£5million investment from Wellcome turbocharges support and skills development for early career researchers, nurturing academic leaders of the future

The British Academy today welcomes an investment of £5million from Wellcome, to launch a unique Leadership and Advancement SHAPE programme for researchers in the early stages of their careers. The funding strengthens a long-running relationship between the two organisations to strengthen and support the humanities and social science research landscape.

The initiative will deliver on a shared strategic mission for both organisations: to strengthen and nurture a healthy, equitable research culture for social science, humanities and arts (SHAPE) scholars at the start of their career.

An initial three-year pilot will be open to early career researchers in the British Academy’s successful Early Career Researcher Network (ECRN) as well as those supported by Wellcome. Offering an accredited programme of training, workshops and skills development, the programme will focus on leadership, mentorship and coaching alongside professional skills.

Through training in the latest methods and tactics, the programme will build on the supportive community and programme of career development events already established through the Academy’s ECRN, seeking to develop strong and resilient academic leaders of the future: plugging a skills development gap within the UK’s stretched higher education and research landscape.

Since its inception, the ECRN has grown from a single cluster with 500 members to over 6,000 members, to be located in nine regions across the UK by the end of 2025. An independent evaluation undertaken in 2022 described it as “addressing an important need in the arts, humanities and social sciences landscape” and “an undoubted success among ECRs”.

The investment also builds on a long-running partnership between the British Academy and Wellcome. Existing support includes the hugely popular Small Research Grants award scheme which has supported over 150 awards since 2020, and an academic Conferences programme facilitating over 36 Conferences in the same period, bringing together scholars from around the world to convene on key SHAPE issues.

The programme will launch in the Autumn, with further details and eligibility criteria to be shared on the Academy’s website.

Professor Julia Black, President of the British Academy, said:

“Our goal with the ECRN is to provide a resource for its members, responding to their needs so that they can learn new skills, build new networks, and drive innovative, world-leading SHAPE research. But we couldn’t do this work alone. I am grateful to our generous supporters: the Wolfson Foundation, who helped us to launch and grow the Network to the success it now is, and to Wellcome. This significant injection of support is a vote of confidence in the pipeline of research talent within our disciplines: the leading minds and British Academy Fellows of the future.”

Ben Murton, Head of Early Career and Career Development Researchers at Wellcome, said:

“Our Discovery Research programme funds bold and creative proposals across a broad range of fields – including research at the intersection of the social sciences, humanities and human health. We are thrilled to be partnering with the British Academy to support the professional development of early career SHAPE researchers, especially in their leadership skills which will underpin excellence in research culture and empower the transdisciplinary approaches essential to tackling the pressing health issues we face today."

Emily Gathergood from the University of Nottingham, a member of the ECRN, said:

“I value the professional development opportunities provided by the British Academy’s ECRN. I’ve benefitted greatly from the community of fellow Early Career Researchers, the training in career-building skills, and the panel sessions with experts and award-holders on successful grant writing. I feel realistically prepared and excited about my next steps.”