British Academy International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2026 Frequently Asked Questions
What is meant by interdisciplinary in the context of this call?
The purpose of each project will be to develop new international research led by and grounded in the humanities and/or social sciences, to further understanding of transnational and planetary challenges.
Genuinely productive and integral interdisciplinarity is a requirement, with the expectation that this will involve collaboration across disciplines.
The collaboration can include any SHAPE or STEM discipline as long as the research is led by and grounded in the humanities and/or social sciences. Applications that do not meet this requirement will be considered ineligible and will not be taken forward through the assessment process.
The Academy particularly encourages applications led from the humanities.
What does the Academy view as SHAPE disciplines?
Please find a list here of disciplines which we consider to fall within the Humanities and Social Sciences.
This list is not necessarily exhaustive, and we welcome enquiries if you are unsure whether your discipline falls within the remit of the British Academy.
How much is an International Interdisciplinary Research Projects award worth?
The total funding available for each International Interdisciplinary Research Project award is £300,000 over 24 months. This amount is awarded at 80% FEC. This means that the British Academy will provide a maximum of £300,000, but the total project value at 100% FEC may not exceed £375,000.
Please note that 80% FEC is understood in the following manner:
Directly Incurred staff costs e.g. relevant team salary and oncosts: 80%
Other Directly Incurred costs e.g., consumables, travel: 100%
Directly Allocated (e.g. PI salary and estates costs) and Indirect Costs: 80%
When completing the application form, please ensure that you are only entering the 80% FEC figure in the budget table. Applicants will not be required to detail the costs covered by the host institution (i.e. the remaining 20%).
Please note that all British Academy awards are inclusive of VAT. Host institutions are not able to apply for further funds from the British Academy to cover VAT and these costs will need to be considered at the budgeting stage.
Further information on the value of funding for this call can be found in the scheme notes.
How do I budget for international collaborators?
The only exception to 80% FEC in general is the costing of international Co-Applicants, or partners in non-academic settings (in the UK or internationally) who demonstrably do not use and would not use FEC modelling. For such partners the costing regime used should be at 100% for direct costs and a flat rate of 25% of the direct project costs to be allocated for indirect costs. UK-based institutions that would be expected to use FEC may not use this costing regime.
Institutions costed using this regime must be costed separately in the application budget table and clearly explained in the ‘Justification’ field.
I am not based at a HEI, can I apply?
The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a researcher from the humanities and social sciences and be based at an eligible UK university or research institute and hold an established role that will last at least the duration of their prospective award.
If your institution is not already registered on Flexi-Grant please contact [email protected] to request an organisational account. It is required that research organisations be approved as eligible by the British Academy no later than two weeks before the deadline of this call. This means that they will need to be in touch with the Academy well before this date for the approval process to have been undertaken. The final date to request an account for your organisation is 10 September 2025 17:00 (GMT).
The PI must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience) and must plan to spend at least 20% of their time (0.2 FTE equivalent) on their prospective award.
Can an International Interdisciplinary Research Projects application include partners from non-academic backgrounds?
We welcome applications that include expertise from beyond academia, including as Co-Applicants with equivalent experience to postdoctoral status or above. If you would like further guidance, please get in touch with the International Team at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
The involvement of Co-Applicants based overseas is required.
Applications for the International Interdisciplinary Research Projects award may also include any number of ‘Other Participants’ who can be involved in the project alongside the PI and Co-Applicants. These can be a variety of different stakeholders relevant to the project, including in terms of networking, dissemination events, academic and/or policy advisors, or industry representatives etc.
Do co-applicants need to be early career researchers?
Applications can include other researchers based in the UK or internationally at all career stages.
I hold an honorary and/or emeritus position, can I apply?
If you have a contractual relationship with the institution, and the institution is willing to manage the grant on your behalf, you may be eligible to apply. Please get in touch with the International Team at [email protected] and we will be happy to discuss your circumstances.
I am currently applying/the award holder for another British Academy grant. Will I be eligible to apply for International Interdisciplinary Research Projects award?
The British Academy does not allow award holders to hold two or more grants of a comparable nature. If you think this may apply to you, get in touch with the International Team at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
Duplicate applications, which have been submitted to a previous round, are not eligible.
Please note that an individual cannot be the PI on more than one bid under the British Academy’s International Interdisciplinary Research Projects. Nor may a PI be additionally a Co-Applicant on more than one other project.
Are references required? If so, do references count towards the word count?
It is not a requirement to include references, but if you choose to include key citations or literature it would count towards the word count. There are also no specific guidelines on the format of the references, shorter citations are permitted.
Is it possible for our institution to submit more than one proposal for this call?
An individual cannot be the PI on more than one bid under this Programme, but an institution can support more than one application.
Will we be getting feedback on our unsuccessful proposals?
Feedback is not a feature of this programme, and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions of the awarding committee, which are governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying to this programme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.