi-Grant: This includes the following symbols: < >
• PDF documents: When uploading PDF documents, please add your name and a heading at the top of every page to show what the document is. Please avoid uploading documents containing illustrations with fine details or colour as this can cause problems when creating a PDF of the application. Each PDF cannot exceed 3 Mb in size.
• Email addresses: It is essential that you ensure your email address is up to date and actively monitored, or you may miss important notification emails.
• Submission: 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 your employing institution at least five working days before the closing date to allow for your employing institution’s administrative procedures. You should also check whether your institution has its own internal deadlines. We strongly advise that you contact your Head of Department as early as possible to avoid any last-minute issues before the submission deadline.
• Application sharing: You can invite other contributors to join the application. All contributors must be registered on the Flexi-Grant management system and mark their work as ‘Complete’ before you can submit your application – including your Head of Department.
• 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 seven days after deletion. After this, it will be permanently removed from the system.
• Application returned for editing: The organisational approver can return your application to you for further editing, but the original deadline remains in place.

Please note that it is essential that you create a PDF of your completed application (by clicking ‘Print Application’), and check it thoroughly before submitting it for approval by your employing institution. It may not be possible to rectify mistakes in time for the deadline.

Word limits apply to plain text only. Page limits apply to PDFs 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: Eligibility

Page 3: Lead Applicant Details

Page 4: Lead Applicant Career Summary

Page 5: Financial Details

Page 6: Equal Opportunities

Page 7: Nominated Referee Statement

Page 8: Head of Department Statement

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 righthand column contains useful guidance on its completion. An asterisk (*) indicates which questions are mandatory and therefore must be complete before the application can be submitted.

Please read the scheme guidance notes carefully before completing the form.

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 then will a ‘Submit’ button appear for you to be able to submit your application.

Find information about completing the research proposal section of the application form below.

Please select the Subject Area from the drop-down menu that is most relevant to this proposal.

In this field, please avoid using any unnecessary quotation or other punctuation marks (e.g. do not use quotation marks round the full title simply to indicate it is a title). Consider the presentation by checking the ‘print application’ option to ensure that the title appears as you wish it to.

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.

To select a date in the future using the calendar feature, 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 may be held for a period of 12 months from a starting date not earlier and not later than 31 March 2023.

These Fellowships will take place in the context of the Academy’s work on governance, trust and voice, with a specific policy issue focus on ONS and DLUHC’s work on levelling up, R&D, integration and innovation investment zones as outlined in the scheme notes. The Academy and the Departments invite applications for Fellowships in any of the following areas:

• Levelling Up Subnational Data Project (ONS)
• R&D and Innovation Landscape (ONS)
• Integration and Communities (DLUHC)
• Local Resilience and Economic Growth (DLUHC)
• Productivity (DLUHC)
• Devolution Across the UK (DLUHC)

Applicants may apply to one partner (ONS or DLUHC). Please select at least one topic from one partner. If you wish to indicate secondary interest in another of that partner’s areas of interest that is possible, but not essential.

Applicants are advised that they may only apply to work with one partner (either ONS or DLUHC). Their current expertise may be relevant to more than one of the relevant areas of interest in which their chosen partner is inviting applications, but they are advised that they must pick at least one topic from one partner to indicate their relevant expertise in this field. If they wish to indicate secondary interest in another of that partner's interests that is possible, but not essential.

The limit for this field is 2000 words.

Please explain your expertise, experience and interest in engaging closely with policy counterparts, and particularly the value you can bring to working with officials in the chosen Department.

The limit for this field is 1000 words.

Please explain what anticipated benefit and impact is envisaged that can be brought to bear on the chosen Department’s policymaking process, the contribution to the Academy’s work on governance, voice and trust, and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions.

The limit for this field is 1000 words.

Under ‘planned research outputs’, please only state the type of output expected. Expected activities and outputs will be specific to the policy areas and departmental teams the Fellow will be working with and can involve, but are not limited to:

• Evidence notes/policy briefings – reports, notes and responses to key challenges/approaches for developing connections with policy leaders or innovators;
• Data analysis – identifying and analysing datasets that may be relevant to enhancing understanding and framing new solutions;
• Case studies – exploring practical or policy-orientated solutions, engagement between academic and non-academic environments and the wider benefits to individuals/communities/regions;
• Briefings/blogs/presentations/podcasts/videos and other outputs to reach a variety of policy audiences and environments;
• Conferences/workshops/webinars/toolkits and other training opportunities which enable knowledge exchange with a wider academic and policy audience.

Please give detail about plans to disseminate findings from the Fellowship to wider audiences within and beyond academia under plans for publication/dissemination, for which the limit is 500 words. In assessing value for money, the assessors may consider 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.

The Academy expects that applicants will have the skills necessary to conduct the activity. If relevant, please state the level of skills competence of the Lead Applicant, or otherwise explain how the objectives of the activity will be met. This field is mandatory and the limit is 300 words.

This field is mandatory and must be addressed by all applicants.

Are there any special ethical issues arising from your proposal that are not covered by the relevant professional Code of Practice? Have you obtained, or will you obtain, ethical approval from your employing institution or other relevant authority?

It is not expected that any special ethical issues will arise that are not already covered by relevant professional Codes of Practice. The normal expectation, therefore, will be that applicants should answer the pair of questions with the answers no and no.

If there are any special issues arising, but they have already been cleared by approval from a relevant authority, please answer yes and yes.

If any special issues arise and approval has not yet been obtained, please answer yes and no, and provide more explanation.

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 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.

The Academy has no objection to its grants being held in conjunction with awards from other bodies, if there is no duplication of expenditure. Applicants are requested to keep the 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 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.

Only if there is no duplication and no unnecessary inflation of a project will an applicant be permitted to retain both awards (subsequent requests to alter the plan of research simply to allow the applicant to retain both awards are unlikely to be considered favourably).

Find information about completing the eligibility section of the application form below.

Your application must be relevant to the Humanities and/or Social Sciences and you will need to select the relevant subject areas and fields from the drop-down list.

If the proposed engagement is especially multidisciplinary in its approach, please explain more in detail. This is an optional field.

These fields provide the opportunity to give further indications of the relevance of your subject area. They are optional fields.

N.B. Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your employing institution to process it and provide their approval by the closing date.

Please select your current employing institution. The majority of appropriate establishments are registered in the system. If your employing institution is not currently registered on the Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant, please contact us via [email protected] to discuss possible registration. Applications are welcome from early-career researchers and mid-career researchers. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this round of the scheme.

All applications must be approved by the employing institution 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. The deadline for this round is the deadline by which approval must be given. Remember that the application cannot be submitted for approval before the Head of Department has submitted their contribution, so it is essential to obtain the supporting statement well before the deadline.

It is strongly recommended that the applicant maintains an open dialogue with the approving department at their employing 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 approving department has checked your application, they will contact you if any changes are required, please note if changes need to be made these will have to be done before the deadline as they cannot be done afterwards.

Please take care to review and complete your personal details accurately. Errors in this section can cause difficulties in the processing of your application.

You can update your personal details by checking ‘my account’ and selecting the link to ‘my contact details’ and ‘my organisation’ and ensuring the relevant details are up to date.

UK nationality is not required, but applicants will need to have a minimum of two years residence, including 12 months of continuous residence in the UK in the preceding five years. Please confirm that you meet this requirement in this field. The limit for this field is 150 words. For further details, please view the ‘Working at and with the ONS and DLUHC’ section above.

Find information about completing the career summary section of the application form below.

Please give details of up to 4 qualifications in reverse chronological order.

Please give details of your current appointment. All applications require one Lead Applicant. Eligible Lead Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award at a UK-based institution (e.g. a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]). If your employing institution is not currently registered on the Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant, please contact us via [email protected] to discuss possible registration. Applications are welcome from early-career researchers and mid-career researchers. Applicants must self-define their career stage in the application, providing further details about career breaks or other circumstances if relevant. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this round of the scheme.

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 in the 'personal statement' field why you should be eligible for consideration.

Applications are welcome from early-career researchers and mid-career researchers. Applicants must self-define their career stage, providing further details about career breaks or other circumstances if relevant. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this round of the scheme. This is a mandatory field, the limit is 150 words.

Applicants are invited to include any information relating to their professional career which they may wish to be taken into account in assessing this application. For example, details of a career break, or the effect of working on a part-time contract may be relevant. This is an optional field.

Please outline your ability and experience of working in teams involving interdisciplinary projects or policy or practice areas outside your usual role, and of contributing to interdisciplinary research. For example, if you are a researcher, please outline your ability and experience of working with policymakers or practitioners. This a mandatory field and the limit is 300 words.

Please outline your ability and experience of engaging with audiences outside your area of expertise and of communicating your work to non-specialists. This is a mandatory field and the limit is 300 words.

Please list up to six relevant publications or outputs to date in reverse chronological order under publications/outputs which demonstrate the expertise in the relevant field and engagement with audiences including beyond academia; and any unpublished studies previously funded by any agency, including but not restricted to the British Academy. Please give details of planned publication dates or explain why the research has not yet been published. Assessors may take backlogs of publication into account.

An application will not be eligible for consideration if there is a report outstanding on any previous research grant awarded by the Academy to the applicant. Failure to follow this guidance will result in your application being withdrawn from this round of competition.

Please give details of any research applications submitted to the British Academy within the last five years. In the case of a further application for continuing research which has received previous Academy support, please note that a full report and statement of expenditure for the previous grant must be submitted before further funding can be considered.

This field is optional. 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 state BA website; BA literature; PhD supervisor; University Research Office; Twitter, other colleague etc.

If you include ineligible costs, your application will be withdrawn from this competition.

Please provide details of funding in the relevant fields:

• Directly Incurred Salary Costs;
• Directly Incurred Research Expenses;
• Directly Allocated Costs (including Estates Costs);
• Indirect Costs.

Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowship awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis. Applicants must enter the costs in the application form, Financial Details section, at 100% FEC. The maximum that can be claimed is £150,000 at 100%, of which the Academy will pay 80% (i.e. up to £120,000 if the full sum is requested).

There are four elements to the Full Economic Costing. The Directly Incurred Salary Costs are the costs of the time of the Lead Applicant as this is a Fellowship award. Directly Incurred Research Expenses include costs of travel and subsistence, as well as project costs. Note that there is a minimum spend expected on this research expense element of at least £12,500 at 100% FEC (£10,000 at 80% British Academy contribution). The other elements are Directly Allocated (Estates) Costs and Indirect Costs which cover costing for space, central support services and other necessary costs incurred by the employing institution in supporting the Fellow.

The Academy recognises that the upper limit on the contribution that the Academy’s funding can make to this award – £120,000 – might not be sufficient to cover all of the costs up to 80% of the Full Economic Cost value required. In those cases, an employing institution may need to be willing to make additional contributions to the overhead costs involved.

The Lead Applicant must commit between 0.4 and 0.8 FTE time to the Fellowship, providing justification for the time percentage as part of the application, especially if the time commitment is below 0.5 FTE. All of the grants awarded are expected to be used for the purposes specified in the application and agreed in the award-letter.

Please be aware that if the Fellowship is offered, then there can be no viring of funds between each of these four budget headings, and no spending can take place outside the time-frame of the Fellowship.

Applicants should prepare accurate costings for the proposed project costs and should be particularly careful not to overestimate the resources required. Applicants are advised that competition for funds can be fierce, and proposals on the margin for award may have a greater chance of success if they are modestly costed.

Costs should be clearly itemised and justified in terms of the research programme. If the Academy is being asked to support only a proportion of the total costs, please explain this clearly.

It is advised that travel costs should be clearly justified; that the length of time for which subsistence is sought should be justified in the application; that per diem rates should be explained. If a claim for child or parental care is included, please supply sufficient justification for the case to be assessed.

Please note that grants are cash-limited, and there is no scope for supplementation of an award. Projects should be fully costed from the outset.

All of the grants awarded are expected to be used for the purposes specified in the application and agreed in the award-letter.

Please do not use ‘£’ signs in the amount boxes.

Please state the proportion of time (FTE) to be committed to work on this award. For the Innovation Fellowships (Route B: Policy-led), the Lead Applicant must commit between 0.4 and 0.8 FTE time to the Fellowship. Providing justification for the time percentage as part of the application, especially if the time commitment is below 0.5 FTE. Please state in this field the proportion to be committed on this award as a figure.

This section is optional; however, the 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, including referees etc.

Lead Applicants are required to nominate one referee in total and ensure that the supporting statement from their chosen referee is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS well in advance of the deadline for the submission of your application.

Please enter all the details of the referee by clicking ‘Contributors’ tab on the Application’s ‘Summary’ page. Please click on the ‘Invite’ button, enter the referee’s email addresses and then click ‘Send Invitation’.

Nominated referee

The nominated referee must not be based at the same employing institution as the Lead Applicant or the partner (ONS or DLUHC). The primary consideration is that they are able to comment independently and authoritatively on your application (i.e. someone in your field, who is independent from you, the Lead Applicant, and the partner). You do not need to know them personally, but you should make sure they are able to provide a reference before adding them to your application. They will be expected to comment on the research capability and capacity of the Lead Applicant, and the quality and interest of the activity proposed for support under the scheme. In particular, they are expected to comment on the anticipated benefit to the applicant’s future engagement ambitions; the improvement of connection with policy leaders at national, local or regional levels; the positive change to both academic and non-academic environments that is anticipated to arise from the activity; the feasibility of the timetable and organisation of activity; the likelihood of other activity developing from the Academy’s initial investment; and the suitability of the costs presented.

Before listing your referee on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this by the deadline. It is essential that you enter the correct email address for your referee otherwise they will not receive the automated messages delivered from the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS.

We strongly advise that you alert your referee as early as possible to allow them enough time to provide their reference in the system. Note that the deadline shown to the referee is the deadline for the whole application to be submitted. The application needs to be approved before the same deadline, and it cannot be submitted for approval before the reference and Head of Department statement of support are submitted.

An application cannot be considered for an award unless the proposal, reference and Head of Department statement of support have been submitted on time.

Please note that references must be provided through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any references received after the deadline, or outside of the system, will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.

Applicants are required to include a supporting statement from their Head of Department on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS well in advance of the deadline for the submission of your application.

Please enter all the details of your Head of Department by clicking ‘Contributors’ tab on the Application’s ‘Summary’ page. Please click on the ‘Invite’ button, enter the Head of Department’s email address and then click ‘Send Invitation’.

The Head of Department should be the person who heads the Department, Faculty, Institute or other unit of an Independent Research Organisation (IRO) in which you, the Lead Applicant, are currently working. As Head of Department, they will be expected to comment on their level of support for the application and the career development benefit to be gained by the Lead Applicant if the award is made. They will be expected to confirm that the Lead Applicant will be released from duties at the employing institution for the duration of the award and be able to return to the employing institution once the award ends.

We strongly advise that you alert your Head of Department as early as possible to allow them enough time to provide their statement in the system. Note that the deadline shown to the Head of Department is the deadline for the whole application to be submitted. The application needs to be approved before the same deadline, and it cannot be submitted for approval before the HOD statement is submitted.

If the Lead Applicant is also Head of Department, the statement must be provided by another suitable individual, e.g. Deputy Head or Head of School.

An application cannot be considered for an award unless all contributions have been submitted on time.

Please note that statements must be provided through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® 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.

Once you have submitted your application for approval by your employing institution, automatic emails will be sent to your employing institution 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 employing institution for approval. The employing institution approver will either: approve and submit your application, ‘send back’ your application and contact you to request modifications 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 employing institution 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 employing institution as their internal timetables may require earlier submission.

If your employing institution approver requests modifications through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS email facility, they can unlock your application, allowing you to edit it. They can do this by selecting ‘Return to Applicant’. An automatic email 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 employing institution.

Once your employing 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, employing institution approvers cannot approve applications and submit them to the British Academy; 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 employing institution approver and to check the status of your application, you should log into the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS and click on the link to the Application Portal where a summary of your application will be displayed.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

1. The research expertise of the applicant in their chosen area of interest from the section ‘Route B: Policy-led (Governance, Trust and Voice) Innovation Fellowships’ on pages 5-7;
2. The experience and suitability of the applicant in engaging closely with policy counterparts and future colleagues in the ONS or DLUHC, respectively, and/or experience in working with policymakers on similar topics or areas of interest previously;
3. The anticipated benefit and impact on the ONS or DLUHC’s areas of interest as expressed above on pages 5-7 and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions;
4. The anticipated contributions to the Academy’s wider work on Governance, Trust and Voice;
5. The ability of the applicant to be able to provide policy relevant, clear and succinct oral briefings (will be assessed at interview if applicants are invited to interview);
6. Value for money;
7. The career benefit to the Lead Applicant may also be considered at the final stage of assessment.

All eligible proposals submitted in response to this call will be considered by a Final Awarding Panel, which will conduct interviews with a shortlist of applicants. The Final Awarding Panel will meet after the call for applications is closed. When the Panel meets it will include an interview element as part of its assessment. Applicants are required to be available to attend these interviews as a mandatory part of the assessment process.

Please see the flowchart below for an overview of the application to award process for a Route B: Policy-led Innovation Fellowship.

Once your application has been submitted – complete with a reference from your nominated referee and a statement of support from your Head of Department – and it has been approved by your employing institution, 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.

Due to remote working, we recommend contacting us by email only: [email protected]

Applicants in any doubt about their eligibility or any other aspect of their application are advised to contact the Research Funding Office at the Academy, where staff will be pleased to assist.

You can also contact the Academy by post:

The British Academy

Research Funding Office

10-11 Carlton House Terrace

London

SW1Y 5AH