The British Institute for the Study of Iraq
(Gertrude Bell Memorial)
Formerly the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
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BISI Grants
The Institute promotes, supports and undertakes research on Iraq and neighbouring countries not covered by other BASIS-sponsored institution. Its academic coverage includes anthropology, archaeology, geography, history, language and related disciplines within the arts, humanities, and social sciences from the earliest times until the present.
For a listing of past BSAI/BISI research grants, please see tick here and for BISI development grants please tick here.
A Grant Flyer describing all BISI funding is available here. [31.4 KB Adobe PDF]. Please note we now request an electronic version of all grant requests and a hard copy signed if possible. References may be sent via email as attachments. Funding opportunities at the British Academy can be found here.
Please note the BISI annual grant deadlines: Research & Conference Grants - 10 January; Visiting Iraqi Scholars Grants - 1 March; and Development and Outreach Grants - 1 October.
From time to time we will consider out of cylcle applications on an exceptional basis. Please contact the BISI providing details of any proposals.
BISI Development Grants - Next Deadline 1 October 2012
(For a list of past award click here)
Grants are available to support development events and projects, such as lectures, study days, and popular publications that relate to Iraq and neighbouring countries and to the areas of interest covered by BISI. A Development Grant application should normally be for an amount up to £500 but more substantial grants may be made. Applicants need to submit an application form [41.5 KB Word document] and two references to the BISI Administrator. Applicants should be normally resident in the UK and preference is given to activities taking place in the UK, or in Iraq or a neighbouring country. The next deadline for applications and references is now 1 October 2012. Future applications deadlines will be 1 October annually. Applications and references should be sent electronically to the BISI. (Please arrange to have your references sent independently, if possible to the Institute.)
In special circumstances BISI will consider urgent applications at other times. The conditions of the grant are downloadable here [13.5 KB PDF file].
Grantees will be required to provide a written report of their work and provide an accounting of expenses. Abstracts from grantees' reports will be published in future issues of the BISI Newsletter.
BISI Pilot Project, Research Grants and Conference Grants Next deadline 10 January 2013
(For a list of past award click here)
The Institute’s PILOT PROJECT GRANTS scheme is designed to support a short research project, of up to a year’s duration, which has the potential to grow into a longer-term, larger-scale project supported by a Research Council or other large funding body. Only one project annually will be funded under this scheme. The BISI will aid the successful applicant in drawing up a research proposal for the long-term project, and will normally expect to be included in that bid as a project partner or similar.
Subject matter
Applications are welcomed to support research on Iraq, in any field of the arts, humanities or social sciences, concerned with any time period from prehistory to the present day. However, projects related to the theme of Exile and Return are particularly welcome.
Eligibility
Under this scheme, applicants must be employed by, or have an official connection with, a UK Higher Education Institution. Proof of the applicant’s affiliation may be requested.
Budget
BISI can only fund direct costs such as equipment, travel, expenses, and consultancy fees, up to a total of £8000. It cannot pay institutional overheads, salary costs, PhD studentships, or other normal living costs.
Application procedures
Downloadable forms, Guidance Notes, and Terms and Conditions of Award are available here in PDF [17.6 KB] or Word [49.5 KB] formats and from the Administrator. The submission deadline for applications and references is 10 January 2013 and the outcome will be announced in March. If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact the BISI Administrator at bisi@britac.ac.uk.
RESEARCH GRANTS - NEXT DEADLINE 10 JANUARY 2013
The Institute invites funding applications once a year for grants in aid of research and for the organisation of academic conferences. Applications are welcomed to support research or conferences on Iraq and neighbouring countries not covered by other British Academy BASIS sponsored institutions, in any field of the humanities or social sciences, concerned with any time period from prehistory to the present day. Awards will normally fall within a limit of £4000, though more substantial awards may be made.
Applicants must be residents of the UK or, very exceptionally, other individuals whose academic research closely coincides with that of a BISI sponsored project or excavation. (Please contact BISI in advance of preparing an application to determine if this would be applicable.) Two academic references are required and should be sent directly to the BISI administrator (via email and/or post. All applications and references must be received by 10 January 2013 and applications and references should be sent electronically to the BISI.
Details of the requirements and conditions of grants [16.4 KB PDF file], as well as a research grant application form [50.5 KB Word file], conference grant application form [44.5 KB Word file] and pilot project application form [49 KB Word file] form and guidance notes are downladable by clicking the individual links and are also available from the BISI Administrator via email or by writing to the BISI address at the bottom of this page.
Grantees will be required to provide a written report of their work and provide an accounting of expenses. Abstracts from grantees' reports will be published in future issues of the BISI Newsletter.
The selection of individuals and institutions who are to receive grants from the Institute is made by the Council after assessment by the Fieldwork and Research Committee of the quality and practicality of the proposed research, the costing of the work, the qualifications of the applicant to conduct the work, the results and outputs of previous work supported by the School and the reports of referees.
Major Research Grants
Due to funding changes, Major Research Grants are no longer available for direct funding from the Institute other than the pilot project scheme. Please look at the research opportunities available at the British Academy. The Institute would, however, be interested in considering outline applications for strong research initiatives related to Iraq and to act as co-sponsors with applicants to the British Academy or other funding bodies. Please contact the Administrator for further information.
BISI Visiting Iraqi Fellows & Scholars Grants - Next Deadline 1 March 2012
BISI offers two or three grants each year to be held in the UK by visiting scholars from Iraq in the fields of archaeology, ancient languages, museum and heritage studies, and other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. The academic focus must relate to the study of Iraq and priority is given to scholars at an early stage of their careers. Applications forms are available here. Please have your reference sent to the BISI directly.
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Past Awards for BISI / BSAI Research Grants
(The Newsletter ('NL') number is noted which includes the grantee's report. Newsletters from May 2006 are available as PDFs on the website.)
2009/2010 | 2008/2009 | 2007/2008 | 2006/2007 | 2005/2006 | 2004/2005 | 2003/2004 | 2002/2003 | 2001/2002 | 2000/2001 | 1999/2000 | 1998/1999
- Ms Sarah Cox - ‘Analysis of copper base metalwork from Failaka Island, Kuwait’
- Miss Helen Crossman - ‘Contextual analysis of economic and social networks: the circulation of Bronze Age soft-stone artefacts in Bahrain and Cyprus’
- Dr Jacob Dahl – Travel Grant ‘Syrian Digital Library of Cuneiform’ (SDLC) (NL 25)
- Ms Ruth Horry - ‘Meanings of Mesopotamian sacrificial divination and the work of Morris Jastrow at the University of Pennsylvania’
- Miss Vanessa Iaria - ‘Iraqi refugees’ repatriation from Syria and Jordan’
- Mr Nineb Lamassu - ‘Documenting and Analysing the Oral Epic of Qatine’
- Dr John MacGinnis - ‘Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project’ (NL 26)
- Mr Jeffrey Orchard & Mrs Jocelyn Orchard - ‘The Hajar Project, Oman: Ancient Aflaj Research Programme’ (NL 25)
- Professor Nigel Ashton - Conference grant ‘Reappraising the Iran-Iraq War’ (NL 26)
- Dr Martin Worthington - Conference grant ‘Decoding Gilgamesh: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Ancient Epic’ (NL 26)
- BISI Pilot Project Grant - Dr Sabah Aldihsi ‘The Documentation of the Mandaean Rituals and Language’
- Professor Mary Jacobus (CRAASH) Conference Grant for 'Culture Wars: Heritage and Armed Conflict in the 21st Century' [NL 23]
- Tony Matthiesen 'The State, communalism and Transnationalism in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain' [NL 23]
- Alison Jean Millerman 'American dimension to the excavations at Ur in the 1920's and 30's' [NL 22]
- Ali A. K. Ali - ‘Iraqi refugees in Jordan: The migration decision making process’
- Khyam Allami ‘The Iraqi 'Ud School: its influences and development’
- Mr Jeffrey Orchard & Mrs Jocelyn Orchard - ‘The Hajar Project, Oman: Ancient Aflaj Research Programme’
- Dr A Scafi/Warburg Institute Conference Grant ‘The Cosmography of Paradise: The Other World from Ancient Mesopotamia to Medieval Europe’ [NL 23]
- Dr John MacGinnis - Participation in the Excavations at Tell Masaikh
- Dr Jacob Dahl Travel Grant ‘Syrian Digital Library of Cuneiform'
- Dr Joan Oates/Tell Brak Excavations and Dr Augusta McMahon/Tell Brak Excavations for the support of excavation of the site of Tell Brak in north Syria, but within Greater Mesopotamia, where BISI/BSAI has worked for many years under the auspices of Dr Joan Oates and the late Professor David Oates. [NL 22]
- Dr Lisa Cooper for a travel grant to work on the 'Archaeological Achievements of Gertrude Bell' [NL 21]
- Dr Marie-Christine Ludwig for a research grant to assist in the publication of the literary texts from Woolley's excavations at Ur [NL 21]
- Dr Lloyd Weeks/Society for Arabian Studies Conference Grant to support 'Death, Burial & the Transition to the Afterlife in Arabia and Adjacent Regions' to take place in November 2008 at the British Museum. [NL 23]
- Dr Harriet Crawford, Dr Augusta McMahon & Professor JN Postgate Conference Grant to support a conference in Cambridge 'Preludes to Urbanism: Early complexity and material change in the Ancient Near East' in honour of Dr Joan Oates. [NL 22]
- Samarrafinds Project (Dr Konrad & Dr Dahmi) travel grant to participate in a meeting at the British Museum sponsored by Dr Venetia Porter with Professor Alastair Northedge to discuss the 'Samarrafinds' project. [NL 22]
- Dr Joan Oates/Tell Brak Excavations and Dr Augusta McMahon/Tell Brak Excavations for the support of excavation of the site of Tell Brak in north Syria, but within Greater Mesopotamia, where the School has worked for many years under the auspices of Dr Joan Oates and the late Professor David Oates.
- Dr Georgina Herrmann and Ms Catherine Thomas - to assist in the research and publication of a major corpus of ivories excavated by the school at Nimrud in the 1950s (Nimrud Ivories Project.
- Professor Farouk Al-Rawi - for the continuation of the project to publish a substantial part of the British Museum's collection of Sumerian administrative texts from Umma ('Umma Project')
- Dr Erica Hunter - conference grant for the 4th Christianity in Iraq Seminar Day to explore monastic heritage of Iraq at SOAS (May 2007)
- Dr Erica Hunter - travel grant to participate in the CBRL co-sponsored conference 'Shifting Boundaries' held in Amman (Feb 2007)
- Dr Nader El-Bizri - conference grant for SIHSPAI Conference (Société Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Islamiques) in Cambridge during the 2008-09 academic year.
- Dr Stuart Campbell - research grant to complete the publication of the Umm Dabaghiyah publication with assistance for a part-time researcher and funding for travel to Copenhagen
- Dr Joan Oates - research grant for Tell Brak to fund a research assistant, Dr Carlo Colantoni, to work on Vol. 3 of the Tell Brak monographs to be published jointly with the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, Cambridge
- Dr Eleanor Robson - travel grant to work on Old Babylonian material from Nippur housed at the University Museum in Philadelphia
- Dr Erica Hunter - conference grant for the Christianity in Iraq III Seminar Day to explore Christian-Muslim dialogue in Iraq (May 2006)
- Professor Farouk Al- Rawi & Mr Christopher Walker (project sponsor) - research grant to work on the continuation of the Umma Project to publish a substantial part of the British Museum's collection of Sumerian administrative texts from Umma. The initial research has been published in Nisaba. This research will focus on completing a set of sample texts.
- Dr Augusta McMahon - research and fieldwork grant for Chagar Bazar for final processing and analysis of faunal remains and soil samples excavated during the 1999-2002 excavations at Chagar Bazar
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - research grant to support an assistant, Ms Catherine Thomas, for the Nimrud Ivories Project
- Dr Joan Oates/Tell Brak Excavations - Spring 2006 Season
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- Professor Farouq Al-Rawi (Umma Project) - research grant on the Umma texts of the Ur period in the British Museum in co-operation with Dr Sigrist and Prof. Molina to ensure the standards in transliteration and interpretation are maintained
- Dr Diana Stein - travel grants to work on Nuzi Material at the Harvard Semitic Museum
- Dr John MacGinnis - travel grant to participate in the excavations at Ziyaret Tepe
- Mr Jonathan Pickup - to support study of ceramics from Arpachiyah for specific special provenance analysis of pottery
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - research grant for the Nimrud Ivories Project to continue the School's ongoing responsibility to publish the Nimrud ivories and other work
- Dr Paul Taylor - conference grant for 'Iconography without Texts' at the Warburg Institute
- Dr Rob Carter - conference grant to support an international workshop on the Ubaid Period (Spring 2006 - at University of Durham)
- Dr Erica Hunter - conference grant 'Mission & Message of the Church of the East' to be held at SOAS in April 2005
- Miss Helen Mcdonald - Tell Brak BSAI Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of Tell Brak Excavations
- Dr Joan Oates - travel grant to attend a conference sponsored by CBRL in Syria
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- Dr John MacGinnis - travel grant to the Assyrian site at Ziyaret Tepe and towards maintenance costs for writing up the excavation
- Dr Adam Jackson - research grant to fund a geochemical investigation of basalt artefacts from Jerablus
- Miss Helen McDonald - to support the Tell Brak Senior Research Fellowship and as Co-Director of the Tell Brak, Syria excavations
- Miss Helen McDonald - for her secondment to ORHA/CPA in Baghdad and Babylon (June-Aug 2003 Special Assignment funded in part by the FCO)
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - research grant on the Nimrud Ivories Project
- Professor Nicholas Postgate - to fund a Major Fieldwork Grant Joint BSAI/Univeristy of Cambridge proposal (October 2004- June 2005) (subsequently cancelled due to the security situation in Iraq) for restoration of excavation house at Abu Salabikh to a usable state and curation of any archaeological materials still remaining; study of Nimrud tablets in Iraq Museum for inclusion in Cuneiform Texts from Nimrud (CTN) and; joint preparation of the text editions from Nimrud (NWP) with Dr Ali Yaseen, and from Tell Ali with Dr Bahijah Khalil Isamail. Professor Postgate re-applied for a Publications Grant on the excavation
- Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Nineveh) - conference grant
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- Dr John MacGinnis - to cover travel costs to the Assyrian site of Ziyaret Tepe in south-eastern Turkey (return flight to Diyarbakir)
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - for work on the Nimrud Ivories Project
- Dr Jon Taylor - travel grant to study original fragments of tablets in Aleppo of MB peripheral sites
- Professor Farouk Al-Rawi - for work on the Umma Project (with Mr Christopher Walker, Project Sponsor)
- Professor JN Postgate - supplemental research grant for work on for Abu Salabikh excavations
- Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale (Nineveh) - conference crant
- Miss Helen McDonald - for research as the Tell Brak Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of Tell Brak, Syria excavations
- Dr Augusta McMahon/University of Cambridge - for the excavations at Chagar Bazar, Syria
- Dr Harriet Crawford & Dr Rob Carter/UCL - British Archaeological Expedition to Kuwait (BAEK) at H3 for flint analysis
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- Dr Gordon Stranger - to support ongoing research into the 'Northern Oman's Clays and the Manufacture of Pottery in Ancient Oman'
- Dr Derek Kennet - to fund a travel grant to Dubai and maintenance costs for work on the Kush Glass Assemblage in Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE)
- Dr John MacGinnis - to fund a travel grant results to the Assyrian site at Ziyaret Tepe and towards maintenance costs for writing up the excavation
- Dr Michael Charles and Dr Keith Dobney - for the initial phase of an updateable electronic database for Mesopotamia of environmental evidence from sites in Iraq
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - for the 'Nimrud Ivories Project' for travel costs and drawing and photography costs related to the ivories from the North West Palace at Nimrud
- Professor Farouk Al-Rawi - to continue the transliteration of the Sumerian administrative texts in the British Museum as part of the 'Umma Project'
- Mr David Thomas - for work on developing the 'Nimrud Database Project' to computerise and rationalise records from the School's activities at Nimrud (1948-1963).
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- Dr Heather Baker - to assist expenses in copying Neo-Babylonian tablets at the British Museum
- Dr Andrew George - to fund a visit to Baghdad for the autumn conference and work on Gilgamesh tablet(s) in Baghdad Museum (originally awarded 1999/2000)
- Dr Georgina Herrmann - in respect of costs for a recent visit to Baghdad in connection with Nimrud ivories studies
- Dr Erica Hunter - for translation by Dr Farouk al-Rawi of Iraq Museum Register entries concerning incantation bowls from Tell Dhuihi
- Mr Jonathan Taylor - towards a visit to the University Museum, Pennsylvania, to study lexical texts
- Dr John MacGinnis - a travel grant towards his work on Assyrian remains at Ziyaret
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- Dr Marie-Christine Ludwig - to re-examine Sumerian literary texts from Ur in the British Museum
- Dr John MacGinnis - for work on copying/preparing for publication texts from the Sippar Collection in the British Museum dealing with wooden writing boards
- Mr Thomas Hulit - to examine the scale armour of Nuzi, now in the Harvard Semitic Museum in Cambridge, Mass. USA
- Professor Farouk al-Rawi - for work on the transliteration of the Sumerian administrative texts in the British Museum as part of the new 'Umma Project'
- Dr Harriet Crawford and Dr Rob Carter/UCL - British Archaeological Expedition Major Research Grant for the H3 Site, Kuwait
- Dr Augusta McMahon/University of Cambridge - Major Research Grant for the Chagar Bazar Excavations
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- Heather Baker - towards a study of tablets in the British Museum dating from 6th-early 5th century BC Babylon
- Soren Blau - to fund a survey investigating the funerary component of Muweilah (UAE)
- Lisa Cooper - to study late 3rd millennium pottery from Tell es-Sweyhat and Tell Hadidi
- Katia Davis - to continue her study of ground stone utilisation in the Oman peninsula c.2500 BC - c. 400 AD
- Helen McDonald - to cover travel costs to the 1998 Baghdad Conference to collect material for a report on excavations in Iraq, to be published in IRAQ
- Lloyd Weeks - to fund a lead isotope analysis of metal samples from Saar in Bahrain
- Michelle Ziolkowski - to fund travel related to the excavation of Al Bidyah on the east coast of Fujairah (UAE) as part of a project to survey Islamic sites on the east coast of the peninsula
Past Awards for BISI Development Grants Grants
2009/2010 | 2008/2009 | 2007/2008
- Adalet Garmiany, Art Role – ‘Post War Cultural Event in Sulaiymaniyah’ (NL 26)
- Sarah Shelley, Cornerhouse, Greater Manchester Arts Centre Limited – ‘Contemporary Art Iraq’ Exhibition (NL 26)
- Dr Mariana Giovino – Birkbeck/BISI Study Day ‘Seven Years On: The Iraq National Museum & Cultural Heritage in Iraq’
- Dr Erica Hunter – Christianity in Iraq Study Day VII (2010)
- Imperial College Union Iraqi Society – Iraqi Cultural Exhibitions 2010 (NL 26)
- Dr Mariana Giovino - Clay Workshops - Holborn Community Centre [NL 22]
- Mohammed Jawad - Support for the Imperial College Iraqi Society [NL 23]
- Enheduanna Society/F. Hazelton - On line Art Gallery
- Andy Lowings - Golden Lyre of Ur Project [NL 23]
- REEL Iraq Festival - sponsorship of Iraqi writers (Also supported in part by BISI Appeal funds)
- Dr Erica Hunter - Christianity in Iraq VI Seminar Day. For the publication of the proceedings see [NL 23]
- John Orna-Ornstein - British Museum/Babylon Exhibit - Babylon in the community (Also supported by BIFS)
- Peter Stone - for the paperback printing of The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq (Also supported by general BISI funds) [NL 23]
- Prof. A.R. George/LCANE for joint BISI/Institute of Archaeology Lecture with Olivier Rouault
- ArtRole/Adalet Garmiany - Iraqi visiting artist subsistence travel UK [NL 23]
- Dr Mariana Giovino - Clay Workshops - Holborn Community Centre [NL 23]
- Dr Erica Hunter - Christianity in Iraq V Seminar Day [NL 21]