The University has been awarded a Policy Support Fund for 2026-27 from Research England and we are delighted to announce an Open Call of £120K alongside a Rapid Response Policy Engagement Fund of 23K.

Through the Open Call, we hope to explore new partnerships and projects, as well as building on the strengths of the projects that have already benefitted from the fund.

Through the Rapid Response Policy Engagement Fund we hope to support researchers across the university to attend policy engagements, to support the impact of their research and their wider connectivity with policymakers.

A key aim of the Policy Support Fund is to support universities to link effectively with policy research priorities and opportunities. The funding supports universities in undertaking research with partners working within local, regional, national and international structures (including parliament, central government, devolved administrations, local government, health and education bodies, the justice system and other regulatory organisations).

Types of activity

The Policy Support Fund can be used to support the following activities:

Research in partnership with policymakers to better understand local, regional, national & international challenges.
Facilitation of knowledge exchange between the University & policymakers.
Improving dialogue with policymakers and the means to better equip early career researchers to do this.
Supporting evidence-based policymaking through partnerships and exchange of people.
Activity and training to better equip academics, including postgraduate researchers and early career researchers, to communicate effectively with policymakers.
Partnerships and collaboration aimed at supporting evidence based policy making.
The exchange of people, such as staff secondments, contributing towards professional doctorates in policy, or joint PhDs.

Open call

An Open Call of £120K is available to request funds from the Policy Support Fund.

This year our Open Call has two funding routes.

Route 1

Extended Projects (<6 months, <£10k)

Similar to previous years, applicants can submit a proposal for up to £10,000, for a project that aligns with the objectives of the fund. More information on the key aims of the fund, priority funding areas, timelines, application template, and terms and conditions are below.

Please note, these projects will likely start in January 2027, and must be delivered by July 31st 2027. As such, alongside usual assessment criteria, proposals will be assessed on their delivery feasibility within this timeframe (of particular consideration will be the feasibility to implement any proposed recruitment / external contracts or partnership agreements). In particular we welcome applications that will have short term evidencable impacts within the eligibility period for REF29.

Applying for route 1
You will need to develop a short proposal using the template provided and submit this to Cameron Howes: clh233@bath.ac.uk by 5pm 30 November 2026.

These applications will be assessed by the Review Panel. There may be a requirement for applicants to present their proposals to the panel for further review.

Complete the Policy Support Fund application form

Route 2

Policy Engagement Development (with competitive follow-up funding for a one-off activity, <£5k)

This year we are piloting a mechanism designed for applicants from all career stages, but with a particular additional emphasis on supporting early / mid career researchers as well as those less familiar with policy influencing to develop policy engagement skills, capacities and contacts. All researchers will be invited to submit an expression of interest to attend a Policy Engagement Development Workshop (one held in Nov and another in Jan) where they will receive support and coaching to design a competitive engagement activity proposal up to £5,000, which will be submitted for assessment in late January 2027. Successful applications will be awarded their requested funds, and provided some further light touch support to deliver their proposed activity between March-July 2027. If your project is not awarded, we envisage that the workshop will provide valuable CPD regarding policy understanding and skills that will benefit you in future career opportunities and projects.

We expect to award funds for around 8 extended projects and 8 engagement development activities, but there will be some flexibility on this as proposals come in and are assessed on their merits.

Staff (both academic and professional services) are invited to submit applications for projects that align with the objectives of the Fund.

Requests for conducting smaller projects or events, for a shorter duration within the funding window, will be considered.

Applying for route 2
If you are interested in Route 2, please complete this expression of interest form by 13 November 2026.

You will then be contacted to sign up to attend one of the policy development workshops, likely taking place in November and January (provisional dates: 25 November – 14:30-16:30; 13 January – 14:30-16:30). If demand is high, we will look into organising more development workshops so that as many colleagues as possible can benefit from policy related CPD.

Full guidance on submitting an application template, assessment criteria, reporting expectations etc will be outlined within the design workshops. If you are looking to access this fund but are unable to attend either of the design workshops, you can get in touch with Cameron Howes, clh233@bath.ac.uk for further information in December on how to submit a template application for funding consideration.

Key information

The total funding available for all projects across both Open Call routes is £120k, with projects for Route 1 of no more than £10k.
The funding needs to be spent by 31 July 2027.
Requests for conducting smaller projects or events, for a shorter duration within the funding window, will be considered.
Each PI will be limited to make a maximum of one application but you are welcome to apply on additional projects as a Co-I.
Awards will be made from funds provided by Research England and will be subject to Research England’s terms and conditions of funding. Please note that project partners for successful projects will also be expected to sign up to terms and conditions for this funding, in line with the T&Cs issued by Research England for Policy Support Funds.
Applications from early career researchers and underrepresented groups are encouraged.

Rapid Response Policy Engagement Fund

In addition to the open call, this year we are launching a rolling pot of funding of £23k, to support researchers across the university to attend policy engagements, to support the impact of their research and their wider connectivity with policymakers.

Throughout the calendar year there are a variety of policymaker engagement events regionally, nationally and internationally that Bath researchers, through sharing their research insights and expertise, could provide impactful contributions to. These could be large scale, high profile influencing opportunities such as COPs, multilateral policy conferences, Parliamentary events etc, but also smaller scale events e.g. breakfast briefings and roundtables hosted by think tanks in London and other locations across the UK.

If there is a policymaker engagement event that you think would be impactful for your research and policy influencing then we would like to hear from you by submitting a short proposal via our online form. Please note, support will be capped at £1,000 in the first instance, but if your engagement requires more (e.g. international travel, expensive event pass) we can work with you on an approvals process for more funds.

In this form you will be asked to outline: the activity, any event costs / fees (including travel and subsistence), and a justification of intended impacts and outcomes. Depending on the engagement type, if selected for funding, you will be supported to produce a short one-page briefing sheet outlining: your objectives for the engagement, your key talking points, and a briefing note on key stakeholders. After the event, you will be asked for a light touch summary report detailing the immediate impact and outcomes that occurred during / after the engagement, and any intended next steps.

Indicative engagements events include (but are not limited to): Parliamentary events, Think Tank Events, Policy Roundtables, Civil Servant Meetings, Multilateral Meetings, Thematic / Industry Forums etc.

Priority will be given to events in which you are presenting or have been invited to provide critical input, but we will also consider attendance at open forums and networking events, hence why we will support you in designing a briefing sheet to maximise your engagement.

Apply for the Rapid Response Policy Engagement Fund

Other Funding Opportunities

If your project is not right for the Policy Support Fund, take a look at some of the other internal funding opportunities that are available on our website: Find internal research funding. You could also get in touch with our Impact Acceleration Account team: impact-acceleration@bath.ac.uk to find out more about current IAA funding calls.

Logo