Care for the Future: Thinking

Forward Through the Past

Details of Large Theme Grants

exploring the dynamic relationship that exists between past, present and future,

and how they interact with and shape each other, through a temporally inflected

lens ..........

Key Features of Theme Large Grants: Open Call

• Open to anyone eligible for AHRC funding• No need to have had any prior involvement with

the Theme.• Wide temporal horizons – past and future• Maximum one application per PI• Any topic relevant to the theme but not looking

to add substantially to the environmental change and sustainability portfolio through this call.

• Scale and ambition beyond a standard AHRC grant

• Transformative potential within a relevant theme area

• Sum of the whole must be more than the parts

• Potential to make a significant contribution to bigger cross-cutting questions, issues, sub-themes

• Opportunity to develop genuinely inter-disciplinary approaches

• Looking for innovation, opportunity for ‘risk’ taking within the overall research project

Key Features of Theme Large GrantsResearch Collaboration and Ambition

Key Features of Theme Large Grants:Collaboration

• Applications should be collaborative across all three of the following dimensions:- across research organisations;- across disciplines in the arts and humanities (and beyond if appropriate);- with partners outside the higher education sector

• Explore potential to make a distinctive contribution to knowledge exchange, public policy and/or public engagement and to think in creative ways about pathways to impact drawing across a broader portfolio of research and contacts.

International Collaboration

• International collaboration is strongly encouraged where appropriate

• International Co-Investigators may be included and costed in to project at 100%

• If including International co-investigators the total direct costs for should be no more than 30% of the fEC of the proposal and they must be from eligible institution and of Post doctoral standing.

• Alternately international costs may be requested as before (e.g. T&S costs, consultancies, etc)

Key Features of Theme Large Grants:Acting as Beacons for the Theme (1)• Proposals should be framed in the light of the

Theme description and clearly demonstrate how they will contribute to the broader aims of the Theme.

• Consider how they can contribute to building communities of scholars around the Theme’s central challenges or concerns

• Shoehorning existing research project ideas into the theme won’t work!

Key Features of Theme Large Grants:Acting as Beacons for the Theme (2)

The Theme large grants will: • need to work with each other & work closely with Theme

Leadership Fellows and with AHRC.• be encouraged to think creativity about themselves as key

‘nodes’ within the Theme and their role with the broader ‘Thematic’ research community

• play an important role in representing and exemplifying the Theme (Theme ‘beacons’)

• be expected to play a key role in Theme-level activities• support Theme level engagement activities with non-HEI

stakeholders• need to be flexible to respond to emerging Theme agendas

Key Features of Theme Large Grants:Building Research Capabilities

• Think about the legacy in terms of the longer-term development of the research field e.g. through providing opportunities for the next generation of researchers to engage with the Theme.

• Can include up to 3 project studentships but consideration should also be given to support for post-doctoral research assistants and other ECRs on the project.

• Also think more widely beyond those funded through the project in terms of wider academic networking and engagement activities, links to institutional training activities, BGPs etc

Other Issues:Grant Leadership and Management

• Careful attention should be given to issues of intellectual leadership and project management given the ambitious nature of these grants and wide range of objectives.

• Time commitments and leadership / management structure should be commensurate with the scale and ambition of the grants and their roles within the Theme

• Roles should be clearly identified and if necessary specialist support for project co-ordination/ activities/ delivery may be included if appropriate.

Other Issues:Institutional Support

• As these are major strategic objectives we will be looking for alignment with strategies within, and/or support from, the research organisations.

• This may be particularly important in, for example, securing the longer term legacy of the grant and in supporting building wider research capabilities and collaborations.

Assessment CriteriaWe will be looking for outlines to show clear potential in terms of:•Quality, innovation and transformative research•Leaving a sustainable legacy including developing skills & expertise•Fit to the call and contribution to Care for the Future Theme•Depth and breadth of expertise across arts and humanities (and beyond if appropriate)•Boundary-crossing interactions (e.g. disciplinary, conceptual, methodological, theoretical, sectoral, temporal, international)•External engagement, knowledge exchange, pathways to impact •Effective project leadership, management and integration•Institutional support•Collaboration with others in the Theme•Value for money

Further Information on the Call:Funding Available

• Applications must be for between £1m and £2m (fEC)

• They should be for durations of 36 - 60 months

• Grants to start between September 2014 and April 2015.

• We expect to fund 2-4 Care for the Future large grants through this call subject to quality

Further Information on the Call:Timetable

• May 2013 call launch (forms available in JeS from 5 June)

• 10 October 2013 (1600hrs) closing date for outline proposals

• December – notification of shortlisting outcomes• March 2014 – closing date for full applications• May/June 2014 – interviews with shortlisted applicants• June 2014 – Notification of funding outcomes• September 2014 – April 2015 - Large Grants start

Further Information on the Call: Submission of Proposals

• Submission through JeS• Only outline costings required• 4 page case for support and cvs• Recognised that proposals will develop significant between

outline and full stage, but outlines must clearly demonstrate their potential in a highly competitive environment.

• Please make sure you allow time for your institution to submit your application to AHRC ahead of the deadline of 1600hrs on 10 October and try to avoid leaving it to the last minute!

Other Funding Opportunities• Competition for Theme large Grants is likely to be stiff – only those that

fully meet the aims of the call will stand a chance. Other types of research project should be directed towards other funding routes.

• Large Grants are a core part of themes but only part of the picture – we are considering other activities e.g. partnership activities, targeted calls in under-represented areas and highlight notices, which could complement the large grants.

• Responsive mode grants, fellowships and networking schemes –potential to link into the theme. Open Deadlines

• We are planning a workshop for early career researchers in December 2013/ January 2014 with follow-up funding. Call for participants expected in autumn 2013.

• Other calls e.g. international collaborations under JPI for Cultural Heritage are expected.

Questions?

Contacts for further queries in Team CHattie Allsop (h.allsop@ahrc.ac.uk, tel: 01793

416038) orNatalia Rowlands (n.rowlands@ahrc.ac.uk tel:

01793 416030) or Susan Hanshaw (s.hanshaw@ahrc.ac.uk tel:

01793 416063)