AHRC: Renew and upgrade facilities for creative and cultural research

Overview

Apply for funding to develop your organisation’s creative research capability (CResCa). Grants can be used to renew, repurpose and upgrade research facilities and equipment.

You must be at a UK-based organisation eligible for UK Research and Innovation funding. Standard Arts and Humanities Research Council eligibility rules apply. They encourage applications from smaller specialist institutions.

There are three funding strands:

• replacement and upgrade of equipment, up to £1 million
• refurbishment of small to medium sized facilities, up to £3 million
• major renovations and repurposing, up to £10 million.

Costs are reimbursed at 100% of the full economic cost. Spending deadlines apply.

Who can apply

This funding opportunity focuses on (but is not restricted to) developing the research and development capability of smaller specialist institutions (SSIs) such as GuildHE members to enhance their capacity to contribute to the UK’s thriving creative and cultural economy. Other eligible organisations are also welcomed to apply.

Standard Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) eligibility rules apply. Funding is open to:

• SSIs
• UK higher education institutions
• research council institutes
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-approved independent research organisations
• public sector research establishments
• NHS bodies with research capacity.

Check if your institution is eligible for funding.

Individual eligibility

To apply for this opportunity, you must:

• be a resident in the UK
• be employed at, or have a formal affiliation with a UK research organisation, independent research organisation, SSI, or research institute eligible to receive UKRI funding
• have a doctorate or equivalent professional experience or training
• have an outstanding track record (appropriate to career stage) in the arts and humanities
• demonstrate experience in the design and delivery of infrastructure opportunities
• be able to build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders
• demonstrate excellent communication skills, in written and verbal form, including writing informative text suitable for different audiences
• be engaged in leading-edge research and innovation of postdoctoral or equivalent standing
• demonstrate a level of skills, knowledge and experience appropriate to the nature of the project.

You should not apply if your organisation has limited knowledge or does not have expertise in the arts and humanities infrastructure landscape.

This funding opportunity is:

• concerned with the UK context only. International collaborations are not eligible for this scheme. Your proposal must not include international funding purely for equipment purchases and facilities upgrades. No staff costs can be claimed against this grant.

Please see AHRC’s research funding guide for further information on eligibility.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

AHRC is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and they want this funding opportunity to be attractive to all eligible candidates.

Principal investigators (PIs) are entitled to take parental leave in accordance with the terms and conditions of their employment. They will consider requests for a grant to be placed in abeyance during the absence of the PI for parental leave, and the period of the project extended by the period of leave.

They will also consider requests to continue the grant project on a flexible or part-time basis, to allow the PI to meet caring responsibilities or for other justifiable reasons, such as physical or mental health.

Please see their equality impact assessment in the ‘additional info’ section for details.

What they're looking for

All applications to this funding opportunity must meet the following objectives, to:

• support the development of world-class research and development capabilities, particularly in the UK’s smaller specialist institutions (SSIs)
• improve the visibility and resilience of specialist, practice-led research sectors within the arts and humanities
• support the UK’s creative and cultural economy.

This investment will fund three types of activity for practice-led research in eligible institutions:

• strand one: equipment upgrade or replacement
• strand two: refurbishment or upgrade of small to medium-sized facilities
• strand three: new major facilities or the repurposing of major facilities.

You can apply for more than one strand. However, they will only accept one application, per strand, per institution.

Applications to more than one strand must not be mutually dependent on each other for successful delivery.

You should only apply if you are sure that you can meet the time frames and parameters of the strands of this funding opportunity. In particular, you should note the short time frame for strand one, for which funding is awarded on 1 December 2022 and must be spent by 31 March 2023.

Funding and duration

If your application is successful, and once funding is confirmed, Arts and Humanities Research Council will meet 100% of the full economic cost of your project, for all three strands.

You can apply for the following maximum amounts and your projects must last the following durations associated with each strand:

• strand one: equipment upgrade or replacement. Up to £1 million for exactly three-months’ duration. The latest a project can start is 31 December 2023
• strand two: refurbishment or upgrade of small to medium-sized facilities. Up to £3 million for around nine months duration (funding must be spent by 30 September)
• strand three: new major facilities or the repurposing of major facilities. Up to £10 million for around 18 months duration (funding must be spent within 18 months of being awarded).

Eligible costs include:

• equipment
• maintenance contracts (up to five years)
• software and associated licences
• costs associated with construction or other contracted works.