£1.6 million awarded to small research projects across the UK

The British Academy has awarded £1.6 million to support 188 research projects throughout the UK in its latest round of Small Research Grants.

The awards will support academics working at universities and research institutions across the UK – as well as five independent scholars – studying topics ranging from refugee integration and entrepreneurship to models of food aid provision.

The British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Small Research Grants funding scheme awards up to £10,000 to academics working in SHAPE disciplines (Social Sciences, the Humanities and the Arts for the People and the Economy) – including disciplines such as History, Philosophy, Linguistics, Sociology and Business and Management Studies – helping to cover the cost of expenses arising from a specific research project.

Tenable for a maximum of 24 months, the awards meet a clear need among researchers in the humanities and social sciences as they provide seed funding for pilot and development stages of larger projects and frequently offer the first grant opportunity for early career researchers.

The full list of 2022 Small Research Grants is published online. Examples include:

• “How to feed Britain? Rethinking models of food aid provision” – Dr Ronald Ranta, Kingston University
• “Spies, Suspicion, and Sincerity in British Radical Literature (1790-1804)” – Dr Steph Codsi, University of Bristol
• “The History of Corporate Networks in the UK” – Dr Philip Fliers, Queen’s University Belfast
• “Refugee entrepreneurship and integration: a multiple embeddedness approach” – Dr Doaa Althalathini, Oxford Brookes University
• “The Reshaping of Scottish Football clubs’ Governance and Active Fan Shareholder Engagement Through Shadow Board Arrangement: The Case of Celtic PLC” – Dr Marco Guidi, University of Glasgow
• "Unhoming: Living Through Housing Disaster and Crisis from Ronan Point to the Post-Grenfell Cladding Scandal" – Dr Jenny Preece, University of Sheffield
• “LIVE, WORK, POSE: the History of a Queer House” – Mr Ibtisam Ahmed, Independent Researcher.

Professor Simon Swain, the British Academy’s Vice-President for Research and Higher Education, said:

“We are delighted to announce the latest recipients of the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust’s Small Research Grants. It was brilliant to receive so many ambitious and innovative research proposals from across the SHAPE disciplines (social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy). We wish all the researchers the best of luck with their work and look forward to seeing the results.”