British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
BASIS Funding for Institutes and Societies
How does the annual funding round operate?
- Each summer, application forms and guidance are sent to each sponsored organisation to enable them to bid for funds for the following financial year.
- The documentation required with the bid includes a report on the current year (including performance indicators for the first time for 2008-09), a plan of activity for the coming year, an updated strategic research plan, and associated detailed budgets: these are submitted to BASIS during the autumn for consideration first by nominated assessors and then by the whole BASIS committee.
- In January/February, the components for core and outreach expenditure are presented to Council, the research component is overseen by the Research Committee and, in each case, a block budget is agreed.
- Individual organisations' allocations each year are dependent on the Academy's available budget, the quality of work done in the current year, as set out in the report form provided, and the quality of the plans for the coming year. The final figures are communicated back to organisations in February, for payment, generally, in four equal instalments in early April, July, October, and January.
In 2006, a Learned Societies Programme was conducted to provide funding to a wider pool of research societies and introduce greater open competition for funds.