Innovation Fellowships Scheme 2023-24 Route B: Policy-Led (Central Government) Scheme Guidance Notes
The following Scheme Guidance Notes set out the eligibility and application process of the British Academy’s Innovation Fellowships Scheme – Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) 2023-24 competition, in partnership with the Cabinet Office (CO); His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – joint hosts for this scheme; the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Please read these Scheme Guidance Notes carefully. Any application which is incorrectly submitted will not be eligible.
Aims and purpose of the scheme
The British Academy has been funded by the UK Government, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT, formerly known as BEIS) to continue its support for the Innovation Fellowships scheme.
This scheme provides funding and support for established early-career and mid-career researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences (the SHAPE disciplines) to partner with organisations and businesses in the creative and cultural, public, private, commercial, or policy sectors that have a base in the UK, to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions that are relevant to the UK. Through the Innovation Fellowships, our researchers in the SHAPE community are supported to create new and deeper links beyond academia, enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.
This call will enable researchers to partner with a range of central government departments for 12 months. Successful applicants will work within specific policy areas set out by the departments. These policy areas broadly correlate to the British Academy’s own policy programmes of work, which cover similar themes.
Features of the scheme
The Innovation Fellowships scheme is a dual route scheme, consisting of Route A: Researcher-led and Route B: Policy-led. This call is for the Innovation Fellowships – Route B: Policy-Led (Central Government).
Route B: Policy-led Innovation Fellows will work with policy partners specified by the British Academy. For this call, these partners are:
- The Cabinet Office (CO).
- His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – joint hosts for this scheme.
- The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Henceforth the term ‘partner departments’ signifies information applicable to all four government departments. Information that refers to a specific partner department is signified by the relevant acronym.
Applying to the Scheme
For Route B: Policy-led Innovation Fellowships, applicants should apply to work with one of the British Academy’s partner departments, as above, and select one policy area specified by the department they wish to apply for – e.g. an applicant for DCMS should apply only to DCMS, and must choose one of DCMS’ policy areas. They should set out how their experience and proposed work meets the requirements of the partner department, and how it relates to and would help bring innovative ideas to the policy area they are applying for.
The researcher’s employing institution must be a UK-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Independent Research Organisation (IRO). The partner department, as outlined above, must be separate to the researcher’s employing institution. If successful, the relationship with the partner department 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. Applications are welcome from researchers who consider themselves to be early-career or mid-career researchers.
Only one application for this Route B: Policy-led call may be submitted. Applicants are permitted to apply for both Route A (Researcher-led) and Route B (Policy-led) Fellowships, but they cannot hold an Innovation Fellowship for both Route A and Route B simultaneously.
Person Specification
Applicants must be an early or mid-career researcher based at a UK institution (e.g. a Higher Education Institution or Independent Research Organisation) with expertise in a Humanities and/or Social Science discipline. A range of methodological approaches or perspectives may be appropriate – the requirements of each partner department are listed below.
Through the Innovation Fellowships 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.
Applicants should be open-minded, and willing to explore new perspectives and innovative approaches. They will have an appetite for working across academia and policy. They will be challenge-driven and receptive to integrating the perspectives, needs and priorities of the partner department.
Overview
These Fellowships are designed to ensure close interaction with policymakers, right at the heart of partner departments’ work. Government departments operate in a context where timely access to high-quality evidence-based analysis might be the difference between success and failure. Exerting influence, negotiating and leveraging others’ power at the right moment is crucial. This can make it difficult for researchers operating outside government departments to influence policymakers – the Innovation Fellowships Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) are designed to help change this.
The British Academy and its partner departments for this call aim to support up to nine Innovation Fellowships. The opportunities and areas of policy interest for each department are discussed below. Prior to application submission, applicants must not contact the partner departments regarding the application. Questions may be directed to [email protected].
Fellows will work with the Evaluation Task Force, a joint Cabinet Office and Treasury team working to improve the quality and breadth of evaluation across government, which is especially invested in the promotion of experimental approaches to evaluation where appropriate. Each Fellow would work on one of two policy areas: improving the use of evaluation in cross government work on Net Zero, and understanding regional differences in the delivery of public services in relation to Levelling Up.
While the British Academy and the Evaluation Task Force do not have preconceived ideas about the disciplinary background of Fellows, applicants will need to demonstrate a solid understanding of the relevant policy areas. Strong social research and evaluation skills are required, including knowledge and experience of designing and delivering either (though preferably both) qualitative and quantitative research projects. Familiarity with quasi-experimental, experimental and/or theory-based evaluation methods is desirable. Applicants would benefit from a background in relevant policy areas, although demonstration of relevant transferable skills and a desire to develop knowledge of a new policy area is also acceptable.
The Fellows will be integrated into the Evaluation Task Force’s team structure, working closely with Evaluation Leads and Senior Evaluation Advisors to engage on CO and Treasury priorities. The Evaluation Task Force operates an account management model, with mini-teams focused on clusters of departments. Fellows will be embedded within line management structures for the mini-teams linked to their policy area of focus. They will also have an opportunity to work on cross-cutting priorities aimed at improving evaluation practices across government. Specific details about each policy area within this Fellowship opportunity with the Cabinet Office Evaluation Taskforce are as follows.
N.B. Please note that for security reasons, successful applicants will have to be security cleared before the final arrangements for a Fellowship can be confirmed. Fellows working with the CO will need to pass security clearance at the Counter Terrorism Clearance level. Fellows working with the CO will also need to meet the nationality requirements for non-reserved posts in the civil service. For more details on security clearance and nationality requirements, please see the “Security Clearance and Nationality” section on pages 8-9 below.
A Fellowship in this area would explore how the government can best evaluate local growth policies to learn what works and why, while still respecting the devolution settlements. As highlighted by the National Audit Office, “between 2011 and 2020, the government committed some £18 billion of domestic funding to policies designed to stimulate local economic growth in England. However, the UK remains less productive than its main competitors and it shows regional disparities in economic performance that are among the largest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.” Evaluation of local growth policies is often difficult because each local authority operates autonomously and most operate at too small a scale to enable robust evaluation. This Fellowship will explore and make recommendations for how government can build and share the knowledge base on local economic growth.
A Fellowship in this area would explore cross government evaluation activity related to net zero policies, working across departments including the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Evaluation Task Force has recently established a cross government evaluation working group for Net Zero – the Fellow would work closely with this group to scope and identify priorities for future work, building appropriate links with academia as part of this role. A particular area of focus at present is the move to electric vehicles, and there will be opportunities to engage with departmental work in this area and support policy development where possible. However other policy areas will emerge in the coming year and over the course of the Fellowship.
These Fellowships will be jointly hosted by HMT and DBT. Over the course of the Fellowships, Fellows would work across different teams in HMT and DBT. Each Fellow would work on one of three policy areas outlined below: Business Investment in the UK, Productivity in the UK, or the UK Operating in the New World Economic System.
While the British Academy and HMT/DBT do not have preconceived ideas about the disciplinary background of these Fellows, applicants will need to demonstrate a solid understanding of the relevant policy areas and basic statistical and analytical skills. The Fellow would be given independence to work on a specific research project(s) over the course of the Fellowship, informed and guided by relevant contacts in both departments and a close working relationship over the course of the Fellowship with relevant policy teams, but would not be fully embedded within a specific policy team in either department playing a more reactive role. The Fellows could choose to work remotely, but would be welcome to spend some time working in the Darlington or London offices, pending appropriate security clearances and feasibility given the agreed research project(s). Specific details about each policy area within this Fellowship opportunity with HMT/DBT are as follows.
N.B. Please note that for security reasons, successful applicants will have to be security cleared before the final arrangements for a Fellowship can be confirmed. Fellows working with HMT/DBT would need to receive security clearance at the Security Check level. For more details on security clearance and nationality requirements, please see the “Security Clearance and Nationality” section on pages 8-9 below.
Business Investment in the UK has been lagging similar economies in recent years. This impacts on the broader economy and its causes are largely uncertain. HMT/DBT wish to work with a researcher with relevant expertise who is willing to explore new and bold ideas around encouraging investment into the UK and to consider why the UK has seen lower business investment compared to similar economies in the past.
The UK has been in a “productivity puzzle” since the Great Recession of 2007/8 – productivity has grown more slowly than was the case before the crisis. Given the importance of productivity to driving progress and economic growth, HMT/DBT are looking to work with a Fellow who can explore the factors driving slow productivity growth in the UK and highlight options for how HMT/DBT can use its levers to increase productivity growth in the future. The Fellow should have a solid understanding of productivity. They should be willing to explore cutting edge theories surrounding the productivity puzzle and potential solutions.
The world economic system is potentially moving towards increased protectionism, more government support for key sectors from the largest economies in the world, and a rebalancing of economic and security priorities. HMT/DBT would welcome a Fellow that could investigate how the UK can be set on a path that acknowledges this new paradigm while maintaining the benefits of free trade and open markets. The Fellow should have good knowledge of global economic trends. They should be willing to set out new ideas and approaches for meeting the challenges associated with them.
Fellows with DCMS would work within the Civil Society and Youth Directorate on one of two core policy areas: loneliness, and assessing the quality and value of services provided by the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. While the British Academy and DCMS do not have preconceived ideas about the disciplinary background of these Fellows, applicants will need to demonstrate a solid understanding of the relevant policy areas and issues. The requirements and working relationship with the Department for the Fellowships with DCMS vary slightly for each policy area, as set out below.
N.B. Please note that for security reasons, successful applicants will have to be security cleared before the final arrangements for a Fellowship can be confirmed. For the DCMS Fellow working on “3b. Assessing the quality and value of services provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector”, security clearance will not be required. However, other DCMS Fellows will be required to receive security clearance at the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. For all DCMS Fellows, there are no nationality requirements. For more details on security clearance, please see the “Security Clearance and Nationality” section on pages 8-9 below.
One of the key objectives of the cross-government Tackling Loneliness Strategy is to build the evidence base to make a compelling case for action on loneliness. Since 2018, research on loneliness has grown exponentially. Loneliness measures are increasingly used by a range of UK stakeholders, including government and devolved administrations, local authorities, academics and charities, which has helped generate a larger and more diversified evidence base. However, there is still much we do not know.
Together with experts and academics in the loneliness field, DCMS publishes an annual review to provide non-specialists with an informed overview of the evidence gaps that still need to be filled. The Civil Society and Youth Directorate aims to continue to improve our understanding of loneliness and is open to proposals that meet any of these data or analytical gaps in this area, but which are based on targeted research questions.
This might involve, but is not limited to:
- Exploring and identifying the economic impact of loneliness.
- Improving understanding of how loneliness is experienced by different groups, e.g. disabled people or LGBT people, and what works to tackle the specific barriers identified.
- Building on research recently published on loneliness stigma.
- Applicants should also be aware of the Public Health Research call funded by the NIHR, which is seeking to commission new longer-term, large-scale research that will investigate which interventions work best to reduce loneliness.
The Fellow would be fully integrated into the Tackling Loneliness team. They would be able to work remotely but we would expect a minimum of 1-2 days in the office per month. The Fellow should be early to mid-career, with a background in social science and knowledge of the mix of qualitative and quantitative skills and methodologies that are likely to be needed to address the research question.
The Civil Society and Youth Directorate wishes to develop its evidence base to better understand how it can best support the growth and resilience of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors to foster a strong and healthy civil society. A Fellowship would develop and apply a robust framework for assessing the quality and value of services provided by the sector, relative to those offered by other sectors, such as the public sector.
This might involve, but is not limited to:
- Developing a typology of services, activities, outputs and outcomes delivered by organisations across the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, drawing on existing evidence and engaging with government and sector stakeholders.
- Identifying, critically assessing, and developing approaches to measuring the above, in terms of volumes, costs, and quality.
- Benchmarking these volumes, costs and quality data as described above, where possible (for example, in comparison to public sector delivery).
We anticipate this project being delivered relatively independently, with regular direct engagement with the team, rather than via a model whereby the Fellow is fully integrated into the team on a day-to-day basis. The successful applicant should have a background in economics, or other social sciences, and/or a background in the sector with demonstrable experience in the issues raised above.
Fellows will conduct 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. As set out above, the nature of the work to be undertaken during the Fellowship will vary according to which department and policy area a Fellowship focuses on, with some Fellows working relatively independently, and others more firmly embedded within a team within their partner department.
Work-planning will centre on the programme of work and analysis agreed at the outset. However, those Fellows who are more embedded and integrated within teams will be expected to reserve some time for responsive and demand-led analysis. An indicative list of these tasks might include: providing evaluation or policy research design advice to departments, writing papers and shorter evidence and policy briefing notes, oral briefings for senior officials and ministers, meeting external and cross-government partners, as well as organising and running masterclasses on evidence and/or evaluation methodologies. The Fellow would agree the outline of a work programme with their department after being awarded the Fellowship.
The ability to communicate clearly and succinctly, highlighting policy relevance to non-experts is important to all 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, successful applicants will generally need to be security cleared before the final arrangements for a Fellowship can be confirmed – the only exception is for the DCMS Fellow working on “3b. Assessing the quality and value of services provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector”, for whom security clearance will not be required. Security checks will need to be processed once an offer has been made to the successful candidate – the formal confirmation of the offer will be contingent on the person obtaining this level of clearance. Loss of clearance during the Fellowship period, for example, due to personal conduct, will risk termination of the Fellowship. All security clearance decisions are personal to the applicant and depend on a range of factors. For further information on security clearance, please view the gov.uk website.
Fellows working with the CO will need to pass security clearance at the Counter Terrorism Clearance level. Fellows working with the CO will also need to meet the nationality requirements for non-reserved posts in the civil service. This means that they must be UK nationals, Commonwealth/Irish nationals, British protected persons, EEA/Swiss Nationals, Turkish nationals, or qualifying family members of EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals, and otherwise be in accordance with the Civil Service Nationality Rules – please see this flowchart explaining these rules for more information. At the application stage, only an initial eligibility check needs to be made, but passports and other documentation would need to be checked at the interview stage.
Fellows working with HMT/DBT would need to receive security clearance at the Security Check level. Fellows working with HMT/DBT will also need to meet the nationality requirements for non-reserved posts in the civil service. This means that they must be UK nationals, Commonwealth/Irish nationals, British protected persons, EEA/Swiss Nationals, Turkish nationals, or qualifying family members of EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals, and otherwise be in accordance with the Civil Service Nationality Rules – please see this flowchart explaining these rules for more information. At the application stage, only an initial eligibility check needs to be made, but passports and other documentation would need to be checked at the interview stage. Individuals appointed to the Treasury Group will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not always a bar to security clearance, but the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application. Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks.
For the DCMS Fellow working on “3b. Assessing the quality and value of services provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector”, security clearance will not be required. However, the other DCMS Fellow will be required to receive security clearance at the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. For all DCMS Fellows, there are no nationality requirements.
Please see the table below which lists the security clearance levels and nationality requirements according to the partner departments and policy areas.

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 partner 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.
- Academic papers are encouraged, but will need to be discussed with each Department prior to writing up and publication.
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. There are some cases where the partner departments have mentioned a requirement for particular disciplines. Please see the Scope of the Fellowships sections above for further details.
Route B: Policy-led 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 2024.
Competition Opens 6 September 2023
Application Deadline 22 November 2023, 17:00 (UK time)
Decisions (notification via email) By February 2024
Starting period of Award(s) No earlier and no later than 31 March 2024
Duration of Award(s) A duration of 12 months
It is expected that up to 9 awards per year will be made for the Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) strand. This is a new scheme and the strength of competition remains difficult to estimate. We are unable to give guidance on the likely success rate.
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 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.
Reporting
In addition to the responsibilities above, award-holders are required to complete two reports:
- A final report from award holders within three months of the award’s end, detailing the progress of the activities in which they participated.
- A post-award report three years after the award’s end showing the impact of the award on their subsequent career.
Lead Applicant Eligibility
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 CO, HMT/DBT and DCMS’ section; in particular, the requirements about security clearance and nationality.
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. Applicants do not have to fit within a certain time-frame since their PhD in order to prove their career-stage. However, applicants must self-define their career stage and demonstrate this accordingly in their applications. Typically, it can be defined as within 15 years of being awarded your PhD (although this will be interpreted flexibly to accommodate any career breaks, parental/caring leave or non-traditional career trajectories). However, this typical definition is a guide only. Applicants may self-define their career stage as they see fit. Applicants should be aware that if they are more advanced in their career, the assessors may determine that they are not within the bounds of the scheme. Therefore, applicants should explain their career stage clearly in response to the question on career stage in the application form. Lead Applicants who do not have a doctorate may have equivalent experience, which they should define in the personal statement section.
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. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this scheme.
Employing Institution Eligibility
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.
Eligible Costs
Route B: Policy-led Innovation Fellowship awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis. The maximum that can be claimed is £150,000 at 100% FEC, of which the Academy will pay 80% FEC (i.e. up to £120,000 if the full sum is requested). N.B. Applicants must enter the costs in the application form, Financial Details section, at 100% FEC.
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. N.B. 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.
N.B. This is Fellowship award and not a project grant, therefore 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). It is expected that not more than 25% of the total budget and not less than £12,500 at 100% FEC (£10,000 at 80% British Academy contribution) will be used for Directly Incurred Research Expenses.
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. 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.
The following items are not eligible for funding: research assistance; 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.
Applicants registered with special needs may consult the Academy about possible exceptions prior to application – alternatively application for this type of cost may be made to the British Academy’s Additional Needs Funding.
Nominated Referee and Reference
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 department. 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 expertise of the applicant as relevant and expressed in relation to their chosen area of interest from the section ‘Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) Innovation Fellowships’ on pages 4-9;
- The experience and suitability of the applicant in engaging closely with policy counterparts and future colleagues in government departments, including but not limited to the CO, HMT, DBT, or DCMS, and/or experience in working with policymakers on similar topics or areas of interest previously;
- The anticipated benefit and impact on the partner department’s areas of interest as expressed above on pages 4-9 and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions;
- The anticipated benefit of the proposed partnership with regards to knowledge exchange between academic and non-academic environments;
- The anticipated contributions to the British Academy’s wider policy work;
- The ability of the applicant to provide policy relevant, clear and succinct oral briefings (will be assessed at interview if applicants are invited to interview);
- Value for money;
- The career benefit to the Lead Applicant may also be considered at the final stage of assessment.
- 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.
- The statement submitted by the nominated referee should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the nominated referee.
- 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.
Head of Department Supporting Statement
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.
- N.B. 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.
- The statement submitted by the Head of Department should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the Head of Department.
- 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:
- The participants will need to register for an account on the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/), or have an account on Flexi-Grant, prior to being invited to contribute to the application.
- 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.
Assessment
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- The research expertise of the applicant as relevant and expressed in relation to their chosen area of interest from the section ‘Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) Innovation Fellowships’ on pages 4-9;
- The experience and suitability of the applicant in engaging closely with policy counterparts and future colleagues in government departments, including but not limited to the CO, HMT, DBT, or DCMS, and/or experience in working with policymakers on similar topics or areas of interest previously;
- The anticipated benefit and impact on the partner department’s areas of interest as expressed above on pages 4-9 and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions;
- The anticipated benefit of the proposed partnership with regards to knowledge exchange between academic and non-academic environments;
- The anticipated contributions to the British Academy’s wider policy work;
- The ability of the applicant to provide policy relevant, clear and succinct oral briefings (will be assessed at interview if applicants are invited to interview);
- Value for money;
- 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 peer-reviewed by reviewers with subject/sector-specific expertise, including representatives of the partner departments. A Final Awarding Panel, which will include representatives of the partner departments, will conduct interviews with a shortlist of applicants. Applicants who are shortlisted at this stage 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 February for immediate start before the end of the first quarter of 2024. The approving organisation will be asked to give its consent before the award is confirmed.
Opening date 6 September 2023
Closing date 22 November 2023 (17:00, UK time)
Notification of result By February 2024
Research to commence No earlier than and no later than 31 March 2024
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 Final Awarding Panel, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying to 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 Fellowship 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.
Making an Application via Flexi-Grant® GMS
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.
Approving Organisations on Flexi-Grant® GMS
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.
Assessment of Application Form
Applicants should be aware that this application form will be considered by appropriate peer reviewers and Panel Members who will be subject specialists, which will include representatives of the relevant government departments. Applications assessed as being worthy of funding will be submitted to the Final Awarding Panel interviews and for final decision on awards. The application will be treated as confidential at all times.
Guidelines for Using Flexi-Grant® GMS
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.
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 then 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.
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, 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 2024.
Scope of the Fellowships*
The Fellowships take place in the context of the Academy’s policy work. The policy areas for each Fellowship broadly correlate to the Academy's own programmes of policy work, but are selected by the partner departments and primarily contribute to the work of the partner departments (CO; HMT/DBT; DCMS), as outlined in the Scheme Guidance Notes (see further details above). The Academy and the partner departments invite applications for Fellowships in any of the following areas:
- 1a. Evaluation of Local Growth Policies (CO)
- 1b. Evaluation of Net Zero policies (CO)
- 2a. Business Investment in the UK (HMT/DBT)
- 2b. Productivity in the UK (HMT/DBT)
- 2c. The UK Operating in the New World Economic System (HMT/DBT)
- 3a. Loneliness (DCMS)
- 3b. Assessing the quality and value of services provided by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (DCMS)
Applicants should apply to work with one of the British Academy’s partner departments (i.e. CO or HMT/DBT or DCMS), and select one policy area specified by the department they wish to apply for – e.g. an applicant for DCMS should apply only to DCMS, and must choose one of DCMS’ policy areas.
Research Expertise in Chosen Area of Interest*
Applicants are advised that they may apply to work with one of the British Academy’s partner departments (CO or HMT/DBT or DCMS), and select one policy area specified by the department they wish to apply for – e.g. an applicant for DCMS should apply only to DCMS, and must choose one of DCMS’ policy areas. Applicants should set out clearly how their experience and proposed work meets the requirements of the partner department, and how it relates to and would help bring innovative ideas to the policy area they are applying for.
The limit for this field is 2000 words.
Policy Engagement*
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 partner department.
The limit for this field is 1000 words.
Benefit and Impact – Policy*
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 policy work, and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions.
The limit for this field is 1000 words.
Planned Research Outputs*/Plans for Publication* and Dissemination*
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;
- Academic papers are encouraged, but will need to be discussed with each department prior to writing up and publication.
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.
Skills Competence*
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.
Ethical Issues*
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.
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 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).
Primary* and Secondary Subjects
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.
Multidisciplinary Proposal
If the proposed engagement is especially multidisciplinary in its approach, please explain more in detail. This is an optional field.
Regional Interests*
This field provides the opportunity to give further indications of the relevance of your subject area.
Employing Organisation*
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 Nominated Referee and Head of Department have submitted their contributions, so it is essential to obtain the supporting statements 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.
Lead Applicant Contact Details*/ Nationality*/ Eligibility*
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.
Please state explicitly the grounds on which you meet the eligibility criteria for the partner department with which you wish to work. Please see above in the Scheme Guidance Notes for further information.
Statement of Qualifications and Career*
Please give details of up to 4 qualifications in reverse chronological order.
Present Appointment*, Employing Institution* and Department*
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 scheme.
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 in the 'personal statement' field why you should be eligible for consideration.
Career Stage*
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. Applicants do not have to fit within a certain time-frame since their PhD in order to prove their career-stage. However, applicants must self-define their career stage and demonstrate this accordingly in their applications. Typically, it can be defined as within 15 years of being awarded your PhD (although this will be interpreted flexibly to accommodate any career breaks, parental/caring leave or non-traditional career trajectories). However, this typical definition is a guide only. Applicants may self-define their career stage as they see fit. Applicants should be aware that if they are more advanced in their career, the assessors may determine that they are not within the bounds of the scheme. Therefore, applicants should explain their career stage clearly in response to the question on career stage in the application form. This is a mandatory field, the limit is 150 words.
Personal Statement
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. Lead Applicants who do not have a doctorate may have equivalent experience, which they should define in this section. This is an optional field.
Experience of working in teams across different disciplines and across different areas of policy and practice*
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.
Experience of communicating and engaging with a wider audience*
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.
Publications*, Unpublished Research
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.
Previous Support Dates
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.
Where did you hear of this scheme?
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.
Financial Details*/ Justification*
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 Innovation Fellowship awards are offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis. The maximum that can be claimed is £150,000 at 100% FEC, of which the Academy will pay 80% FEC (i.e. up to £120,000 if the full sum is requested). N.B. Applicants must enter the costs in the application form, Financial Details section, at 100% FEC.
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. N.B. 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.
N.B. This is Fellowship award and not a project grant, therefore 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). It is expected that not more than 25% of the total budget and not less than £12,500 at 100% FEC (£10,000 at 80% British Academy contribution) will be used for Directly Incurred Research Expenses.
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 timeframe 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, or additional needs, is included, please supply sufficient justification for the case to be assessed – alternatively, application may be made for this type of cost to the British Academy’s Additional Needs Funding.
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.
FTE Contribution*
Please state the proportion of time (FTE) to be committed to work on this award. For the Innovation Fellowships (Route B: Policy-led; Central Government), 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.
Equal Opportunities
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 Applicant Referee Statement*
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 department. 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 statement submitted by the nominated referee should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the nominated referee.
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.
Head of Department Statement*
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 are currently working.
As Head of Department, they will be expected to comment on:
The statement submitted by the Head of Department should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the Head of Department.
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.
THE ACADEMY WILL ONLY PROCESS COMPLETE, SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS.
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.
Assessment criteria
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- The research expertise of the applicant as relevant and expressed in relation to their chosen area of interest from the section ‘Route B: Policy-led (Central Government) Innovation Fellowships’ on pages 4-9;
- The experience and suitability of the applicant in engaging closely with policy counterparts and future colleagues in government departments, including but not limited to the CO, HMT, DBT, or DCMS, and/or experience in working with policymakers on similar topics or areas of interest previously;
- The anticipated benefit and impact on the partner department’s areas of interest as expressed above on pages 4-9 and the applicant’s future policy engagement ambitions;
- The anticipated benefit of the proposed partnership with regards to knowledge exchange between academic and non-academic environments;
- The anticipated contributions to the British Academy’s wider policy work;
- The ability of the applicant to provide policy relevant, clear and succinct oral briefings (will be assessed at interview if applicants are invited to interview);
- Value for money;
- 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 peer-reviewed by reviewers with subject/sector-specific expertise, including representatives of the partner departments. A Final Awarding Panel, which will include representatives of the partner departments, will conduct interviews with a shortlist of applicants. Applicants who are shortlisted at this stage 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.
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.
The British Academy
Research Funding Office
10-11 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH
Due to remote working we recommend contacting us by email only.
Email: [email protected]
Important Dates
Deadline for application submission and organisation approval: 22 November 2023, 17:00 (UK time)
Results announced by email to address on application: by February 2024
British Academy 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. Each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This additional financial support cannot be guaranteed but the British Academy is keen to be as inclusive as possible in supporting applicants and award-holders with any additional needs in order to facilitate the best possible research. Some examples of what may be considered for this funding are:
- Specific equipment to overcome barriers to people with disabilities undertaking research.
- Assistance to allow applicants living with sensory impairment to carry out their research.
- Bids for the cost of child, parent or other caring responsibilities may be considered if the carer is conducting research away from home and it is not possible to make alternative arrangements.
- The costs of normal regular care whilst at home are not eligible for support.
To find more information about British Academy Additional Needs Funding and apply, please visit our website.