Funding for an Early Career Researcher (ECR) to build strong collaborative partnerships across the cultural policy ecosystem and to enhance their research and career experience as part of the wider Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme.
Within this broader programme context, the aims of the LUCIA-LGA ECR fellowship are to:
- enrich the development of equitable cross-sector partnerships between LUCIA programme networks, and local, regional and national government, in partnership with the LGA
- strengthen efforts to build research capabilities and enable broader co-creation between stakeholders across the diverse cultural and cultural policy sector
- deliver high quality, impactful and accessible research into the ways equitable cross-sector partnerships can connect effectively to cultural policy design
- develop the fellow’s collaboration skills and future research career
- promote the broader equality, diversity and inclusion principles of the LUCIA programme
Areas of challenge addressed might include, but are not limited to:
- cultural access
- violence against women and girls
- religious and cultural intolerance
- social media disinformation
- educational under-attainment
- intergenerational communication
- policing
- community interconnectivity
It is envisaged that the fellow will develop their research in relation to the following broader research themes:
- definitions of culture
- breaking down cultural barriers
- ownership of cultural spaces
- amplifying hidden and hyper-marginalised voices
- transport and culture
- multiuse cultural spaces
- intergenerational access to culture
- tourism and community green spaces
These themes are expanded upon in the LUCIA workshop report included below.
ELIGIBILITY
To apply for this fellowship, you must:
- have demonstrable experience in research within the cities and urban environments area (a PhD or equivalent experience)
- have a demonstrable commitment to working with the cultural and cultural policy sector
- self-identify as an ECR working in the arts and humanities research space (note that ECR eligibility is determined on the basis of funding history, and AHRC do not consider years post-PhD or job title to be a marker of career progression)
- be based, and be eligible to work, in the UK for the full period of the fellowship or eligible to apply for a visa to work in the UK
- be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding (this fellowship opportunity will therefore be a secondment role to the Local Government Association (LGA) and will not constitute employment directly by the LGA, as the fellow will still be contractually based within their own research organisation)
VALUE AND DURATION
The FEC of this fellowship can be up to £100,000. The duration is 12 months.
An additional fund of up to £35,000 FEC has been ring-fenced for travel and subsistence (exclusively open to applicants who are not London-based, ensuring accessibility for applicants from across the UK and enabling flexible in-person collaboration where necessary with LGA colleagues based within LGA’s Westminster office).
KEY DATES
Deadline: 10 April 2025 (4pm)
The fellowship must start on 1 April 2026.
Full guidance below and on the opportunity webpage.