What would it look like to reimagine a space on campus to improve our research culture, collegiality, and connection with others?

Do you have a shared office that is rarely occupied? Is there a space that feels unwelcoming or has hidden barriers to inclusion? Do your teams need a place to come together?  

We invite you to form a small team, nominate a space that doesn’t support the research culture that you’d like to see and apply to develop a proposal to reimagine it. The three best applications will receive £1500 each and have three months (June – August 2025) to develop and submit their full proposal. After this point, up to £30,000 total (£10,000 per team) will be available for teams to make their ideas a reality.*

*Subject to Enhancing Research Culture Funding being confirmed for 2025-2026 at equivalent levels and to proposals being approved for implementation.

What’s involved in the project

This project is formed of two stages. Stage one is about developing a proposal. Stage two provides the opportunity to apply for further funding to make your proposal a reality.

Stage one

To take part, start by identifying the space you’d like to reimagine and form a small team to apply. We’ll review applications and select three teams to take their ideas further. The three teams will receive £1500 each to spend by 31 July to consult and reimagine the space. They will write-up and finalise their full proposal by the end of August.

Full proposals submitted at the end of August should include: 

• evidence of work undertaken to understand what colleagues need and want from the space 
• an explanation of the process undertaken to develop the proposed plan 
• a plan for how they would change the space (this does not need to be a fully ‘designed’ space plan, but rather confirmation of the actions/ steps, who will deliver the work, how, and on what timescales)  
• objectives for what the proposed plan would deliver, and how you would evaluate if these are being met 
• assessment of feasibility, risks and opportunities
• estimated costings for delivering the proposal (teams should limit proposed costs to a maximum of £10,000. You could explore in-kind support or match-funding on top of this)

Each team will submit a written proposal and deliver a short presentation to the project panel and relevant head of department (or other owner of the space).  For teams who decide not to pursue their idea to full proposal, we’ll ask for a short summary of the outcomes and rationale.

Stage two

Stage two provides the opportunity to apply for up to £10,000 of follow-on funding to make the proposals a reality.** Submitted proposals will be considered for feasibility and will require approval from the department and faculty/school responsible for the space.

**Subject to Enhancing Research Culture Funding being confirmed for 2025-2026 at equivalent levels.

Funding

Three successful applicant teams will receive £1500 each to develop their proposal. Funding could be spent on several things to support the development of the proposal including, but not limited to, professional facilitators, artists, consultants, someone's time, participation vouchers, and travel to other organisations to carry out research.  All funding to develop the proposals must be spent by 31 July 2025.

Key dates

The timeline for this funding call is as follows:

Stage 1:

• 14 May: deadline for applications
• 15 to 25 May: applications will be reviewed by the panel
• 26 May: the three successful teams announced and awarded £1500 to develop a proposal 
• 4 June: workshop held with space experts to support proposal development
• 31 July: deadline to spend the £1500 funding
  
• 29 August: final proposals due (or summary report if not continuing)
  
• September (date TBC): Teams present proposal to the panel

Stage 2:

• September onwards: opportunity to apply for follow-on funding to make the proposals a reality

Who can apply

Staff from all job families, as well as postgraduate and doctoral students are welcome to apply. Applications should come from small teams of two to six people. We’re particularly looking to support applications that reflect a diversity of perspectives and voices across job roles and career stages, whether through the makeup of the project team or in their proposed approach to reimagining a space.

How to apply

To apply for funding to develop a proposal, you will need to complete an online application form and answer the following questions:

• which space would you like to develop a proposal for?
• we encourage you to consider a space in your own department, school or faculty
• what do you notice about the use of the space currently, and the impact this has on research culture?
• why are you interested in reimagining it?
• how would you approach developing a proposal to reimagine the space?

Before applying, you’ll need to speak with the relevant head of department or head of the professional service responsible for the space. They will need to support your application and commit to considering your final proposal as part of future space planning. The application form will require you to confirm that this conversation has taken place. Applications will be reviewed by a panel. We’ll select three to receive £1500 in research culture funding to develop a proposal.

We are looking for applications that:

• have clear potential to improve collegiality
• include a well-considered approach to developing the proposal
• plan for consultation with colleagues and users of the space
• are realistic, with achievable aims
• have support from the relevant head of department or head of the professional service responsible for the space

Application details

Apply for funding by completing this online application form.
Application deadline: Wednesday 14 May at 11:59pm (BST).
All applicants will receive the outcome of their application on Monday 26 May.