Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Maximum award:
£100,000
Publication date:
31 January 2025
Opening date:
31 January 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
Open - no closing date
Last updated: 6 May 2025 -
Flexible awards to fund fundamental research that leads to new research agendas, networking activity and idea generation, which enables the development of further research opportunities and new research agendas.
Awards are available for projects up to £100,000 full economic cost (FEC) and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) will fund 80% of this. Funding is available for projects up to five years in duration.
Who can apply
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
Before applying for funding, please check:
* your. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role names for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service
* that your
* the if you are unsure whether your proposed research falls within the remit of AHRC
Who is eligible to apply
Years of active research experience
Applications are welcomed from researchers across all career stages, from early career to established researchers.
Employment
The project lead and any project co-leads must be employed and supported by an eligible organisation for at least the duration of the UKRI support. It is not a requirement that a contract be in place at the point of application submission. It is also not a requirement to have a permanent employment contract to apply for funding.
Skills and qualifications
You must have the appropriate skills to lead the project in line with UKRI’s terms and conditions. There are no specific qualification requirements, and you do not necessarily need a qualification such as a PhD. During your project, you must be primarily based and permitted to work in the UK.
You do not need to hold an academic research or teaching post to apply. Applications are welcomed from those working, for example, as archivists, curators, librarians, technicians and practitioners.
International researchers
We also encourage international researchers to participate as project co-leads. See sections two and three of the for full details on eligibility of researchers, organisations, and costs.
Project co-leads
Project co-leads are permitted and encouraged for interdisciplinary applications or where a co-lead would provide specific technical expertise that is essential to the project. This can include international co-leads as per the guidance below.
However, it must be clear that the project lead is responsible for leading the project. Project co-leads are permitted to have previously led or be currently leading a significant research project and are not required to meet the eligibility criteria above.
Other roles
Other roles that are supported by this funding opportunity are listed in the ‘How to apply’ section below.
Who is not eligible to apply
We do not support project studentships (funding PhD study) within this funding opportunity.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion
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.
What we're looking for
Scope
Curiosity awards support early-stage ambitious and novel fundamental research which has the potential to act as a springboard towards new and exciting research agendas.
The funding opportunity celebrates the full diversity of the arts and humanities. It is flexible, and applications are welcomed from teams, networks, and solo researchers.
Projects can be single discipline, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. The majority of the disciplinary focus of the project must fall within our subject remit, see section seven of the for our remit coverage. Practice-based and practice-led research is supported by this funding opportunity.
Partnerships and collaboration are supported. Where partnerships are already established, you should outline how this funding supports novelty in your collaboration. Applications should articulate how collaborative activity will be conducted, considering good practice in creating equitable partnerships. Further guidance is available in the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) .
The funding opportunity is intentionally flexible. An indicative list of examples of the activities we will fund are provided as follows. You are encouraged to request and justify costs for activities that best meet the aims of your project. This may include:
* idea generation
* seed corn funding
* high risk and high potential concepts
* novel research
* networking activity
* partnership building
* knowledge exchange
* public engagement
* international collaboration
* scoping and piloting, for example, early-stage proof of concept for ideas or change of direction
* pivots in research focus at any career stage
* mentoring for members of the research team
To note, this is not a prescriptive or exhaustive list.
Duration
The duration of these awards is up to five years.
The project start date must also be at least six months from the point of the application submission to us.
Funding available
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £100,000 and we will fund 80% of the FEC.
Costs associated with project co-lead internationals will be funded at 100% FEC but must not exceed 30% of the total FEC of the project. However this funding cap does not apply to any PcL(I) based in a country on the. PcL(I)s from a country on the OECD DAC list (excepting India and China) are also eligible to claim overheads support.
Please read sections two and three of our for further details on eligibility of these costs.
Where mentoring is included for the researchers, salary costs to cover the mentor’s time can be claimed from the grant. They should be entered in the Directly Incurred or Directly Allocated categories in the Resources and Costs section.
What we will fund
You are encouraged to request and justify costs for activities that best meet the aims of your project.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the and the .
International collaboration
If your application includes international co-leads, project partners or collaborators, visit sections two and three of the for details on eligibility of researchers, organisations and costs.
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. Trusted Research and Innovation (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 you can find additional support.
How to apply
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
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. You should:
* use images sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words
* insert each new image onto a new line
* provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit)
* ensure files are smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Watch our .
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
* * *
References
Applications should be self-contained, and hyperlinks should only be used to provide links directly to reference information. To ensure the information’s integrity is maintained, where possible, persistent identifiers such as digital object identifiers should be used. Assessors are not required to access links to carry out assessment or recommend a funding decision. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
References should be included in the appropriate question section of the application and be easily identifiable by the assessors, for example (Smith, Research Paper, 2019).
You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
This funding opportunity is always open, with no closing date, so there is no specific deadline for applications.
AHRC will begin the assessment process as soon as an application is received, ensuring that you receive a timely decision. We are committed to holding regular decision points throughout the year.
Due to system limitations, a closing date will appear on the Funding Service. Please disregard this date while preparing your application and submit it when you are ready.
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.
If your application is rejected and invited for resubmission, we aim to complete the assessment process within nine months of receiving your resubmission, rather than from the date of your original application.
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 .
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 .
Publication of outcomes
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the.
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
* professional enabling staff
* research and innovation associate
* technician
Only list one individual as project lead.
Mentor details should not be entered in this section, instead please outline their name and contribution in the Applicant and team capability to deliver section.
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.