Societal Challenges and Approaches to Responsible Technologies

Aims

The aim of this call is to support ODA-eligible international research collaborations between humanities and social sciences researchers in the UK and researchers in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries on societal challenges and approaches to responsible technologies. Applications that are not considered ODA-eligible will not be taken forward through the assessment process.

Furthermore, whilst it is not a requirement, applications are welcome to work across the humanities and social sciences AND the natural, medical and engineering sciences. The Academy particularly encourages applications led from the humanities.

The Academy intends to be able to support policy-relevant research that can be either novel research or research that builds on existing or ongoing research in societal challenges and approaches to responsible technologies. The Academy does not have any pre-determined ideas regarding the exact type of project, outputs, and dissemination of the research other than that it must be policy-relevant. Instead, the onus is on the applicants to convince the Academy that their projects bring genuine added value to addressing the Programme Aims and Scope of the Call and bring valuable insights and perspectives of relevance to the policy challenges of societal challenges and approaches to responsible technologies.

The Academy envisages the awards made through the Programme will:

• Provide opportunities for researchers based in the UK and Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries to develop and/or deepen international research collaborations;
• Deliver policy-relevant ODA-eligible research in societal challenges and approaches to responsible technologies that provide clear insights and deliverables for action at local, national and/or regional levels in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries;
• Co-creates and engages with local and/or national community, societal, business and/or policy stakeholders to design, develop and embed the research findings.

International Science Partnerships Fund

This call is supported from the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. This funding is focused on providing support for researchers based in the UK, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries wishing to develop ODA-eligible policy-relevant research on societal challenges and approaches to responsible technologies. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by Official Development Assistance (ODA), therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.

Eligibility requirements 

Each project will be led by a named Principal Investigator (PI). The PI must be a researcher in a discipline within the social sciences or the humanities.

The PI must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience). The PI must hold an established role in an eligible university or research institute in the UK, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. If the PI is based in the UK, at least one co-applicant must be based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries. If the PI is based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries, at least one co-applicant must be based in the UK. Co-applicants must be of postdoctoral or above status (or have equivalent research experience).

Only research that has a primary objective which is directly and primarily relevant to the problems of developing countries may be counted as ODA. Applicants are required to demonstrate that the proposal is ODA eligible.

Value and duration

Awards of 18 months in duration and up to £200,000 are available.

Funding can be used to support the time of the Principal Investigator and Co-Applicants; postdoctoral (or equivalent) research assistance; training and development for the PI and ECR Co-Applicants; travel, fieldwork and related expenses; networking costs and university costs in hosting and supporting the project. Awards are offered on an 80% full economic costing basis.

The only exception to this understanding and 80% FEC in general is the costing of international Principal Investigators or international Co-Applicants or partners in non-academic settings (in the UK or internationally) who demonstrably do not use and would not use FEC modelling. For such partners the costing regime used should be at 100% for direct costs and a flat-rate of 25% for indirect costs. UK-based institutions that would be expected to use FEC may not use this costing regime.

Projects must begin at the end of June 2024.

Application process 

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy's Grant Management System (GMS), Flexi-Grant®.

The deadline for submissions and host organisation approval is 10 April 2024 (17.00 UK time).