Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Co-funders:
Taighde Éireann (Research Ireland)
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£150,000
Maximum award:
£35,000
Publication date:
12 January 2026
Opening date:
12 January 2026 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
24 March 2026 4:00pm UK time
This funding opportunity will support the growth of networks of researchers, practitioners and industry partners across the UK and Ireland focused on the development of creative economy research, skills and innovation.
You must:
* be based at an organisation eligible to apply to Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
* include a project lead that is eligible for funding from Research Ireland. See Guidance for Irish co-Lead for more information
* be proposing activities within the creative economy
Each network must commence by 30 September 2026 and the grant will be for a fixed term of 12 months.
Who is eligible to apply: UK applicants
This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility, and organisations who are based overseas. .
Applicants in the UK must meet .
Funding will be distributed among the research partners according to the researchers’ place of work and, in general, according to the funding rules of each individual agency.
We encourage the inclusion of early career researchers, specialists and technicians in proposals to this funding opportunity.
Who is eligible to apply: Ireland applicants
On 25 September 2024, the Taighde Éireann-Research Ireland Board approved. The policy is guided by the Research and Innovation Act 2024, which provides for the establishment and functions of Research Ireland. Although the Act refers to the Eligible Research Body as ‘the applicant’, for the purpose of this call, the applicant will be deemed to be the individual submitting an application on behalf of the Eligible Research Body.
Employment status
This funding opportunity is open to only. Applicants will be expected to hold (or be guaranteed) a minimum 50% full time equivalent contract with the host research body. Please see the for more information.
Because they are not considered to be independent investigators at the time of application postdoctoral researchers are not eligible to apply to this funding opportunity even if their host research body agrees that an academic staff member position will be provided to the applicant in the event of the application being funded.
For applicants, the following employment status criteria applies:
The Irish co-lead must be a member of academic staff in a Research Ireland, and hold either a permanent contract or a contract that covers the period of the grant or an independent contract researcher with a signed contract in place on the date of proposal submission to Research Ireland. This contract must cover the period of the grant, and the contract researcher must be recognised by the Research Body as an independent investigator and have an independent office and (if applicable) research space at the host Research Body for which the researcher will be fully responsible for at least the duration of the grant.
Project teams
Each application must be joint led by eligible research organisations from the UK and Ireland. Both entities must have a project lead (PL).
The UK team must be led by a researcher who meets AHRC’s individual eligibility criteria, proposing research which falls within the remit of AHRC.
The Irish team must be led by a researcher eligible and which meet the criteria as mentioned above.
Organisations from the creative industries sub-sectors on which the network will focus should be included as project partners.
Equality, diversity and inclusion: AHRC-UKRI
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Subsidy control: AHRC-UKRI
It is the responsibility of the research organisation to ensure that at all times any grant funding requested or awarded is compliant with the, for more information please consult the relevant section of the .
Equality, diversity and inclusion: Research Ireland
Research Ireland is committed to building equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within the Irish research and innovation sector. The Agency recognises that excellent research stems from diverse and inclusive teams, which reflect our society and the communities we serve. As such, Research Ireland aspires to proactively lead in driving the EDI agenda forward through the research and research teams that it funds.
In Research Ireland’s External, increasing the number of women and members of Historically Underserved Communities (including but not limited to the nine protected grounds established in the and socioeconomic status) in Applicant Teams are key objectives. As such, women and members of Historically Underserved Communities are strongly encouraged to apply to this programme.
Furthermore, as part of its EDI Strategy, Research Ireland also aims to increase awareness of the sex and gender dimension in research, by requesting that researchers demonstrate that they have considered any potential biological sex and/or socio-cultural gender aspects in their proposed research programme.
Policies and positions: Research Ireland
In addition to complying with, you are expected to be familiar and consult with and with relevant national policies when preparing your application to any Research Ireland programme call. All members involved in the funded programme of research should be apprised of the following non-exhaustive list of relevant policies:
* animal usage
* research integrity
* maternity, paternity and adoptive leave policy
* appeals process
* child protection
* data protection policy
* open research
* data management
* grant budget policy
* state aid
* disability policy
As per Research Ireland’s grant conditions (inclusive of Research Ireland’s, Letters of Offer and ), all Research Ireland funding granted is subject to, and must be compliant with, state aid legislation based on .
A project funded under the UK-Ireland Collaboration in the Creative Economy – Research Networking Awards that involves collaboration with an must comply with the relevant provisions of Effective Collaboration under Section 2 of the by ensuring the project does not, directly or indirectly, give rise to the granting of state aid or a subsidy and therefore is classified as ‘No State Aid’ or ‘No Subsidy.’. For further details, please see section 6.2 of the
Aim
AHRC and Research Ireland are collaborating on a new research programme that will deliver transformational impact on creative economy research between the UK and Ireland. The programme will exploit complementary strengths in the creative economy between centres of excellence in both countries, leading to new and sustainable collaborations and strengthening world-class research and industry capacity across the UK and Irish ecosystems.
The programme aims are to:
* support the UK and Irish governments’ ambition for closer UK-Ireland research collaboration
* build and consolidate new partnerships between creative industries researchers, industry experts and policymakers in Ireland and the UK
* capitalise on the wider momentum towards UK-Irish creative industries collaboration through bringing mutual ambitions around policy, evidence and infrastructure into contact with existing capabilities
* deliver innovative and integrated research that promotes the sharing of best practice and knowledge exchange between creative research institutions in both countries, as well as supporting economic growth through research and innovation and maximising co-investment
* establish UK and Irish researchers at the forefront of global creative economy research and position them to capitalise on the opportunities through EU research funding and to show progress towards triple helix funding
* strengthen and inform policy and evidence ecosystems in the UK and Ireland
* clearly demonstrate the specific added value of enhanced Ireland-UK research collaboration across the breadth of the creative economy
* strengthen creative skills pipelines for researchers in both countries, producing researchers and practitioners who are well equipped to navigate the opportunities and challenges emerging from rapidly evolving UK-Ireland creative economy
This funding opportunity aims to form research networks and conduct collaborative networking and partnership development activities between creative economy researchers and wider stakeholders in the Ireland and the four nations of the UK. Specifically, this funding opportunity aims to support a diverse range of projects that:
* build and consolidate new partnerships between researchers and stakeholders in the UK and Ireland and provide a platform for longer-term collaboration
* deliver innovative research networking activities that are appropriately tailored to the themes and areas being addressed, such as workshops, seminars and other events, and outreach, mobility, engagement, skills and knowledge exchange activity
* are genuinely collaborative and involve both research organisations and industry and other relevant stakeholders in both countries
* promote the sharing of best practice and knowledge exchange between institutions in the UK and Ireland and clearly demonstrate the specific added value of enhanced collaboration in the field
Scope
This networking funding opportunity builds upon the input gathered during the, which informed the eligible themes and cross-cutting issues. It aims at being a stepping stone to larger international research-industry collaboration through the development of new collaborations and the expansion of existing ones.
Please note that you do not need to have attended this workshop to be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.
Programme terminology
This strong alignment between creative economy priorities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland provides a natural platform for collaborative research across the two countries.
The defines the creative economy as “an evolving concept that drives economic growth, supports job creation, and fosters social inclusion and cultural diversity. It emphasizes integrating economic, cultural, and social aspects with technology and intellectual property”. For this funding opportunity ‘creative economy’ will be defined by this definition. Projects will also be expected to focus on at least one of the sectors outlined below.
UK
The UK Government’s Creative Industries definition is based on the and is defined as “industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill, and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property.”
For the UK Government, these have been grouped into :
* advertising and marketing
* architecture
* crafts
* design (includes product, graphic and fashion design)
* film, TV, video, radio and photography
* IT, software and computer Services
* publishing
* museums, galleries and libraries
* music, performing and visual arts
The identified four priority sub-sectors for research and innovation investment and boosting economic growth:
* film and TV
* music, performing and visual arts
* video games
* advertising and marketing
The Sector Plan sets out the ambition for the UK that:
“By 2035 the UK’s position as a global creative superpower will be enhanced with the UK becoming the number one destination worldwide for investment in creativity and innovation. Our ambition is to significantly increase business investment by the Creative Industries from £17 billion to £31 billion. We will retain our position in the face of intense international competition and drive growth across the economy, benefitting workers and businesses across the UK. By 2035, the UK will be recognised as the best place in the world to make and invest in film and TV, video games, music, performing and visual arts, and advertising and marketing.”
Ireland
Growing Irish strengths in creative industries innovation have partly stemmed from the country hosting eight out of the top 10 global information technology companies (such as HP, IBM, and Apple), as well as creative games businesses including Big Fish, EA, Riot Games, and Jolt. The presence of such companies, as well as the strong partnerships forged between government, industry, and academic institutions in developing high-quality technical talent, has enabled Ireland to move forward as a research and development leader in specific creative sectors including animation. Indeed, animation companies such as Brown Bag Films, Piranha Bar, Pink Kong and Cartoon Saloon are developing extensive new technologies and unique intellectual property for TV, film games, mobile, and virtual and augmented reality, with the latter company alone having picked up five Academy Award nominations in recent years.
Focusing on enabling ‘smart specialisation, clustering and place-based approaches to the development of the design, digital games, and content creation industries’, the published in 2018 sets out a plan for Ireland as a global hub or film, TV drama and animation. The sets out a plan for targeted Creative Industries.
In an EU context, the economic contribution of Ireland’s creative industries registered the highest growth rate of any Member State between 2013 and 2017, with growth in value added of 44.8%.
As outlined in the Digital Creative Industries Roadmap 2024-26, the creative industries are those industries which utilise creativity as a means to deliver commercial success and employment. Ireland includes the following sectors:
* advertising
* design
* software and digital games
* audiovisual sector
* publishing and press
* architecture
* music
* fashion
* wider arts
* libraries and cultural heritage
For the purpose of this bilateral funding opportunity, the consolidated list of subsectors to be considered is:
* advertising and marketing
* architecture
* crafts
* design (includes product, graphic and fashion design)
* film, TV, video, radio and photography
* IT, software, digital games and computer services
* publishing
* museums and galleries
* music, performing and visual arts
Activity scope
Research networking awards cover the costs of networking activities that support the exchange of ideas across boundaries – primarily between researchers in the arts and humanities, but also with colleagues in other disciplines and sectors including industry and policy.
Your proposal should explore new areas for research, skills and innovation, include user communities from across the creative economies of UK and Ireland, and include innovative approaches. You must justify the chosen approach and explain the added value of bringing the network participants together and how the network will support the creative economies of UK and Ireland.
Funds should be costed into each national component (£2000 and €2000) for accommodation and travel costs to attend a programme workshop to be organised by AHRC and Research Ireland in April or May 2027 (location and date to be agreed once projects start). Attendance will be mandatory at this two-day workshop and more details will be provided once awards start.
Any application must be distinct from any other funding through the Shared Island Fund.
Duration
The duration of this award is 12 months from the start of the award.
Projects must start by the end of September 2026.
Funding available
It is expected that five awards will be made under this funding opportunity (subject to proposals meeting the criteria and quality standards).
You must note that AHRC and Research Ireland retain the right to reject proposals where they fail to comply with the procedures set out in the guidelines of the respective agency.
Any changes in exchange rate from the original application will need to be absorbed by the successful research organisation.
AHRC-UKRI funding
The full economic cost of the UK component of your activities can be up to £35,000. AHRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (up to £28,000).
Standard AHRC funding requirements apply to the UK component as outlined in. Ineligible costs include funding for PhD students and items of equipment costing over £10,000. UK costs should be approved by an eligible UK research organisation in line with the requirements of full economic costing for applications to UK research councils.
A detailed justification of the requested budget will be required. For UK costs, this should be included in the resource and cost justification section embedded in your UKRI Funding Service application.
Research Ireland funding
Research Ireland will provide up to €35,000 direct costs, excluding overheads at 30%.
Standard Research Ireland funding requirements apply to the Ireland component as outlined in .
The costs eligible for grant support by Research Ireland under the AHRC-Research Ireland Partnership are those costs which can, uniquely and unambiguously, be identified with the Irish component of the proposed research project. The Irish co-lead must give details of all relevant costs, including staff, equipment, materials and travel. Items of equipment costing over €10,000 are not eligible. Contributions to the salary of the applicant or partners are not eligible costs.
Irish costs should be entered into the Research Ireland budget template as part of the ‘Research Ireland documentation’ section of the Funding Service application.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. TR&I is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
, including where applicants can find additional support.
AHRC is delivering this funding opportunity in collaboration with Research Ireland via the new. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
Only the lead UK research organisation can submit an application to UKRI. The UK project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and partners to contribute to the application.
Only the UK project lead needs to register with the Funding Service directly. Project co-leads (both UK and international) will receive an email notification when the project lead has entered their details into the system. This email will guide individuals to create an account on the Funding Service by verifying their details. This will allow them to view and read the application.
Please note that for administrative purposes, all named researchers from the Irish team must be listed as ‘project co-lead (international)’.
Important information for Irish lead
The Irish lead applicant must provide the UK lead applicant with the information required in the ‘Research Ireland documentation’ question in the Funding Service. The templates to use to do this can be accessed on the. Required documentation includes the following mandatory elements:
* Research Ireland budget form
* Research Ireland application cover sheet
* Budget justification (up to two sides of A4)
* Gender/Sex dimension declaration form
* Letter of Endorsement from the Irish Co-Lead’s Eligible Research Body
A PDF copy of the research proposal submitted through the Funding Service must be sent to by 24 March 2026 at 4:00pm (UK time). Files must be named as follows: IrishPI’sLASTname(IrishERB)_UKinstitution_FileNAME (Example: Murphy(DCU)_LSE_Research Ireland.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
* provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
* insert each new image on a new line
* use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
* sentences or paragraphs of text
* tables
* excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
* * *
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
* references are easily identifiable by the assessors
* references are formatted as appropriate to your research
* persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI): AHRC-UKRI
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the
Generative artificial intelligence (AI): Research Ireland
Research Ireland does not prohibit applicants from, however, the responsibility to abide by the principles of research integrity and accountability while using generative AI lies with the applicants and host institutions. The use of such tools must not, in any way, compromise the originality of the proposed research.
Deadline
AHRC and Research Ireland must receive your application by 24 March 2026 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time. Please make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our .
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to share the application and any personal information that it contains with Research Ireland so that they can participate in the assessment process.
For more information on how Research Ireland uses personal information, read the .
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
* individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
* declaration of interest
* additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
* conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read
Institutional Matched Funding: AHRC-UKRI
There is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations. Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged.
This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.
Publication of outcomes
AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity via in August 2026.
Research Ireland will publish the outcomes for this funding opportunity via the .
If your application is successful, UKRI will publish some personal information on the .
Reporting
In the spirit of the consortium-based nature of this bilateral funding opportunity, Research Ireland and AHRC have converged to similar reporting requirements. The Irish lead will be asked to submit annual progress reports to Research Ireland, following the same calendar as the UK lead. The reporting templates, which will be circulated at the post-award stage, will be based on the ResearchFish structure. At a kick off meeting early in the award, the templates for these will be discussed in more detail as well as the clear monitoring, learning and evaluation considerations appropriate to the scale of the award which applicants will include as part of their approach section.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
* opinion-formers
* policymakers
* the public
* the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
* context
* the challenge the project addresses
* aims and objectives
* potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* project co-lead (international) (PcL (I))
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
* research and innovation associate
* technician
Only list one individual as project lead. This must be the UK project lead for the purpose of submission. This requirement is just for the submission process as there must be a UK and Irish project lead as part of the equitable partnership requirement.
Please note that for administrative purposes, all applicants and co-applicants from the Irish team must be listed as project co-lead (international) in this section of the UKRI application. This will not determine the status of researchers within the Irish team, which must still have a project lead and can optionally include additional team members.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.