The Cambridge Arts and Humanities Impact Fund provides flexible funding to support and enhance the impact of Arts and Humanities research.
Due to a lack of AHRC funding for research impact, the Arts and Humanities Impact Fund (AHIF) aims to enhance the non-academic impact of the outputs of arts and humanities research at the University of Cambridge.
Other research councils such as the ESRC and EPSRC run Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs) with regular internal funding calls at Cambridge. Please check if you are eligible to apply for these if your research falls within their funding remit.
The AHIF supports impact activities within the field of Arts and Humanities as broadly defined by the AHRC, such as:
- Activities to broaden research engagement with business, NGOs and the public and third sectors. This can cover deepening and strengthening relationships with existing contacts as well as establishing new contacts.
- Collaboration with public, private and third sector organisations.
- Development and promotion of new engagement methods to help promote best practice across arts and humanities knowledge areas.
- Short projects to define routes to impact, liaising with partners and finding the resources to enhance impact activities.
- Innovative and unusual projects, leading to impactful outputs and outcomes
2019-2020 Michaelmas Open Call: Monday 23 September 2019
The first open call of the 2019-2020 academic year will close at 5pm on Friday 22 November 2019
Applicants should note that their of Head of Faculty/Department and relevant Research Grants Administrator must be informed about the application at the earliest opportunity, to ensure that internal approval procedures are followed. All applications must be approved by the Head of Faculty/Department through the online system before the scheme deadline.
Applications are invited from any researcher active in the arts and humanities who holds a current contract of employment as a senior independent researcher – at the point of application – with the University. Relevant non-school institutional staff (such as from Museums or Libraries) on academic-related contracts are also eligible to apply. Full details on eligibility are available in the Scheme Guidance Notes.
Applications can only be accepted through the digital application form.
If you experience any technical difficulties with the form, please contact AHImpact@admin.cam.ac.uk. Please note that there is no Arts and Humanities Impact Facilitator in post at present and there may be a delay in responding to enquiries submitted to the AHImpact account, which will only be monitored intermittently. If your email relates to an urgent aspect of making an application, please indicate so in the subject line of your email.
Projects ranging in value from £5,000 to £10,000 will be supported, but there is flexibility around these figures. Projects must be completed within 9 months of the award of the grant. Bids for testing experimental or innovative approaches are welcome, as are collaborative and co-funded projects.
Awards will be made available to fund work which will significantly increase the probability of the ideas and findings generated by research having an impact on the private, public and third sectors, whether that be in a cultural, social, economic, public-policy or pedagogic capacity. The awards are not for the continuation of research. Applications should therefore focus on the development of impact activities and outputs and not on research.
Applications can only be accepted through the digital application form. If you experience any technical difficulties with the form, please get in touch with the Facilitator.
The Impact Fund grants can be used to support staff on the project, consumables, travel etc. Only direct costs are eligible. The funds cannot be used to support students or to cover PI time.
For further details on eligibility and assessment criteria, please consult the Scheme Guidance Notes.
Applicants should note that their of Head of Faculty/Department and relevant Research Grants Administrator must be informed about the application at the earliest opportunity, to ensure that internal approval procedures are followed. All applications must be approved by the Head of Faculty/Department through the online system before the scheme deadline of 5pm Friday 22 November 2019, so please ensure you allow sufficient time for colleagues to approve the submission.
This fund is available to fund timely, tactical opportunities in short time scales, which require a quick turnaround for funding. This could include, but is not limited to, activities such as select committee attendance, workshop organisation, or the creation of short-term impact projects. Funding is also available for initial meetings with non-academic partners that can demonstrate a potential to lead to further impact.
Awards will typically not exceed £2,000 and will cover 100% Directly Incurred Costs only.
Applications to this scheme are accepted on a rolling basis, through the dedicated application system.
Please email AHImpact@admin.cam.ac.uk for clarification before beginning the application process.