Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2024

More about the programme 

This programme provides UK-based early career researchers, active in any discipline within the humanities or the social sciences, with the opportunity to develop and lead international and interdisciplinary research projects.

Aims

The British Academy is inviting proposals for the next round of its Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects programme.

The purpose of each project will be to develop new international interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences. Research may be problem-focused, creatively innovative and exploratory, and should bring together relevant disciplines in both the humanities and social sciences, where appropriate, for maximum impact/effect. The Academy requires all applications to fundamentally involve and integrate both the humanities and the social sciences.

The aim of this call is to support international collaborations between early career researchers in the UK and elsewhere on internationally focused research projects of an interdisciplinary nature involving the humanities AND social sciences. Other than this framing of international interdisciplinary research led by early career researchers, the research itself can be focused on any issue or topic. There are no themes to this call. It is open to any research focus if it meets the international interdisciplinary focus.

The Academy envisages that the awards made through the Programme will:

- Provide opportunities for early career researchers based in the UK and internationally to lead and manage international interdisciplinary research projects and teams;

- Enable early career researchers based in the UK and internationally to gain experience and develop their skills in international research, international collaboration and cross- and interdisciplinary research developing their research and career for the future;

- Advance the research field, knowledge exchange, practice and/or policy development in their chosen area;

- Develop ways of communicating and collaborating in cross-disciplinary and multilingual working, in partnership with colleagues internationally.

International Science Partnerships Fund

This round of the programme is supported, as in previous years, by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Funding through this stream is available for UK-based early career researchers to work with international partners anywhere in the world.

In addition, this round has further funding from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. This additional funding is focused on enabling UK-based early career researchers to work with early career researchers in the USA, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, India, Israel and Canada. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is not funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore applications for this funding are not to be ODA-eligible.

Eligibility requirements

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. The PI must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience) and be an early career researcher (up to 7 years post-PhD excluding any career breaks).

The involvement of Co-Applicants based overseas is required. At least one Co-Applicant based outside of the UK must be an early career researcher. It is required that amongst the PI and Co-Applicant(s) there is a range of disciplines from the humanities and the social sciences.

For more details about the programme and the eligibility requirements, please see the Scheme Notes.

Value and duration

Awards of 24 months in duration and up to £300,000 are available.

Funding can be used to support the time of the Principal Investigator and Co-Applicants; postdoctoral (or equivalent) research assistance; travel, fieldwork and related expenses; and networking costs. Awards are offered on an 80% full economic costing basis.

Projects must begin in March/April 2024.

Application process

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy's Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®.

The deadline for submissions and UK institutional approval is: 1 November 2023, 17:00 (GMT).