The British Academy 2026-2027 Conferences Scheme Call for Application (Up to £25,000)

The British Academy Conferences scheme presents an exceptional?opportunity for UK-based scholars?to?run a landmark event featuring leading-edge research as part of the Academy’s events programme.?The scheme includes a strand of British Academy/Wellcome Conferences, designed to foster discussion and debate on health and wellbeing related themes.

 

 

• Table of Content
• About The British Academy
• The British Academy Conferences Scheme
• Aim and Benefits of The British Academy Conferences Scheme
• Requirements for The British Academy Conferences Scheme Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for The British Academy Conferences Scheme
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About The British Academy

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. We mobilise these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future.

The British Academy Conferences Scheme

Application Deadline	29 Jan 2025
Value	£25,000
Country to study	United Kingdom
School to study	The British Academy
Type	Fellowship
Sponsor	The British Academy
Gender	Men and Women

Aim and Benefits of The British Academy Conferences Scheme

Aim of the award

The British Academy Conferences scheme, with generous support from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and Wellcome, presents an exceptional?opportunity for UK-based scholars?to?run a pivotal event of lasting significance in their field, as a central part of the Academy’s events programme. Successful conferences will?bring together scholars from around the world to present and discuss new research in the humanities and social sciences. Events can be held at the British Academy’s own premises in London, at other British venues, online, or at one of the British International Research Institutes (BIRIs) outside of the UK. These landmark events will offer students, scholars and specialists an opportunity to learn about the latest developments in their subject areas and to expand their academic networks.

Awards for the strand of British Academy/Wellcome Conferences are available for events which foster discussion and debate on health and wellbeing related themes.

Benefits:

Up to £20,000 per conference is available for British Academy/DSIT conferences. For conferences on health and wellbeing under the British Academy/Wellcome scheme, the upper limit of awards is £25,000.

Many awards will be made at a lower level, with sums in the region of £10,000-£15,000 likely. The awarding committee will aim to offer sums to make viable each conference that it selects for support, but in some instances, it may offer less than was sought.

Requirements for The British Academy Conferences Scheme Qualification

• Awards are open to postdoctoral scholars (or equivalent) in the fields of the humanities and social sciences.
• Applicants must be resident in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (that is, classed as ‘ordinarily resident’ for tax purposes).
• Applications require the approval of the applicant's employing institution, but are not limited to those of any particular status (e.g. Lecturer, Professor etc).
• Applications may be made by independent scholars and retired scholars.
• Conferences adopted into the next round of British Academy Conferences must take place between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027.
• Proposals should be for conferences that will take place over one to two days at a venue in the UK, or up to three days if online-only. Convenors should indicate their preferred choice of venue in their proposal. Please note that we will not entertain proposals for in-person conferences longer than two days, unless the principal proposer can indicate that they have funds to cover the cost of these additional days.
• Proposals should be for conferences which disseminate new research in the humanities and social sciences. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary proposals are particularly welcome, as are proposals that show the connection between our disciplines and the natural sciences.
• Proposals should be for open occasions; requests for closed, invitation-only conferences will not be considered.
• Conferences funded under the British Academy/Wellcome banner must explore health and wellbeing related themes. A broad definition which encompasses human and/or animal and/or environment health and wellbeing research across the spectrum of the humanities and social sciences, will be applied.

Please note that the strand of British Academy/Wellcome Conferences is not open to those who:

• Have a research grant from the tobacco industry currently or in the past.
• Are applying for funding from the tobacco industry.
• Are employed on a research grant from the tobacco industry.

Interview date, Process and Venue for The British Academy Conferences Scheme

Period of award

The British Academy issues an annual call for?outstanding conference proposals. Awards in this round are for conferences to be held 1 April 2026 - 31 March 2027 (the earliest start date for a conference would be 1 April 2026).

Application Deadline

January 29, 2025

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to The British Academy on britishacademy.flexigrant.com to apply

Applications for the 2026-27 British Academy Conference scheme are open from Wednesday 27 November 2024 to Wednesday 29 January 2025.

Applications can only be submitted online using the British Academy’s online Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) system.

For more details visit: The British Academy website.