Funding opportunity

Funding opportunity: Support knowledge exchange for European humanities research

Start application

Apply for funding to act as a Knowledge Exchange Facilitator (KEF). You will bring together Humanities in the European Research Area funded projects on the theme of Crisis and set the theme within the context of values of the humanities, by developing knowledge exchange activities.

You must:

  • hold a PhD or an equivalent qualification or experience
  • have knowledge of the European knowledge exchange landscape
  • be based at an established research organisation anywhere in the world.

The maximum cash contribution from funders is £500,000.

Funding is administered by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) on behalf of the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) Network.

Who can apply

You must:

  • hold a PhD or an equivalent qualification or experience
  • have knowledge of the European knowledge exchange landscape
  • be based at an established organisation with the capacity to undertake high quality research.

Your institution must:

  • possess an existing in-house capacity to host a grant and to carry out research that materially extends and enhances the national or international research base
  • be able to demonstrate an independent capability to support the conduct of the specified work.

Lead institutions that are not currently recognised to hold UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding will have to complete UKRI due diligence checks before any grant can be confirmed. In these instances, it is likely to take approximately eight weeks for the appropriate checks to be undertaken before the grant could start.

The research organisation may be based anywhere in the world. However, experience of the European knowledge exchange landscape is required.

For UK applicants, before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.

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.

There are no restrictions regarding project lead’s affiliation with a Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) project. For example, it is permissible for a project lead to be affiliated with a HERA project or not.

Job sharing between two applicants is permissible. If there is a job sharing application, only one of the applicants will hold project lead status on the grant funding system.

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
  • job sharing
  • flexible working
  • alternative working patterns

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

Trusted Research and Innovation

UKRI is committed to 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 applicants can find additional support.

What we're looking for

Scope

The knowledge exchange facilitator’s role is to strengthen the overall cohesion of the HERA Crisis joint research programme and coordinate knowledge exchange efforts and activities at the programme level including organising kick off and closing programme conferences.

As the knowledge exchange facilitator, you are expected to be an internationally well-positioned researcher with relevant expertise and knowledge of the programme themes and supported by a research assistant.

The knowledge exchange facilitator will create added value, increasing the impact of the programme, the projects funded within it and benefit the wider humanities network.

The knowledge exchange facilitator will be expected to regularly report to HERA governance structures about the recent activities and progress of the programme. This includes:

  • engaging with project monitoring and impact assessment activities not led by the knowledge exchange facilitator
  • attending meetings of the knowledge exchange group and HERA Network Board to discuss this progress
  • producing a final report for the HERA Network Board to approve.

Aim

The Knowledge Exchange Facilitator will structure their work around two key objectives: strengthening the overall cohesion of the HERA Crisis programme and coordinating knowledge exchange efforts and activities.

The knowledge Exchange Facilitator (KEF) will strengthen the overall cohesion of the HERA Crisis programme by:

  • bringing together the various teams from the transnational research projects to work synergistically, and to gain a greater holistic understanding of contributions to the broad Crisis themes whilst setting the theme within the context of values of the humanities
  • developing sub and meta themes across the transnational research projects and facilitating the cross-pollination of research perspectives and outputs for advocacy of the humanities-led research
  • establish and strengthen links between projects and relevant arts and humanities research infrastructures and support the develop of the new EU partnerships and stakeholder engagement.

The KEF will coordinate knowledge exchange efforts and activities by:

  • inspiring and encouraging the various teams of the research projects into using new, effective ways of reaching out and knowledge uptake, and to stimulate the exchange of good examples to facilitate best practice building on existing HERA guidance and EU guidance
  • develop capacity building and mentoring opportunities for early career researchers
  • stimulating and facilitating knowledge exchange between the various teams of the research projects both within academia and non-academic stakeholders. This will include engaging stakeholders in events where appropriate. Stakeholders include, for example:
    • related professional organisations in government
    • policy makers
    • industry
    • the voluntary sector
    • the wider general public
  • encouraging the highest quality of outputs from the research both in terms of outputs targeting academia (for example, scholarly articles in appropriate or highly regarded peer-reviewed journals, and monographs) and non-academic stakeholders (for example, policy briefs, non-technical summaries and podcasts) to enhance the visibility of humanities-led research.

A budget will be provided to the KEF to organise a kick off conference at the end of 2025 and end of programme conference in 2028 for the HERA Crisis awards.

The conferences would have a broader focus than just the HERA Crisis joint research programme to ensure it is of value to the debate on the merits of the humanities and strengthen the transnational collaboration of the whole HERA network.

The conferences should focus on European humanities collaboration, advocacy, networking and supporting the development of the EU Partnerships. The budget would cover conference logistics and costs to reimburse project teams and HERA network board members for attendance.

The successful candidate (together with their foreseen team or required external support, if applicable) for this post is expected to:

  • have established a full or emergent international reputation in the area of the Crisis themes, and have experience of working across humanities disciplines within this context
  • have a good understanding of the European and global issues around the Crisis themes
  • have experience of transnational research projects and familiarity or experience of the European knowledge exchange landscape. This includes an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion
  • be dynamic and innovative in their approach to new tasks
  • have very strong networking skills within the academic and transnational stakeholder communities, and have the ability to connect, and help others to connect, with the key gatekeepers in this area
  • have excellent interpersonal, team-leading and managerial skills
  • be able to work at an international level with colleagues from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds
  • have views on the expertise and skills needed in a team to deliver the expected results.

Duration

The fixed duration of this award is three and a half years.

The project must start by 6 January 2025.

Funding available

Applicants based at non-UK organisation

£500,000 is the maximum amount available and £400,000 is the minimum amount available. This should be costed as the full economic cost (FEC) amount as costs will be paid at 100% FEC. Indexation would then be applied.

There is no set exchange rate for this funding opportunity and you should use your institutional exchange rate. You will be awarded the amount in pounds listed in the proposal and then any changes in exchange rate will need to be absorbed by the successful research organisation.

Applicants based in the UK

Applicants based in the UK should cost their proposal in line with FEC principles by including all costs at 100% FEC and requesting funding at 80%. At 100% FEC, your project can cost up to £625,000, and must cost a minimum of £400,000. We will fund 80% of the FEC for UK applicants. Indexation would then be applied.

Contingency costs are not eligible for inclusion in applications to our funding opportunities.

What we will fund

It is expected that the award be used for:

  • the knowledge exchange facilitator salary: for a minimum of 0.30 full-time equivalent (FTE) for three and a half years
  • supporting staff: other team members, for example a research assistant, to support the knowledge exchange facilitator in the day-to-day activities of the role. The budget is expected to provide for at least 0.30 FTE of a research assistant over three and a half years, and supplementary external expertise as needed (for example, expert in policy brief drafting or podcast production)
  • travel and subsistence
  • estates and indirect costs (UK-based applicants only), for example building and premises costs and basic services and utilities
  • All costs incurred by project leads based outside of the UK will need to be listed as ‘Exceptions’ under Directly Incurred costs. Infrastructure costs (estates, indirect costs, etc.) for the international project lead’s organisation are not eligible; however, you may apply for all costs associated with supporting the international project lead in delivering the project. International costs will be funded at 100% FEC
  • delivery of content
  • delivery of events including a kick off conference by the end of 2025 and end of programme conference by the end of 2027 including managing the budget to reimburse the attendance of the project teams and HERA network board members. Costs would need to cover venue hire, catering, travel and accommodation reimbursement for HERA Crisis projects (7-10 projects each with at least four national teams and each national team bringing two people), HERA agencies (two people per agency- 25/26 agencies) plus up to three guest speakers. This could mean around 135 attendees for the kick off and closing conferences.

A requirement of this funding opportunity is that budgets include provision for a knowledge exchange facilitator (for example, a senior academic in the area) to spend a minimum of 0.30 FTE over three and a half years on this proposal.

You are allowed to vary the time commitment over the lifetime of the award if desired, so long as the total over three and a half years is at least 0.3 FTE.

It is anticipated the budget would be distributed approximately as follows:

  • knowledge exchange facilitator salary – up to 40%
  • knowledge exchange facilitator supporting staff – up to 15%
  • knowledge exchange facilitator travel and subsistence- up to 5%
  • delivery of events and content (including kick off and closing conference costs) – up to 40%

This is entirely up to you to propose the funding distribution which you consider best fulfils the objectives of the funding opportunity.

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.

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 support@funding-service.ukri.org Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service.
  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)
  • files must be 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. Applicants should use their 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 e.g. (Smith, Research Paper, 2019)

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application.

Deadline

We must receive your application by 9 July 2024 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.

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.

We will share the name of the successful applicant, the name of their organisation and the amount to be funded in confidence with the HERA Network board after outcomes have been issued and prior to the publication of the outcomes. Read more information about the HERA Network Board.

Publication of outcomes

Outcomes of this funding opportunity will be published on the HERA and Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe (CHANSE) websites.

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

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
  • 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))
  • research and innovation associate
  • technician
  • professional enabling staff

Only list one individual as project lead.

The core team does not have to include all of the listed roles. The only compulsory role is the project lead.

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

Application questions

Vision

Word limit: 500

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, or generate 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
  • demonstrates an understanding of the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) and the HERA Crisis joint research programme (JRP)
  • has the ability and capacity to deliver the required knowledge exchange activities
  • demonstrates an intention to work collaboratively with the projects and the HERA consortium.

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

References may be included within this section.

Approach

Word limit: 2,500

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
  • uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable)
  • summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable)
  • 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
  • demonstrates an understanding of the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) and the HERA Crisis joint research programme (JRP)
  • proposes a knowledge exchange strategy that addresses the core objectives of the role
  • proposes a feasible plan for implementing a knowledge exchange strategy and the two conferences that addresses the core objectives.

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.

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 following should be demonstrated to support your response:

  • suitability of expertise- Is the knowledge exchange facilitator (and their team, as applicable) of strong academic standing in the area of the Crisis themes, with a full or emergent international reputation, and experience of working across the humanities?
  • are they dynamic and innovative, have strong networking skills, and excellent interpersonal skills?
  • do they have experience of transnational research projects and familiarity or experience of the European knowledge exchange landscape, including an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion?
  • does the knowledge exchange facilitator and their team provide for the range of skills required for successful delivery?
  • ability to work collaboratively- Does the application demonstrate an intention to work collaboratively with the projects and the HERA consortium?

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

The word count for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for R4RI modules (including references) 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 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. 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).

Complete this as a narrative. Do not format it like a CV.

References may be included within this section.

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

For full details, see Eligibility as an individual.

Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)

Word limit: 500

What are the ethical or 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

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

Data management and sharing

Word limit: 500

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

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.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)

Word limit: 100

Does the proposed work involve international collaboration in a sensitive research or technology area?

What the assessors are looking for in your response

Demonstrate how your proposed international collaboration relates to Trusted Research and Innovation, including:

  • list the countries your international project co-leads, project partners and visiting researchers, or other collaborators are based in
  • if international collaboration is involved, explain whether this project is relevant to one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act
  • if one or more of the 17 areas of the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act are involved, list the areas

If your proposed work does not involve international collaboration, answer ‘n/a’ here.

We may ask you to provide additional information about how your proposed project will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help manage these risks.

How we will assess your application

Assessment process

We will assess your application using the assessment panel process. This means that you will not receive peer review reports and there will not be an applicant response stage.

Assessment panel

We will invite selected HERA Network Board members to use the evidence provided to assess the quality of your application.  The Interim HERA Chair and three network board members will be on the assessment panel in August.

The HERA Network Board will make the final funding decision.

Outcomes will be issued in September 2024.

Feedback

If your application was discussed by a 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.

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed.

Assessment areas

The assessment areas we will use are:

  • vision
  • approach
  • applicant and team capability to deliver
  • resources and cost justification
  • ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI)
  • data management and sharing
  • trusted research and innovation (TR&I)

The following criteria have been mapped against the above assessment areas:

Understanding of relevant context

Does the proposal demonstrate understanding of the Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) and the HERA Crisis JRP?

Appropriate strategy

Is a knowledge exchange strategy proposed that addresses the core objectives of the role?

Plan for implementation

Is the proposed plan for implementing the strategy feasible?

Suitability of expertise

Is the knowledge exchange facilitator (and their team, as applicable) of strong academic standing in the area of the Crisis themes, with a full or emergent international reputation, and experience of working across the humanities?

Are they dynamic and innovative, have strong networking skills, and excellent interpersonal skills?

Do they have experience of transnational research projects and familiarity or experience of the European knowledge exchange landscape, including an awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion?

Does the knowledge exchange facilitator and their team provide for the range of skills required for successful delivery?

Ability to work collaboratively

Does the application demonstrate an intention to work collaboratively with the projects and the HERA consortium?

Value for money

Is the proposal comprehensive, appropriate, and justified?

Does it represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes?

Does it maximise potential outcomes and impacts?

Find full details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

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.

If you have a question related to this specific funding opportunity and the answers aren’t provided on this page, please contact international@ahrc.ukri.org

There will not be a webinar for applicants, however a Zoom call can be arranged to answer detailed questions from prospective applications. To arrange one please contact international@ahrc.ukri.org

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.

Find more information on submitting an application.

Sensitive information

If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email international@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 reviewer or 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

HERA is a partnership between 26 humanities research councils across 25 countries in Europe. HERA is committed to leading and developing funding opportunities for humanities researchers in Europe. Further information about the network and all projects funded through previous joint research programme (JRPs) is available on the HERA website.

‘Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities’ is the fifth JRP created by the HERA network. HERA is funding to humanities-led transnational research consortia which will explore crises past and present, responding to major social, cultural, and political challenges facing Europe and the world. Outcomes will be announced in October/November 2024 and successful projects will have started by March 2025. A virtual meeting will be organised for the KEF to meet the successful projects in March 2025.

Please note that the participation of UK applicants in this HERA funding opportunity is not affected by the UK’s exit from the EU.

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

Reviewers and 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.

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.