Supporting research staff to disseminate and communicate their research findings and share their research knowledge and material beyond their immediate peers.

Aimed at research staff only, with 'research staff' defined as individuals whose primary responsibility is to conduct research and who are usually supported by grants which are of a fixed duration. This includes research assistants, research associates, postdoctoral research associates and research fellows including Presidential Fellows.

• Research Dissemination Fund for Research Staff. Up to £500. Examples of dissemination activities include but are not limited to conference presentations, public engagement workshops, publication costs, working with policy makers, adapting materials for different audiences, virtual networking events. Deadlines: 21/10/24, 18/11/24, 20/01/25, 24/02/25, 24/03/25, 24/04/25, 19/05/25, 23/06/25.
• Research Collaboration Fund for Research Staff. Up to £5k covering networking costs, workshops costs, staff and consumable costs for feasibility and pilot studies or preliminary research data collection in an interdisciplinary area which has the potential to lead to an external funding bid. Next deadlines 19/11/24, 16/06/25.

Further information is available on the University's Research Development website.

Funding for DTP’s postgraduate researchers. Discovery and Collaboration Funding. Open for submissions any time.

Two types:

• Discovery Funding 
  • Field and conference 
  • Overseas institutional visits
  • specialist training
• Collaboration Funding
  • Conferences and events organisation
  • Training for groups of students
  • Knowledge exchange activities
  • Networking

UKRI Harmonised IAA Call for Proposals

Next deadline: 09/04/2025.

The Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) is a combination of grants awarded to the University of Manchester by five research councils.  IAA funding supports the research and innovation ecosystem to develop wider impacts from research through fast and flexible funding for early-stage knowledge exchange activities.

This year for the first time, UKRI has harmonised the IAA, with a single point of application across the participating research councils.  IAA grants are available to The University of Manchester academics from AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, MRC and STFC.  The UoM Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team is pleased to announce the first Call for Proposals under the following mechanisms: 

• Relationship Development Scheme (up to £10k, open call) Fostering new relationships between external partners and academic researchers, creating opportunities for collaboration and exchange of knowledge and skills
• Proof of Concept Scheme (up to £30k) Support for the very early stage of transforming research outputs into commercial and translational opportunities.
• Secondment Scheme (up to £60k) Flexible support for secondments between the University of Manchester and businesses and other organisations.

Further details regarding eligibility are on the attached call documents. Application guidance and application forms can also be found on the call document. 

Do you have a potential project?  The Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team provide active support for  the  development  of  IAA  submissions.  You  are  strongly  advised  to  contact  us  for  support  at  least  1 month   before   the   call   closing   date.   Initial   contact   should   be   made  via kepartnerships@manchester.ac.uk 

Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team
knowledgeexchangepartnerships@manchester.ac.uk
The University of Manchester
Knowledge Exchange Partnerships Team, G002 Christie Building, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL

The University of Manchester Research Institute (UMRI) invites applications for pump-priming funds to support interdisciplinary research projects. The call is open to fund projects up to £50,000 for a period of 12 months. Funds will be awarded to projects which align with one of the four themes outlined below and which encourage collaboration and aim to lead to an increase in successful interdisciplinary research.

• Creative Manchester (Director: John McAuliffe), priority areas include Creativity, Health and Wellbeing; Creative Industries and Innovation; Createch; Civic and Creative Places 
• Digital Futures (Director: Richard Kingston) priority areas include Cities and Environment, Citizens and Democracy, Createch, Employment and Productivity, Industry 5.0, but all proposals across all platform challenges are welcome. 
• Sustainable Futures (Directors: Michael Shaver and Helen Holmes), priority areas include water, energy transitions, climate justice, biodiversity and circular economy, but all proposals across the six platform challenges are welcome. 
• Healthier futures (Director: Nicky Cullum), priority areas focus on the causes, consequences, and ways to address health inequalities. Healthier Futures focuses on the determinants that empower or inhibit people from leading Healthier Lives in Healthier Places, and engaging with Health and Care Services and Systems. 

Call guidance, frequently asked questions and application form are available on the UMRI Pump-Priming Call website. Discover more about previous UMRI awards and other interdisciplinary projects on our collaboration and interdisciplinary webpages

Applications should be submitted on the relevant application form and submitted to rst@manchester.ac.uk no later than 4pm on 28 February 2025.   

"The University of Manchester has existing, highly productive links with The University of Melbourne and is extending this relationship to our Global Doctoral Research Network (GOLDEN) by establishing another cohort of collaborative postgraduate research projects".

Next deadline 14 March 2025 for some projects:

• Urban digital twins for sustainable cities: Exploring collaborative innovation and value creation. "The project offers a unique opportunity for a PhD candidate to engage with cutting-edge research at the intersection of digital innovation, urban planning, and sustainability".
• Identifying drivers of language development in children's interactions. "The goal of this PhD project is to use statistical analysis of observational data to identify the individual aspects of children’s interaction that drive language development".

Further information: Postgraduate research GOLDEN Partnerships.

The Faculty website includes further details. Deadlines should be announced at some point for the 2025 round.

• Both Simon and Hallsworth Fellowships early career.
• Visiting Professorships.
• Simon Industrial and Professional Fellowship. Second deadline 2024 call: 22/11/2024.
• Hallsworth Conference Fund.

Annual opportunities are included in the University Postgraduate research website (also see highlights for links). Below highlighted some past or future opportunities: 

• Studentship opportunities from the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP). 
• The President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards.
• Research Impact Scholarships.
• Bursary scheme from the School of Law.

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library research support calls

The John Rylands Research Institute and Library (JRRIL) supports annual research funding. The Fund aims to promote The University of Manchester Special Collections through various schemes. All the information is available on the JRRIL Research Support pages.

"Grant holders have access to the John Rylands Research Institute and Library’s extensive and diverse collections, as well as to a strong community of outstanding researchers, curators and imaging specialists. We also offer tailored grant writing support for those wishing to apply for larger external grant schemes."

ICURe is a pre-accelerator programme for researchers, designed to help explore the commercial application and potential of UK research.

"ICURe has engaged with over 500 teams nationwide. We have delivery partners, business advisors, and support networks in place which will provide an excellent basis for new businesses. As part of the ICURe journey, you will leverage this combined experience and capability to discover the potential of your ideas, and put them into practice in the real world."

Deadlines: various all over the year

All relevant information and contact details on the ICURe website.

Methods North West (MNW) is an academic network that exists to promote the depth and breadth of methodological expertise in the social sciences across the North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP)’s partner institutions and beyond. The partner Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, and Keele promote and facilitate methodological excellence, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration through the respective work of links@keele, methods@lancaster, engage@liverpool, and methods@manchester. Through these primary links, MNW connects with other regional and national doctoral training initiatives.

Th Methods North West (MNW) aims to become a regional hub for research methods innovation,celebrating the collective strength, depth and breadth of methodological expertise across the participating Universities of Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster and Keele. 

Methods Northwest Seminar Series

Since 2020, Methods North West (MNW), has been running a highly popular series of short online postgraduate Methods Sessions on methodological innovations in the social sciences. This series creates a platform for postgraduate and academic researchers across the partner universities (and beyond) to discuss innovations in the use of research methods in the social sciences in general. Contributions are welcome on new innovative methods, new ways of using existing methods or revisiting some of the traditional social science methods.

Instituonal contacts:

• Keele University: Anita Hayes, links@keele.ac.uk
• University of Lancaster: Gary Potter Methods@Lancaster G.potter2@lancaster.ac.uk
• University of Liverpool: Michael Mair engage@liverpool.ac.uk /  Michael.Mair@liverpool.ac.uk
• University of Manchester: Emma Banister, methods@manchester.ac.uk

For those not based at any of the partner institutions listed above, please contact admos.chimhowu@manchester.ac.uk with your proposal so an appropriate chair for your session can be arranged.

ECRs and advanced PhD students are welcomed. 

University of Manchester Open Access Research

(This is a work in progress page, updates will follow)

Open Access funding

The Open Access (OA) funds currently available at the University are:

1. UKRI Open Access block grant 2023-24 (for papers acknowledging funding from AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC or Innovate UK) *
2. The Wellcome Trust 
3. Cancer Research UK 
4. British Heart Foundation
5. University Open Access Fund (for papers not funded by any of the above)

UKRI's new Open Access policy: Long-form outputs

UKRI is introducing a new Open Access policy for long-form outputs which will take effect from January 2024.

This applies to publications that need to acknowledge funding from UKRI or any of its councils. This includes funding from: 

• the research councils (AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, STFC)
• Research England
• Innovate UK

Applying for funding: From January 2024 approximately £3.5 million will be dedicated to supporting Open Access for long-form outputs via a national ring-fenced fund. The fund will be centrally held by UKRI, and research organisations will apply to UKRI to access it.

Further information on the University of Manchester Library website.

"Driving the commercialisation of the University’s innovations and intellectual property"

IP Disclosure > scoping the opportunity > business case development > license IP / investment > asset management

Further information is available on the Factory's pages. 

The Centre launched a seedcorn funding competition to support the development of new research ideas relevant to digital trust.

These will be scoping reviews and pilot studies, workshops, symposia, and research seminars/presentations, or staff exchanges and other collaborative relationship development.

The 2023/24 call for applications has now closed. The next call for proposals will open in September, and projects can run from November to the following July.

Further information on the Centre's website.

An interdisciplinary forum for the promotion of research and teaching on Europe across its three principal stakeholders: The University of Manchester, The University of Salford, and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Annual calls.

• Teaching and learning grants (October deadline).
• Seminar/workshop (October deadline).
• PhD bursaries. Deadline 31/07/2023.
• PG Dissertation Prize (October deadline).

Further information is available on the JMCE pages.

University of Manchester | University of Bordeaux

Information will be available in due course online at the link.

Deadline tbc.

The University of Manchester, the University of Melbourne, and the University of Toronto are contributing matching funds to support collaborative bilateral and trilateral research initiatives through a yearly joint call for proposals.

The overall aim of the MMT Research Fund is to encourage and provide initial support for the development of high-quality research activities that include early career researchers. Funding is available from each of the three institutions to develop bilateral or trilateral research projects. The Fund seeks to support proposals that will lead to long-term research collaborations with a view to enabling principal investigators to subsequently apply for external funding to support the next phase of their joint research.

The Fund is open to applications from all research areas and up to 15 proposals will be selected for funding.

Proposals demonstrating strong relevance to strategic priorities at the participating institutions and that aim to provide opportunities for collaborative doctoral training and mobility at a future stage are encouraged.

Key dates 2024, reference:

• Call for proposals launch - 27 March 2024 (9am BST) 
• Deadline for submission - 3 June 2024 (5pm BST) 
• Communication of results - August 2024 
• Start date of awards - September 2024 

Link to the University international partnerships pages for further information.

The University of Manchester and the Heidelberg University new joint fund aims at providing seed funding to foster lasting and sustainable connections leading to larger initiatives and external funding.

Encoraged participation from Early Career Researchers and principal investigators or members of projects teams.

Key dates 2024 reference:

• Call opens: 8 April 2024
• Deadline for submissions: 10 June 2024
• Notifications to applicants: Early July
• Starting dates: August-December 2024

Link to the University international partnerships pages for further information.

Summary of the schemes

This fund has been paused in 2024, no further guidance provided. Below some notes from previous calls.

• Team Award:

The Humanities Strategic Investment Fund Internationalisation

The Faculty in 2021 welcomed funding applications supporting research, teaching and related activities in relation to the internationalisation agenda. Applications furthering the Faculty’s goal of working with the best universities worldwide, whether global or national leaders in their fields, producing high-quality publications and leading to future grant applications or teaching partnerships.

The deadline was 03/05/2021. 

• Category one: building research (or related) networks
• Category two: academic mobility grants

 All the relevant information available on the HSIF page.

Please note that this scheme is closed and the information in this section is for reference only.

Background

The Faculty of Humanities will receive £500K of Research Recovery Funds.  This sits alongside additional pots that are being provided from the Centre (via UMRI) and School Recovery Funds (which are being administered locally via your School Research Director).    

Following consultation with Heads of Schools, Faculty Recovery Funds will be deployed to:

• Support the development of new research projects that address any area or topic;
• Support projects to develop impact and engagement activities.

We anticipate funding up to 50 projects each of approximately £10,000, although larger projects will be considered in exceptional circumstances.

The funds expent by 31 July 2022 in line with the guidance provided. 

Scope of funding

Applications may request funds to support a range of research activities, such as casual/fixed term research assistants, travel and networking to support the development of new research projects. In addition, the funds can be used to support impact pathway development, such as relationship building with non-academic partners or engagement with non-academic research users (events, evidence briefings, etc.)

Applications are welcome that address any area or topic. However, we want to encourage colleagues, where appropriate to do so, to use these funds to engage with the Faculty’s five priority themes: Post COVID society; Digital futures; Sustainable futures; Global Inequalities; Creativity.

We also encourage colleagues to consider mounting joint bids, including work that transcends current research groups, departments and even schools, with a view to fostering new synergies. However, it is important to stress that all applications will be judged on their own merits, based strictly on the selection criteria outlined and we will fund the projects that best meet those criteria.

We will particularly welcome applications that foster an inclusive research culture and the potential to lead to external grant capture.

Eligibility

The call is open to all colleagues on open-ended ‘teaching and research’ contracts.

Application Process 

To apply please complete the form below and submit by 8^th December 2021.  Before applying, you should seek approval from your Head of Discipline/Department/Division – this should be confirmed by a signature on the application form or an email attached to the application. 

Advice on the development of a proposal including, where applicable, advice on linking with the Faculty’s priority themes, may be sought from:

• Humanities Strategic Funding team (contact: chloe.jeffries@manchester.ac.uk)
• Humanities Knowledge Exchange & Impact team (contact: Hums_Impact@manchester.ac.uk) 

You should consult your local Research Services team for advice on outline costings, particularly costs for Research Assistants.  However the team are not expected to produce detailed budgets, and fEC costing and formal approval through Pure are not required for this internal scheme. Only direct costs will be eligible under this grant (recoverable at 100% fEC). 

Review Process  

The selection panel will comprise the Vice Dean for Research, an Associate Dean and the School Research Directors. Applications will be assessed solely on the quality of the proposal, based on the project description, ambition and feasibility of the planned deliverables and potential for delivering world-class research and/or impact.  

Project Timeline 

Full guidance is available online on the staff documents website. If you have any queries, please contact as convenient: 

• Elaine Edwards, Research Strategic Manager, Elaine.edwards@manchester.ac.uk - general queries on the administration of the scheme
• Chloe Jeffries, Head of Strategic Funding, chloe.jeffries@manchester.ac.uk - advice from the strategic funding team on research proposal development
• Lucy Stone, Carly Chadwick, Leanne Munroe, Clare Canning, Hums_Impact@manchester.ac.uk - advice from our knowledge and impact officers on developing a proposal for impact activities

Deadline for submissions 08/12/2021.

Supported by the University and Faculty of Humanities Civic Engagement strategy.

Projects that will clearly impact on partners, communities, and people within Great Manchester, fostering collaboration with local communities, third sector organisations, business, or government organisations. Projects involving cross-departmental or school collaboration within the Faculty are encouraged, and also those collaborative projects with other faculties or those aspiring to obtain additional funding from the University or external sources. Strategic importance of the partnership and expected outcomes must be established.

Priority to projects demonstrating:

• Co-creation of research funding applications with local stakeholders
• Deployment of teaching expertise to the benefit of the local community
• Articulation of new ways of engaging people in Great Manchester 

Priority areas:

• Social inclusion
• Prosperous communities
• Environmental sustainability
• Cultural engagement
• Better health

Basic award conditions: 

• Up to £10k for each project.
• Internal approvals
• Open to all academic, research and professional services staff from the Faculty.

Further information available online on the Faculty of Humanities StaffNet.

Deadline for applications was 1 May in 2024, continuity of the scheme is expected.

The MICRA Seedcorn funding is an annual call for small proposals. The previous deadline was Wednesday, 22 December 2022. 

The aim of the MICRA Seedcorn funding is to further ageing-related research within The University of Manchester. A maximum of £6K will be awarded per application. Applications will be awarded following a detailed review process involving a panel that includes co-founders and must meet the following essential criteria:

• The proposed research activity must be explicitly related to ageing
• The proposed research activity must be interdisciplinary
• The proposed research activity must lead to at least one specific outcome, such as a research proposal, a new network, an event, a working paper, report or journal article.

The award must be held by a University of Manchester member of staff, but can be used to fund collaborations with other institutions and/ or external partners.

Links:

• MICRA Seedcorn funding website
• micra@manchester.ac.uk.

The EDI Perera Fellowship scheme aims to support talented post PhD researchers from under-represented groups (women, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, Disabled, LGBTQ+) and researchers who have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

EDI “Perera” fellows will be supported to progress their research ideas, develop research independence and secure external follow-on fellowship funding.

There are six fellowships available for research funding and salary, for a miximum of 12 months (must be completed by Friday, 31 March 2023), up to a maximum of £50k per fellowship. Your research must fit the Wellcome remit in order to apply.

Complete and submit the application form to FBMHfellowshipacademy@manchester.ac.uk.

Previous deadline Wednesday, 2 February 2022.

Both universities have established this joint fund to support and foster international collaborative partnerships between the universities.

"The fund aims to catalyse new collaborations and – in the longer term – build global teams with the capability to secure external funding to continue their research.

The fund is open to applications from all research areas, and we encourage applicants from any discipline to submit proposals.

We encourage the involvement of Early Career Researchers as either principal investigators or members of the project team".

Current deadline 11 September 2023.

All the information and guidelines are available on the international collaborations website.

A call for project proposals to establish pairs of jointly awarded/dual PhD research projects between The University of Manchester and The University of Melbourne.

Aiming to support 12 studentships in total (six pairs of projects), with six funded by Manchester (starting September 2021) and six funded by Melbourne (starting in 2022).

The jointly awarded/dual PhD candidates, and subsequently recruit the successful projects, will form the next cohort of the Melbourne-Manchester international research training group.

The guidelines for project proposals and details on how to apply are available on the Dual Awards webpage.

The contact at Manchester is Sarah James-Ford sarah.james-ford@manchester.ac.uk, Postgraduate Research and Researcher Development Coordinator, Graduate Education.

Fund closed for applications.

The University of Manchester and the University of Melbourne established an annual research fund to enable academic staff at both institutions to undertake short-term exchange visits to deepen and extend collaborative research links (not necessarily new links) with a view to enabling collaborators to subsequently make joint proposals to external funding agencies for the next phase of their research.

Activities supported: symposium, workshops, staff exchanges, seminars, presentations and collaborative network.

Five grants will be awarded, the evaluations will be undertaken by Manchester.  Total fund of £50k from the University of Manchester plus AUD100k from Melbourne. 

All the relevant information is available online on the University of Manchester International Collaborations website.

Previous deadline 14/03/2021.

UK – Canada University of Manchester | University of Toronto Joint Research Proposals.

The University of Manchester and the University of Toronto are contributing matching funds to support collaborative research initiatives through a joint call for proposals.

The overall aim of the fund is to encourage and provide initial support for development of high quality research projects in areas of mutual strength and shared interest. Short-term visits to initiate, deepen and extend collaborative research links with a view to enabling principal investigators (PIs) to subsequently make joint proposals to external funding sources for the next phase of their research.

There are not currently open calls.

Further information available on the University of Manchester website.

Tbc

The University of Manchester-CUHK webpage informs.

The Manchester/KkTH & Stockholm University Joint Research Fund was launched in 2021 supporting collaborative research projects between the three institutions, catalysing new collaborations and in the longer term will build international teams who will be well positioned to apply for external research funding. Four initial key research areas:

• Digital trust,privacy and security;
• Sustainability and Circular Economy;
• Molecular biosciences;
• Water.

A second set of workshops will be held in Stockholm in September (if travel is possible) on the above themes. This call gave an opportunity for more academics to engage in these emerging networks. The University international pages provides with further information and relevant contact names and addresses.

Deadline for submissions was 19/04/2021.

The itemised list below feeds from previous calls. Some have a regular annual reiteration, others are not confirmed.

Opportunities from the University with relevance for the Faculty of Humanities

• New pump-priming opportunities adding to the agreements with the Universities of Toronto, Melbourne and Hong Kong.
• Crowdfunding at Manchester
• Investing in Success
• Centre for Higher Education Research Innovation and Learning (CHERIL) Grant Award
• Presidential Fellowships Faculty of Humanities
• University Endowment funding - International Partnership Development Fund
• UMIP The next Big Thing competition
• UMRI Pump Priming Programme
• N8 AgriFood Manchester Pump Priming Fund
• BBC Data Science Research Partnership
• Chinese University of Hong Kong (CHHK)               CUHK - UoM Research Fund
• University of Melbourne Joint Research Fund
• University of Toronto Joint Research Proposals
• From FSE
  • FAPEST Sao Paulo Research Foundation SPRINT 4th call
  • EPSRC-IAA
• From FBMH
  • Wellcome ISSF Public Engagement Funding Schemes
  • MRC Proximity to Discovery (P2D)
  • The Wellcome Trust Institutional Translational Partnership Award (iTPA)

Faculty of Humanities - HUM

• University of Manchester – HUM Studentships
• AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP)
• Faculty of Humanities Research Impact Scholarships
• Lemn Sissay Law Bursaries
• GDI Merit Awards
• JRRI Funding Programme
• Simon & Hallsworth Funding Programme
• Fulbright Distinguished Chair (FDC)
• ESRC IAA (Impact Acceleration Account)
• University Endowment funding - Creative Manchester
• FINTECH Seedcorn Funding
• MICRA Seed corn Funding Call
• H-SIF Humanities Strategic Investment Fund