The University has been awarded a Policy Support Fund from Research England. Our allocation for this academic year is circa £200K which is similar to our allocation last year, and in the couple of previous years where it was called the Strategic Priorities Fund. We hope to build on the strengths of the projects that have already benefitted from the fund, while exploring new partnerships and projects.
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 e.g. staff secondments, contributing towards professional doctorates in policy, joint PhDs etc
Open call
A two stage Open Call is available to request funds from the Policy Support Fund.
Staff (both academic and professional services) are invited to submit applications for projects that align with the objectives of the Fund.
Stage 1 Application form
The first stage will be to develop a short proposal using the template provided and submit this to Helen Perryman (hp544@bath.ac.uk) and Julie Morton (jam234@bath.ac.uk) by 5pm on 26 October 2022.
These applications will be assessed by the Review Panel to develop a shortlist of projects that will progress to Stage 2.
Complete the Policy Support Fund stage one application form
Stage 2 Presentation and Q&A
If you are shortlisted for Stage 2 you will be invited to give a short presentation (5 mins) about your project to the review panel followed by a Q&A session. The review panel will make their final decision about which projects to fund following the presentations.
Funding and application limitations
- The total funding available for all projects is £200,000 with projects expected to be in the region of £10-40K
- 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
- The funding needs to be spent by 31 July 2023
- Applications from early career researchers are encouraged
Further Information
Read the Policy Support Fund guidelines for further information about the funding opportunity and the application process.
