Long-term cultural and sporting events legacy (Grant)

Apply for funding to research the long-term impact and legacy of major sporting and cultural events in the UK, focusing on running a live experimental evaluation of a major event that fills gaps in existing methodologies. You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding. The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £1.32 million. AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC. Projects will be funded up to a maximum of 34 months and must start on 1 May 2027 and must be completed by 31 March 2030. Demand management Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity. Aim Major events are a primary policy intervention for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), intended to drive local investment, job creation, and social outcomes. However, evaluating the long-term legacy of these events, particularly in a way that is compliant with established government monitoring and evaluation principles, has historically been difficult. An inconsistency in methodologies, short-term funding structures, and a lack of robust counterfactuals, have limited the sector’s ability to measure impacts once a core event concludes or to compare outcomes accurately across different interventions.To look at addressing these challenges, the DCMS Research and Development Science and Analysis Programme published new research in March 2026 on Measuring the legacy and impact of major events . This pilot project delivered a proposed core set of baseline metrics for long-term tracking, developed evaluation methodologies utilising counterfactuals to establish causality, and tested these models by retrospectively analysing the legacy of a varied set of past events, including the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Women’s and Men’s Cricket World Cups (2017 and 2019 respectively), the UK City of Culture Programme (Derry/Londonderry 2013 and Hull 2017), and the Manchester International Festival.The pilot project identified three core challenges with tracking long-term legacy and impact. These were: • many datasets are captured inconsistently or do not go far back enough to account for pre-event impacts • intangible outcomes, such as the impact on community cohesion, are difficult to isolate, particularly over time • a number of events suffer a drop-off effect, that is, the growth boost generated by an event is not sustained when the event ends The new research will pick up from the pilot project by addressing these issues directly, drawing on appropriate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches from across cultural and museum studies, media and cultural studies, historical geography, urban studies, planning, statistics, public policy evaluation and social research, business and management, event management, sport science, and others. We are particularly interested in proposals that consider the use of experimental methods, including randomisation, as part of the study design. Applicants are invited to set out the feasibility, proposed application, and added value of such approaches, including any relevant methodological considerations or constraints. Scope We expect that the new research will take the model and approaches that were delivered in the pilot project, identify where the gaps in evidence and data require more than merely secondary data analysis, and fill those gaps for at least one major UK sporting or cultural case study event, such as the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes Grand Départ 2027. You are encouraged to suggest your own case study events, as long as they have a similar profile, such as, major one-off UK sporting or cultural events that will be live during the project. In the process of examining the events, the new research is expected to test and expand the framework set out in the Measuring the legacy and impact of major events report.Selecting an event before delivery provides the opportunity to establish pre-event baselines, data collection approaches and prospectively evaluate long-term legacy using a consistent methodology. The research will start before the event and continue for two years afterwards. You will be expected to align and work with the delivery and evaluation partners responsible for the target events (DCMS will assist in facilitating these relationships) to ensure data is effectively shared and work is not duplicated; the research should add value to the existing delivery and evaluation activities. The experimental evaluation will help to establish best practices around data collection, new methods for capturing intangible outcomes, and demonstrate the impact of the drop-off effect and how to mitigate it.As long as they align with the aims and scope above, including the emphasis on compatibility with recognised government appraisal ( Green Book ), monitoring and evaluation ( Magenta Book ) principles, we encourage you to consider your own approaches and research questions. These should include, but are not confined t

This is a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding opportunity led by the AHRC in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is open to the research and innovation communities of all UKRI research councils and Innovate UK.This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . Who is eligible to apply We are interested in funding teams that are based in, and have research links with, a range of locations across the UK, that include researchers at different career stages, and that bring together a range of expertise. The team must be supported by dedicated administrative resource, recruited specifically for this project. Employment The project lead and any project co-leads must be employed and supported by an eligible organisation for at least the duration of the UKRI support, it is not a requirement that a contract be in place at the point of application submission. It is also not a requirement to have a permanent employment contract to apply for funding. Skills and qualifications You must have the appropriate skills to lead the project in line with UKRI’s terms and conditions. There are no specific qualification requirements, and you do not necessarily need a qualification such as a PhD. During your project, you must be primarily based and permitted to work in the UK.You do not need to hold an academic research or teaching post to apply. Applications are welcomed from those working, for example, as practitioners or evaluation experts. Project co-leads Project co-leads are permitted and encouraged for interdisciplinary applications or where a co-lead would provide specific technical expertise that is essential to the project. However, it must be clear that the project lead is responsible for leading the project. There is no maximum number of co-leads that can be included on the application. However, the inclusion of each co-lead needs to be fully justified in the application.Business or third sector researchers based in the UK can also be included on research grant proposals as a co-lead or project partner. These roles can be funded at 100% FEC.International co-leads are not eligible under this funding opportunity. Other roles Other roles that are supported by this funding opportunity are listed in the ‘Core team’ section. Who is not eligible to apply Government departments and arm’s length bodies are not eligible to apply for this funding.We do not support project studentships (funding PhD study) within this funding opportunity. 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.

Click here to start an application on the UKRI Funding Service: https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1421/apply/1457 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