British Academy - Funding Call "Innovative Fellowships Scheme"
Dear Research Network, Colleagues and Friends,
We are pleased to share one of the British Academy's latest funding offers. The details are below including the deadline of August 6, 2025. Please read below for details. The funder contact details and instructions are listed at the bottom.
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Funding Call – Innovation Fellowships Scheme 2025-26 Route B: Policy-Led (Sustainable Futures)
The British Academy is now inviting applications to the Innovation Fellowships Scheme – Route B: Policy-led (Sustainable Futures), 2025-26 competition. The application form is available online on Flexi-Grant®, the Academy’s grant management system.
Aims and purpose of the scheme
The British Academy has been funded by the UK Government's Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) to continue its support for the Innovation Fellowships scheme. The Academy is working on this scheme in collaboration with a number of other partners. For this funding call, the Academy is partnering with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra); the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ); and the Government Office for Science (GO Science).
This scheme provides funding and support for established early-career and mid-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences to partner with organisations and businesses in the creative and cultural, public, private, commercial, or policy sectors that have a base in the UK, to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions that are relevant to the UK. Through the Innovation Fellowships, our researchers in the humanities and social sciences are supported to create new and deeper links beyond academia, enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skill development.
This call will enable researchers to partner with a central government departments for 12 months. Successful applicants will work within specific policy areas set out by their chosen partner, under the umbrella of the British Academy’s Sustainable Futures policy programme. The outline of the Fellow’s work programme will be finalised with the partner after the Fellowship is awarded.
The Academy and the partners invite applications for Fellowships in any of the following areas:
Landscape Recovery (Defra)
Public Participation Strategy (DESNZ)
Climate, Society and International (GO Science)
Eligibility
Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the UK with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award at a UK-based institution (HEI or IRO); and be at early or mid-career stage. Applicants must also meet the requirements set out in the Scheme Guidance Notes; in particular those noted in the ‘Security Clearance and Nationality Requirements’ section.
Level of award
These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) framework and the Academy’s contribution is calculated at 80 per cent of this figure. The maximum claimable amount for these fellowships is £150,000, with a maximum Academy contribution of £120,000. The Lead Applicant must commit between 0.4 and 0.8 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) time to the Fellowship. Awards are to be held for 12 months.
Applying for this scheme
Applications are available online on the Flexi-Grant® application system.
Deadline for application submission and organisation approval: 6 August 2025, 17:00 (BST)
Results expected: by late October 2025
Awards available to start between: 1-31 March 2026
For further information on our Innovation Fellowships Scheme 2025-26 – Route B: Policy-led (Sustainable Futures), please view our Scheme Guidance Notes, Application Guidance Notes and Frequently Asked Questions.