Funding for projects which engage with questions concerning the relationship between expertise, public understanding and policy delivery internationally, and highlight the importance of collaboration between communities of practice, disciplines, capacities and borders
Projects will be led by UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences working with international partners and wishing to develop genuinely interdisciplinary projects that range across all SHAPE and STEM disciplines on the theme of Mobilities.
Applicants are reminded that mobilities is understood in this call in terms of movement of people, things and ideas, and of how such movement functions as powerful connectors across areas, domains, societies and borders, and over time:
- People, Materials and Things: With this call the Academy wishes to support research that understands the movement of people and explores and interrogates the movement of materials. This includes both movement across geographical space as well as movement over time.
- Ideas, Narratives and Innovation: With this call the Academy wishes to support research that produces new insights for understanding the context in which ideas, stories and technological developments spread, and how change is both driven by such developments and by the contexts and connections in which they happen. This includes both movement across geographical space as well as movement through a society such as the spread of a narrative, political idea or a protest movement through a community.
ELIGIBILITY
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 and hold an established role that will last at least the duration of their prospective award. The PI must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience) and must plan to spend at least 20% of their time (0.2 FTE equivalent) on their prospective award.
The involvement of Co-Applicants based overseas is required.
Genuinely productive and integral interdisciplinarity is a requirement, with the expectation that this will involve collaboration across disciplines. The collaboration can include any SHAPE or STEM discipline as long as the research is led by and grounded in the humanities and/or social sciences. Applications that do not meet this requirement will be considered ineligible and will not be taken forward through the assessment process.
The Academy particularly encourages applications led from the humanities.
VALUE AND DURATION
The total funding available per award in this call is up to £300,000 over 2 years on an 80% FEC basis (i.e. the total contribution requested from the Academy may not exceed £300,000 and the total project value at 100% FEC may not exceed £375,000).
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.
KEY DATES
Deadline: 7 October 2026
Projects must begin in March/April 2027
More information, including FAQs and details of past awards, can be found on the opportunity webpage.