Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA)

Start application

Apply for funding to form a community-driven research network to enhance access to culture. Funded networks will create partnerships across communities, researchers, and policymakers, to promote urban cultural renewal.

You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding.

The full economic cost (FEC) of your network can be up to £100,000 and AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Networks must start by 1 April 2026, and will be funded for 12 months.

Who can apply

Before applying for funding, check the following:

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.

For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.

Who is eligible to apply

Leadership team

Applications should be led by a strong, interdisciplinary leadership team who can articulate a clear shared vision for the network. You should ensure partnerships within the leadership team are equitable, inclusive and support innovative interdisciplinary approaches. It is expected that at least one member of the leadership team will hold demonstrable experience in research within the cities and urban environments area.

Project co-leads from cultural, cultural policy and civic discourse, among other relevant sectors, as well as representation from people with expertise by experience, must be included as part of the leadership team. Please note that these co-leads from outside of academia can be costed at 100% FEC where justified. This should be utilised to ensure equitable representation and remuneration for different partners.

More detail about potential thematic areas for networks to explore, and the equitable and inclusive interdisciplinary approaches expected from networks can be found in the ‘What we are looking for’ section.

For administrative purposes it is necessary to identify a single project lead who must be affiliated with the lead research organisation. The project lead and their research office will be ultimately responsible for administration of the grant.

However, the balance of activity and management across the leadership team and partner organisations can be shared flexibly and however you see fit as a collective. As an example, you could adopt a shared leadership approach with project co-leads included. Your approach to management, leadership and decision making must be clearly specified in your application.

Your network application should be submitted by the project lead but must be co-created and co-designed with input from all partners involved. This co-creation should be evidenced in the application.

Project lead

Standard AHRC eligibility criteria will apply to this funding opportunity for UK principal investigators and research organisation.

You must be a resident in the UK and be hosted by an eligible research organisation (higher education institutions or recognised independent research organisations) as stated in the research funding guide.

Project co-leads based at eligible research organisations

Standard AHRC eligibility criteria will apply to this funding opportunity for UK project co-leads based at eligible research organisations.

You must be a resident in the UK and be hosted by an eligible research organisation (higher education institutions or recognised independent research organisations) as stated in the research funding guide.

Project co-leads not based at eligible research organisations

Project co-leads not based at eligible research organisations must also be included in the leadership team, for example:

  • practitioners from cultural, cultural policy and other relevant sectors
  • people with expertise by experience
  • community organisations
  • community researchers
  • third sector and voluntary organisations
  • policymakers
  • local, regional and national government, including metropolitan combined authorities
  • private sector

Where justified, the time of these project co-leads can be listed under ‘Exceptions’ and will be funded at 100% FEC. 100% FEC ‘Exceptions’ costs are only for staff time and cannot include estates and indirect costs.

The combined costs for UK-based project co-leads not employed by eligible research organisations must be a minimum of 10% of the total FEC of the grant application. If the combined cost for UK project co-leads not based at eligible research organisations is below 10%, you must clearly articulate why and how partners from outside academia are equitably included within the project. The combined cost cannot exceed 30% of the total FEC.

The intention behind this requirement is to ensure partners from outside of academia are appropriately included and funded within applications.

We recognise that some partners may be employed by a government-funded organisation. To avoid the double counting of public funds in the costings, no salary costs will be covered for project co-leads from government bodies where the person’s involvement in the project falls within their regular duties. Government organisations can only charge to the grant any additional costs they incur as a result of being involved in the project.

Please note that if there are international project co-leads in your application, the combined costs for project co-leads not based at eligible research organisations, and any international project co-leads must not exceed 30% of the FEC. You should consider what balance of project co-leads is needed and explain this clearly in your application.

Project co-leads not based at eligible research organisations should submit a statement of support from their organisation (if they are based at an organisation) as part of your network application. This will be used to assess how effectively and inclusively the proposed network brings together individuals from across relevant sectors.

Early career researchers

We particularly encourage applications from early career researchers (both as project leads and project co-leads) and regard this programme as an important pipeline for growing interdisciplinary researcher capacity in the UK. Support for leadership from early career researchers and showing that you have the right skills at the right level should be clearly explained in your application.

If the project lead is an early career researcher, as defined by AHRC, a mentor must be included within the application. This mentor must be clearly outlined in the resources and cost justification section of the application form.

For mentoring cost, an hour per month of the mentor’s time should be built into the budget as a directly allocated cost and entered in the application form in the other directly allocated costs section. Estates and indirect costs for this one hour can also be charged to the grant.

Institutions may provide additional mentoring support alongside other forms of leadership or career development support for early career applicants.

Applicants at other stages of their career can also include mentorship in the application if it is felt it would support the project leadership and benefit delivery of the proposed work.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity 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

Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.

What we're looking for

Aim

The Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme aims to fund research networks which will empower communities across the UK to have the agency and opportunity to enable growth and address equitable access through a culture of policy design. The programme will actively engage in civic discourse within urban communities, enhancing urban culture and thereby enabling urban renewal and economic growth.

The LUCIA programme is aimed at funding people-centred partnerships which amplify seldom heard voices, which respect diverse cultural identities, and which facilitate creative expression, in order that innovative solutions can be found to widen community participation in culture across the UK.

The LUCIA programme will bring researchers, policy leaders, local and regional authorities, and community members together to empower those communities to understand and address key urban cultural challenges which are obstacles to community cohesion and civic discourse. This might include, but is not limited to, challenges around:

  • cultural access
  • violence against women and girls
  • religious and cultural intolerance
  • social media disinformation
  • educational under-attainment
  • intergenerational communication
  • policing
  • community interconnectivity

By listening to people-centred, community-led research agendas, building the evidence base collectively and co-creating design of cultural policy, it will seek to reorient academic practice and policy design towards co-created, mission-led outcomes and recommendations. The LUCIA programme is a mission-led programme, aligning with governmental plans to kickstart economic growth, take back our streets, and break down barriers to opportunity. We expect strong arts and humanities methodologies and approaches to be at the core of proposed networks.

The LUCIA programme objectives are:

  • to develop collaborative research networks to actively engage local communities in widening access to cultural expression to support community cohesion and inclusion
  • to understand local cultural complexities, barriers and enablers, with a view to improving wellbeing in communities throughout the UK and addressing urban renewal and economic growth
  • to converge data and learning from a range of local and regional models to inform the spread and adoption of collaborative cultural policy across the UK

Scope

The programme will fund networks comprised of community practitioners, researchers and policymakers for 12 months, to explore opportunities for widening cultural access and expression within UK communities. It’s envisaged that teams may choose to focus on some of the below research themes, with recognition that this list is not exhaustive and wider research themes may be prioritised:

  • 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 have been scrutinised and expanded upon in the LUCIA workshop report (PDF, 4.4MB).

It is expected that each network will engage with their research organisation’s public engagement team throughout the application process, to ensure that public engagement is prioritised throughout activities planned.

Applications should demonstrate equitable co-creation and co-production with community partners and people with expertise by experience, and clearly identify any barriers to access for those participants.

For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, please refer to the Additional information section.

Duration

The duration of the funded network projects is 12 months.

Projects must start by 1 April 2026.

Funding available

The full economic cost (FEC) of your network can be up to £100,000.

AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC, except for the ‘Exceptions’ costs noted below, which AHRC will pay at 100% FEC.

What we will fund

Through this funding opportunity we are looking to support inclusive, equitable and interdisciplinary research networks that build upon existing local and regional knowledge and co-create collaborative models with communities to address challenges to widening cultural access. We will fund:

  • networks of individual stakeholders across the diverse cultural and cultural policy sector, working together in an equitable way to ensure all stakeholder voices are heard
  • networks with innovative research methodologies to enhance cultural access within and across communities in the UK, and address urban renewal and economic growth
  • networks which demonstrate a commitment to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion for all as a central priority within all proposed workstreams
  • networks which aim to build or rebuild healthy cultural exchange with communities
  • networks which collaborate on policy to enact meaningful change
  • networks with scalable and sustainable funding plans

Supporting skills and talent

We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

UK Research and Innovation (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 TR&I Principles 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.

Further guidance and information about TR&I, including where you can find additional support, can be found on UKRI’s website.

Sustainability

UKRI’s environmental sustainability strategy lays out our ambition to actively lead environmental sustainability across our sectors. This includes a vision to ensure that all major investment and funding decisions we make are directly informed by environmental sustainability, recognising environmental benefits as well as potential for environmental harm.

Environmental sustainability is a broad term but may include consideration of such broad areas as:

  • reducing carbon emissions
  • protecting and enhancing the natural environment and biodiversity
  • waste or pollution elimination
  • resource efficiency and a circular economy

We expect you to embed careful consideration of environmental sustainability at all stages of the research and innovation process and throughout the lifetime of the LUCIA research networks.

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.

Applications should be prepared and submitted by the lead research organisation but should be co-created with input from all investigators, and project partners, and should represent the proposed work of the entire network.

Please note, there is an optional notification of intent (NoI) stage for this UKRI funding opportunity.

We strongly encourage potential applicants to submit an NoI. This will help with demand management and will help AHRC to convene an assessment panel with relevant expertise.

To submit an NoI, please fill in the survey by 4:00pm UK time on 3 December 2024.

Acknowledgement of NoI receipt and potential feedback will be provided in early January 2025.

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 support@funding-service.ukri.org
    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 funding 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 research office webinars about the new Funding Service.

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.

Deadline

AHRC must receive your application by 10 April 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.

You will not be able to apply after this time.

Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines that may be in place.

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 privacy notice.

Publication of outcomes

AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at AHRC Board and panel outcomes.

If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research.

Summary

Word limit: 500

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, such as a public engagement professional
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • visiting researcher

Only list one individual as project lead.

All individual stakeholders in partnership with projects are advised to be assigned as specialists within the application form.

It is expected that each project will engage with their Research Organisation’s Public Engagement team throughout the application process, to ensure that Public Engagement is prioritised throughout activities planned.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications.

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 550

What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how your proposed work:

  • is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s)
  • has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area
  • is timely given current trends, context and needs
  • impacts world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment
  • will embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion considerations into your aims, as well as other activities such as stakeholder engagement, events and networking
  • will ensure public engagement activities are prioritised within project activities in order to ensure co-creation of research
  • will meet the Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme objectives: to develop a collaborative research network which actively engages local communities in widening access to cultural expression; to understand local cultural complexities, barriers and enablers, with a view to improving wellbeing in communities throughout the UK, and addressing urban renewal and economic growth; and to converge data and learning from a range of local and regional models to inform the spread and adoption of collaborative cultural policy across the UK

Within the Vision section we also expect you to:

  • describe the concept, context and coordination function of your project
  • demonstrate the alignment of the application to the LUCIA programme objectives
  • clearly state the research challenges that you will address
  • explain how you will embed environmental sustainability within your activities
  • use accessible and jargon-free language. This section will be assessed by expertise by experience panellists as well as academic panellists

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Approach

Word limit: 1,650

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how you have designed your approach so that it:

  • is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives
  • is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed
  • if applicable, uses a clearly written and transparent methodology
  • if applicable, summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed
  • will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts
  • describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work

Within the Approach section we also expect you to:

  • demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the application
  • evidence co-creation and user engagement that bring the voices of communities into the research process
  • provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines
  • explain how the partnership will be planned and managed
  • explain how the partnership will enable stakeholders to work together, network and build capability in a strategic area
  • outline plans for the sustainability and scalability of the network beyond this application, or for funding research which may develop from the network

References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Applicant and team capability to deliver

Word limit: 1,650

Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have:

  • the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
  • the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
  • the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others
  • contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

The word count for this section is 1,650 words, 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you, and if relevant your team (project and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help to deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed below. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI. You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings:

  • contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge
  • the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships
  • contributions to the wider research and innovation community
  • contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit

Additions: Provide any further details relevant to your application. This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them).

You should complete this section as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

UKRI has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new Funding Service.

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

References may be included within this section.

Project partners

Add details about any project partners’ contributions. If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service.

A project partner is a collaborating organisation who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct (cash) or indirect (in-kind) contributions such as expertise, staff time or use of facilities.

Add the following project partner details:

  • the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable)
  • the project partner contact name and email address
  • the type of contribution (direct or in-direct) and its monetary value

If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Project partners: letters (or emails) of support

Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the Project partners section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’. Each letter or email you provide should:

  • confirm the partner’s commitment to the project
  • clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them
  • describe any additional value that they bring to the project
  • the page limit is two sides A4 per partner

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply. If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service.

Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the project partners’ section.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical and RRI implications and issues relating to the proposed work?  If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated:

  • the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations
  • how you will manage these considerations

If you are collecting or using data, you should identify:

  • any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data)
  • formal information standards to which your proposed work will comply

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

Co-creation and community engagement

Word limit: 1,000

How is co-creation and community engagement embedded in your proposed work?

Explain how your proposed work:

  • has clearly identified a relevant community and their needs
  • has included equitable co-creation and co-production with community partners and people with expertise by experience, and identified any barriers to access for those participants
  • will create long-term positive change for the identified communities

Within the co-creation and community engagement section we also expect you to use accessible and jargon-free language. Alongside academic peer assessment at panel, the LUCIA programme will invite experts by experience to assess applications.

References may be included within this section.

Governance

Word limit: 500

How will you manage the award to successfully deliver its objectives?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Explain how the proposed award will be managed, demonstrating that it:

  • will be effectively governed, including details about advisory structures
  • will be effectively and inclusively managed, demonstrated by a clear management plan
  • has clear leadership team roles and responsibilities
  • will manage and encourage partnerships with non-HEI organisations across government, industry and civil society
  • has plans for monitoring your progress as well as self-evaluation throughout the lifetime of your award

Within this section 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

References may be included within this section.

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

How will you manage and share data collected or acquired through the proposed research?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a data management plan that clearly details how you will comply with UKRI’s published data sharing policy, which includes detailed guidance notes.

Resources and cost justification

Word limit 1,000

What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular:

  • project staff
  • significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences)
  • any equipment that will cost more than £10,000
  • any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities
  • all facilities and infrastructure costs
  • all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’
  • international collaboration costs

Please note that this programme will permit expenses (costed at 100% FEC) to enable equitable partnership, for:

  • public participants (for example travel and subsistence) where involvement in a project is significant or continuous, or both, over a long period of time
  • carers or guardians of public participants if the project involves working with young people or individuals who may need the support of a carer or guardian to participate

Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources. Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work:

  • are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
  • represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
  • maximise potential outcomes and impacts

EDI action plan

Word limit: 750

How will you build Equity Diversity and Inclusion considerations into the formation, operation and governance of the network, and how will these be operationalised?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

  • robust consideration of EDI priorities within the network
  • proactive methods for promoting EDI values across the operational plans for the networks

References may be included within this section.

The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

Your organisation’s support

Word limit: 500

Provide details of support from your research organisation.

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Provide a Statement of Support from your research organisation detailing why the proposed work is needed. This should include details of any matched funding that will be provided to support the activity and any additional support that might add value to the work.

The assessment panel will be looking for a strong statement of commitment from your research organisation.

AHRC recognises that in some instances, this information may be provided by the Research Office, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) or equivalent, or a combination of both.

You must also include the following details:

  • a significant person’s name and their position, from the TTO or Research Office, or both
  • office address or web link

Upload details are provided within the Funding Service on the actual application.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the following process.

Assessment panel

If your application meets all UKRI criteria for assessment, we will invite academic experts and experts by experience, to assess the quality of your application within an assessment panel. The panel members will rank it alongside other applications, after which the panel will make a funding recommendation.

Portfolio balancing

This funding opportunity is intended to offer a coordinated UK-wide investment, with a spread of collaborative networks funded across locations, disciplines, community groups, and approaches. The panel will be empowered to recommend the strongest overall portfolio of proposals that provide the greatest added value. A sub-panel may be convened to consider the applications deemed fundable by the assessment panel and may decide on the final portfolio of applications to be funded.

AHRC will make the final funding decision and reserves the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Timescale

We aim to complete the assessment process within five months of the closing date of this funding opportunity.

Feedback

If your application met UKRI criteria for assessment, and was discussed by the assessment panel, we will give feedback with the outcome of your application.

Principles of assessment

We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

  • vision
  • approach
  • applicant and team capability to deliver
  • ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
  • co-creation and community engagement
  • governance
  • data management and sharing
  • resources and cost justification
  • equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations

Experts by experience panellists will receive additional support and guidance from AHRC about how to complete their assessment.

Contact details

Get help with your application

If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page

IMPORTANT NOTE: The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UKRI Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the Helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue. Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding Finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility or content/remit of an opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

Contact details

For help and advice on costings and writing your proposal please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process.

For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact HEUH@ahrc.ukri.org and include ‘LUCIA’ in the subject line of your email for ease.

Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk.

Email: support@funding-service.ukri.org

Phone: 01793 547490

Our phone lines are open:

  • Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm
  • Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

To help us process queries quicker, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time.

For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email HEUH@ahrc.ukri.org

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 panel participant selection
  • the application is an invited resubmission

For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice.

Additional info

Background

AHRC has sought to understand the value of culture and the difference it makes to individuals and to society, investing richly and broadly in this area of research over the past decade.

In 2022 a shorthand publication, written by AHRC’s Cities and Urban Environments portfolio team, mapped out various research priorities within the portfolio.

Subsequently, the portfolio team completed analysis of the research portfolio within this area. The analysis pinpointed “culture/identity/place”, “urban policy”, and “equality of opportunity for all”, as three of the most well-represented key themes in the portfolio. The team have therefore been building the foundations of the Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) programme since early 2023. It has been shaped with conscious recognition of the current funding landscape and the lessons learned from exciting funding opportunities, past, present and further afield.

In March and April 2024, the Cities portfolio team hosted two workshops and a series of one-to-one  discussions with individuals who brought a vast range of expertise and experience to help further scope, co-design and build the LUCIA programme. Read the workshop report summarising these discussions (PDF, 4.4MB).

Research and innovation impact

Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment. Also to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Supporting links

Notification of intent survey

Additional disability and accessibility adjustments

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process if required.

Webinar for potential applicants

The launch of the LUCIA funding opportunity is supported by a webinar for prospective applicants.

This will present an overview of the funding opportunity, followed by a question and answer session.

The webinar will be held on 10 October 2024 1:00pm to 2:00pm UK time

Register for the webinar

The webinar will be recorded, and the recording will be provided on this page.

Once registered, you will receive an email containing information about how to join the webinar via Zoom.

Research disruption due to COVID-19

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions and disruptions across our communities. We are committed to ensuring that individual applicants and their wider team, including partners and networks, are not penalised for any disruption to their career, such as:

  • breaks and delays
  • disruptive working patterns and conditions
  • the loss of ongoing work
  • role changes that may have been caused by the pandemic

Panel members will be advised to consider the unequal impacts that COVID-19 related disruption might have had on the capability to deliver and career development of those individuals included in the application. They will be asked to consider the capability of the applicant and their wider team to deliver the research they are proposing.

Where disruptions have occurred, you can highlight this within your application if you wish, but there is no requirement to detail the specific circumstances that caused the disruption.

Supporting documents

Locally Unlocking Culture through Inclusive Access (LUCIA) workshop report (PDF, 4MB)

Rhaglen Datgloi Diwylliant yn Lleol trwy Fynediad Cynhwysol (LUCIA) Adroddiad Gweithdy (PDF, 4MB)

Equality impact assessment form (PDF, 392KB)

This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Let us know if you have feedback or would like to help improve our online products and services.