Closes 21 September 2028
AHRC Standard research grant: applicant-led mode (Grant)
UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council
- How much
- £300k–£1.5m
- Closing date
- 21 September 2028
- Opens
- 23 September 2026
- Where
- UK-wide
- Total fund
- £1000 million
- Who can apply
- Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
- Aimed at
- Any sector
Apply for AHRC standard research grant funding to support well-defined collaborative projects across the arts and humanities, in areas covered by our remit. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. There is no limit on the value of the grant, the value specified within the summary page is an example.
About the grant
Apply for AHRC standard research grant funding to support well-defined collaborative projects across the arts and humanities, in areas covered by our remit.
You must include a project lead and at least one project co-lead jointly involved in the development and management of the project and co-authored research outputs
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be between £300,000 and £1.5 million. AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC.
The maximum duration of these awards is five years.
Demand management
Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.
Scope
Projects should aim to:
• enable arts and humanities researchers to establish or enhance effective working relationships with fellow researchers (both within and beyond the arts and humanities, and within and beyond the UK), as well as practitioners, and the wide range of individuals and organisations who may benefit from their research
• provide opportunities for less experienced researchers to develop their expertise and their careers by working collaboratively with senior researchers on well-defined projects and by leading projects themselves
• maximise the value of research outcomes by promoting their communication and dissemination with individuals and organisations outside academia and, where appropriate, to facilitate the knowledge transfer of those outcomes to both the research community and other contexts where they will make a difference
We’re looking for researchers with applications for well-defined collaborative research projects. However, you may include elements of individual research if you can show how this will add value.
Collaborations can involve:
• a single institution or a combination of institutions
• researchers working in different research areas
• disciplines within the arts and humanities, or between an arts and humanities discipline and another subject area. In such collaborations the arts and humanities element of the project should lead in shaping the research questions, methods and so on
• researchers working in other sectors
• researchers based abroad
The proposed collaboration should be appropriate for the specific needs of the research project.
We expect the project lead and any project co-lead’s time commitment to be proportionate and relative to the project that they are proposing. There is no minimum or maximum requirement.
Duration
The maximum duration of these awards is five years.
Projects must start at least nine months after the submission date of your application.
Funding available
The FEC of your project must be between £300,000 and £1.5 million.
AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC.
Costs associated with project co-lead internationals (PcL(I)s) will be funded at 100% FEC but must not exceed 30% of the total FEC of the project. However, this funding cap does not apply to any PcL(I) based in a country on the OECD DAC list (excepting India and China) . PcL(I)s from a country on the OECD DAC list (excepting India and China) are also eligible to claim overheads support.
Please see the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) project co-lead (international) policy for further details on eligibility of these costs.
Supporting skills and talent
We encourage you to follow the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment .
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UKRI is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
See further guidance and information about TR&I , including where applicants can find additional support.
Who can apply
This funding opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible .
Check whether your proposed research is within the subject remit of AHRC .
Who is eligible to apply
Your application must include a project lead and at least one project co-lead. Each team member must contribute to:
• the development of the research grant application
• project leadership and management
• joint publication of authored research
This funding opportunity is open to applicants who meet the individual eligibility criteria .
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) acknowledges and supports different career paths within the research and innovation community.
You do not need to hold an academic, research or teaching post to apply. Applications are welcomed from those working, for example, as archivists, curators, librarians, technicians and practitioners.
Project co-leads
Project co-leads are supported by this funding opportunity and includes project co-lead internationals, as per the guidance below.
Other roles
Other roles that are supported by this funding opportunity are listed in the ‘Core team’ section.
Who is not eligible to apply
We do not support project studentships (funding PhD study) within this funding opportunity.
International researchers
As AHRC research council is a lead funder for this opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners.
Resubmissions
We will not accept uninvited resubmissions of projects that have been submitted to UKRI. Find out more about UKRI’s resubmission policy .
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
• career breaks
• support for people with caring responsibilities
• flexible working
• alternative working patterns
UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
How to apply
Click here to start an application on the UKRI Funding Service:
https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1222/apply/1253
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
• Confirm you are the project lead.
• Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password.
• Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
• Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
• Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
• Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
• provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
• insert each new image on a new line
• use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include:
• sentences or paragraphs of text
• tables
• excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
• how applicants use the Funding Service
• how research offices use the Funding Service
• how reviewers use the Funding Service
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the
From GOV.UK Find a Grant. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Last updated 17 October 2026.