International Writing Workshops 2023 scheme guidance notes

1. The British Academy is inviting proposals seeking to deliver one or more writing workshops.
2. This call is supported from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. This funding is focused on enabling UK-based researchers to work with early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.1 In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.
3. The Academy is able to offer awards of up to £30,000 for 24 months in duration.
4. Applications must be submitted by 6 December 2023, 17.00 (UK time).

5. These awards are aimed at early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries, working to stimulate professional networks, develop research partnerships, encourage skills development, provide advice on career development and promote the uptake of research emanating from developing countries. If research taking place in developing countries is to be strengthened, then the researchers themselves need to be better connected to each other as well as to the rest of the world. It is expected that journal editors and other scholars will work intensively to support the workshop participants to produce papers in preparation for publication.

6. Awards are expected to involve significant time devoted to mentorship between early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries, other academics and journal editors, although the Academy does not have a preferred model for how this is to be achieved. Applicants could note that successful workshops in the past have required participants to submit draft articles in advance of the workshop in order to provide a strong basis for the training and mentorship, maximising the opportunity for engagement with journal editors and other scholars. Another successful model in the past – though it is recognised that it is not always either feasible or desirable – has been to link writing workshops to a larger event or conference, an approach which has allowed participants to engage in opportunities they may not otherwise have had access to, and potentially augmenting the impact of the workshop on the careers of participants.

7. The Academy does believe it is critical that writing workshop awards consider the pre-workshop preparation, the workshop(s) themselves, AND follow-on and follow-up after the workshop(s) has taken place.

8. There is no set duration for writing workshops, but the Academy notes that those workshops where time is primarily allocated to sessions that allow early career researchers, other academics and journal editors to work together over two or three days have worked successfully in the past and have supported the development of sustained mentorship beyond the duration of the award itself.

9. The workshops should not be designed as a writing retreat, but a hands-on programme of training, skills development and mentoring including preparing work by early career researchers for publication, and to equip them with the skills and understanding to facilitate publication in academic journals and prepare grant applications.

10. Writing workshops are training, skills development and mentoring workshops – the organisers’ research should NOT form a part of the programme for a workshop. Applications that are submitted that do not adhere to this will not be supported.

11. The primary intended deliverable is to encourage and support early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries to publish in high impact journals in the fields of the humanities and social sciences. Considerable emphasis is placed on the crucial early stages of an academic research career: the future of humanities and social sciences research – and research in general – lies in ensuring that new and emerging researchers are equipped with the skills and knowledge to develop bold agendas and to lead research and their institutions forward. This builds on a series of reports the Academy has supported with the Association of Commonwealth Universities, known as the Nairobi Process.

12. Applicants are encouraged to consider submitting a proposal for a special issue of the open access Journal of the British Academy following the workshops.

13. The workshops must include at least one session providing advice on the drafting of grant applications. The Academy will also provide a presentation on grant opportunities that are currently available.

14. The workshops should enable early career researchers based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries to build scholarly networks and connections with academics and journal editors in the UK and elsewhere. This will be measured through participant feedback and post-event reports collected by the applicant.

15. The Academy notes that a writing workshop award should be seen as much more than simply a ‘writing workshop’. The awards, in effect, are making a career intervention, creating networks, developing soft skills, setting aside dedicated time for research, instilling and aiming to change long-term academic culture, and engaging with the wider ecosystem researchers inhabit.

16. All applicants must ensure that structural inequalities are considered and addressed within the proposed application. Structural inequalities include those based on gender, age, disability, ethnicity, race, religion and spatial factors. Applicants should make a genuine effort to integrate adequate analysis of gender and other structural inequalities in their application design. This should go beyond beneficiaries, for example recognising the assumptions and implications of education and learning programming on mothers, fathers and the female workforce.

17. It is expected that this application and the research it would undertake will be underpinned by partnerships between researchers, institutions and with wider stakeholders. Equity is key to ensuring that these partnerships are effective.

18. Applicants are required to justify the equity within their proposed partnerships. Any applications that are deemed to not support equitable partnerships will not be funded.

19. Applicants will be required to detail how their project will ensure equitable partnerships, including how it will take note that partnerships should: be transparent and based on mutual respect; should aim to have clearly articulated equitable distribution of resources, responsibilities, efforts and benefits; should recognise different inputs, different interests and different desired outcomes; and should ensure the ethical sharing and use of data which is responsive to the identified needs of society.

20. The International Writing Workshops Programme is supported under the International Science Partnerships Fund and this call will fund only ODA-eligible projects.

21. Only research that has a primary objective which is directly and primarily relevant to the problems of developing countries may be counted as ODA. We will require applicants to demonstrate that the proposal is ODA eligible. ODA eligibility is an essential criterion – projects will only be deemed eligible for funding if they can demonstrate that they satisfy ODA eligibility criteria.

22. You should refer to this additional ODA guidance document for applicants when developing your proposal.

23. The lead applicant must be based at a UK university or eligible research institute, and be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience). The lead applicant must either be in a permanent position at the institution or have a fixed-term position for the duration of the award.

24. Institutions: The award must be held at a UK-based institution recognised by the Academy. The following types of organisations will be eligible to apply to host the Fellowship:

• Higher Education Institutes that received funding from one of the UK higher education funding bodies.
• Research institutes (RIs), for which research councils have established a long-term involvement as major funder as part of the national research base.
• Approved relevant Independent Research Organisations.
• Public Sector Research Organisations.

25. Each application must have at least one Co-Applicant based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.

26. Workshops must take place in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.

27. An individual cannot be the PI on more than one bid for funding from this programme. No individual may be a Co-Applicant on more than two projects (nor may a PI be additionally a Co-Applicant on more than one other project).

28. Future applications for funding will not be considered unless a satisfactory report and statement of expenditure for the previous award have been submitted.

29. Applications under this call will not be accepted if the PI or Co-Applicants have any outstanding reports or statements of expenditure which are still to be submitted to the Academy following previous Writing Workshop awards.

30. The International Science Partnerships Fund in the context of this call is funded by Official Development Assistance, therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.

31. The UK host organisation is expected to adopt the principles, standards and good practice for the management of research staff set out in the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers (2019) and subsequent amendments. Research staff should be appointed on terms that are no less favourable than those of comparable posts in the host organisation.

32. The value of the award is set at a maximum of £30,000. Funding must be used in the direct delivery of the workshops, and can cover travel and related expenses, subsistence costs, clerical assistance and consumables, childcare support (including for participants), and networking, meeting and/or conference costs.

33. It will be considered an eligible cost to support the contribution of non-UK based Co-Applicants who are directly involved in helping to organise the workshop(s) in country. This is not the case for UK-based and non-local organisers.

34. Awards will be paid in full on acceptance of the award from March 2024. Payment will be made to the UK institution where the PI is based.

35. Projects must be 24 months in duration. This is to enable and acknowledge the significant follow-on and follow-up activities that a successful writing workshop award will need to undertake.

36. The call is expected to be able to support around 17 awards.

37. The Academy expects applicants funded under this programme to highlight and manage any risks related to the award. We expect an assessment of any risks entailed within the workshop(s) to be outlined in the proposal (for example, risks associated with the delivery of the workshop(s), financial management, and oversight/governance).

38. If there is a risk that the workshops will be in an area of civil unrest, violence/crime, applicants will be required to indicate if (and where) they intend to undertake workshops in such areas. For countries/regions considered by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office as a host nation of medium or high risk, applicants will also be required to demonstrate that the PI (and the PI’s host institution) understand the risk management implications and can monitor and manage the risks effectively. This should include, but not be limited to, any risks that researchers will encounter in an area of civil unrest, violence and/or crime.

39. Risk management will be explicitly covered in the approval of any application by the appropriate authorities at the PI’s host institution, to confirm that the duty of care responsibility rests with the host institution.

40. Research and innovation (R&I) activities funded by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), provided through Partner Organisations, comply with the requirements of the DSIT R&I Gender Equality Policy, which states that activities must tackle instances of underrepresentation, differential needs and systemic disadvantage to improve the relevance of R&I findings that support the inclusion, reduce the impact of bias, and ultimately, contribute to reducing inequalities among genders. This includes but is not limited to Official Development Assistance activities, in line with the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014.

41. All applications are strongly recommended to thoroughly review the above publication before designing and drafting their application.

42. All applicants must submit as part of their application a gender equality statement, which must meet compliance standards as set out in the above publication. All applications will be reviewed at the eligibility and assessment stages to ensure they meet the necessary requirements. Not meeting the necessary requirements will mean that applications are automatically not fundable.

43. Successful applicants will be required to provide the Academy with a post-event report within three months of the end date of the workshop. The report should include:

• A brief description of the activities undertaken during the workshop(s), those who attended and their institutional affiliations, and a summary of lessons learnt;
• How these activities achieved the workshops’ aims and objectives and what outcomes and impact the workshop(s) had;
• An analysis of the participant feedback collected at the workshops;
• A final statement of expenditure.

44. In addition, award holders will be contacted following the close of their award to report on the activities that participants have undertaken following the workshops and award.

45. Any underspend will be required to be refunded to the British Academy.

46. Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• The quality and significance of the proposal, in particular in relation to making a significant advance in the career development of early career researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries;
• The feasibility of the proposal in terms of the structure and planning of the workshop and support from local partners and journals, and appropriate timing and plan of action, including the past track record of the applicant;
• Evidence that the workshop is ODA eligible. Only projects that demonstrate that they satisfy ODA eligibility criteria will be eligible for funding;
• Whether the gender equality statement meets or exceeds the minimum standard as set out in the Gender Equality in Research and Innovation policy;
• Value for money.

47. All applicants must register in the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant Grant Management System to enable the processing and assessment of their application. All applications must be submitted in English.

48. All applications will be subject to an eligibility check undertaken by appropriate British Academy staff before being put forward for assessment, and applications that are not completed correctly and on time will not be considered.

49. Applicants will not be able to submit their application on Flexi-Grant until they have completed each section in full. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their application is submitted in good and sufficient time for it to be approved by the PI’s employing institution. Applicants should submit their application for approval by a designated approver at the host organisation at least 5 working days before the closing date to allow for the host organisation’s administrative procedures.

50. Proposals must be completed, submitted and approved by 6 December 2023, 17.00 UK time.

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

52. Feedback is not a feature of the British Academy’s Writing Workshops 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.

53. Should you have any queries, please contact: [email protected]

Applications can only be submitted online using the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) system via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/). If you have not previously used the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® GMS, please follow the registration process from the Flexi-Grant® homepage. Applications cannot be submitted on paper or in any other format. The deadline for applications to be submitted is Wednesday 6 December 2023, 17.00 UK time. The application will always be treated as confidential.

When completing your application on Flexi-Grant®, it is recommended that you take particular note of the following points:

• Personal details: When registered in the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system, 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. It is useful if this information is kept up to date, but it is not essential to the progress of an application.
• Automatic log-out: You are strongly advised to save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of information. In particular you should be aware that if the system does not detect any activity for 2 hours it will log out and save the application at that time. Please note that moving between pages within an application form will save the page that you are exiting but completing a field on a page is not considered an activity. It is recommended that you write the text for longer sections/fields in a word processor such as Word and then copy and paste into the relevant text box to avoid being timed out in this way.
• Multiple sessions: You should not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open at the same time as this may cause information to be lost. Only one user should edit an application at a time, otherwise changes might be lost.
• Word limits: When completing boxes that have a restricted length (note that it refers to words) you should note that if you exceed the specified amount you will not be able to save when you press the save button. You should type the text for the longer-length boxes in a word processor. You will then be able to check the word count and paste it into the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You will then still have a copy of the text to return to in the word processor. The word limit applies to text boxes.
• Plain text: If entering plain text, please avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by the British Academy Flexi-Grant® system. You should generate and view a PDF of your application to check that the application appears as you want it to by clicking on ‘print form’.
• Uploading 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. Please note we will only print your applications in black and white. Each PDF cannot exceed 3 Mb in size.
• Email addresses: The British Academy Flexi-Grant® system relies heavily on automatic email contact. It is essential that you ensure you enter accurate email addresses where requested as it may cause considerable delay in the submission/processing of your application if any of these are incorrect. You cannot make changes to email addresses after your application has been submitted for approval.
• Submission: You will not be able to submit your application until you have completed each section in full. It is your responsibility to ensure that your application is submitted in good time, and in sufficient time, for it to be approved by your employing institution. You should submit your application for approval by a designated approver at your host organisation at least 5 working days before the closing date to allow for your host organisation’s administrative procedures.
• Application sharing: All applications must be started by the applicant who is to be the Principal Investigator (PI) on the award. You can invite other contributors to join the application (e.g. Finance Office contact), but in order to do so your contributor will need to be registered in the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® system first. You will need to ensure you have their registered email address to invite them to participate in your application. You can let other British Academy Flexi-Grant® users view your draft application, in advance of submission, by providing their email address and entering the permissions you want them to have. They will be able to log in using their existing password and also see and, depending on permissions, amend your application.
• Application deletion: You can delete your application at any time although it is often a lot easier to just re-edit your existing application. We will be able to recover a deleted application for a period of 7 days after deletion. After this it will be permanently removed from the system.
• Application returned for editing: The approver can return your application to you for further editing. See ‘Submission of Application’ below.
• Guidance: In the tables below you will find in the left-hand column each question as set out in the application sections and in the right-hand column useful guidance on its completion.
• Further clarification: If any of this advice is unclear, or you need further information, please do not hesitate to seek clarification from the British Academy's International Team (contact details below).

PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU CREATE A PDF OF YOUR COMPLETED APPLICATION (by clicking ‘Download as PDF’), AND CHECK IT THOROUGHLY, INCLUDING EMAIL ADDRESSES AND UPLOADED PDF FILES, BEFORE SUBMITTING IT FOR APPROVAL BY YOUR HOST ORGANISATION. 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: Workshop Proposal

Page 2: Financial Details

Page 3: Primary Applicant Details

Page 4: Co-Applicant Details

Page 5: Equal Opportunities

A full list of question fields to be completed as part of the application can be found in the following table. Each box in the table represents a page of the application form: the left-hand column contains the questions within each of these pages as set out in the form; the right-hand column contains useful guidance on its completion. A red asterisk (*) indicates which questions are mandatory and therefore must be complete before the application can be submitted. Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the form.

PLEASE BE AWARE: it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for the UK host organisation to process it and provide their approval by the approval deadline. Once they have checked your application, they will contact you if any changes are required. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process.