The Cambridge Arts and Humanities Impact Fund (AHIF) 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 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.
Below: Abigail Brundin, Professor of Italian, shares her experience of participating in exciting collaborations with heritage organisations. For more interviews about impactful research in the Arts and Humanities, visit the Resources page.
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
For full information, please consult the Scheme Guidance Notes.
2021-2022 MichaelmasTerm Call *Open*
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.
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 12 months of the award of the grant. Bids for testing experimental or innovative approaches are welcome, as are collaborative and co-funded projects. In response to the current challenges caused by COVID-19, applicants are also encouraged to consider ways that their research could address new needs emerging at this particular time.
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. 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.
Applicants are strongly recommended to consult with the A&H Impact Facilitator, Dr Benedict Kent (AHimpact@admin.cam.ac.uk) to discuss their proposal in good time prior to submitting.
If you experience any technical difficulties with the form, please contact the Impact Team at the address above.
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.
Applicants are strongly urged to consult the AH Facilitator (AHImpact@admin.cam.ac.uk) to discuss their proposal prior to submitting it.
|
2020-2021 Awards |
Projects Leads |
| Unfolding - London Design Biennale 2021 | Dr Antiopi Koronaki, Dr Michael Ramage, Dr Ana Gatóo |
| Travelling in Ancient Sumer: Urban Studies and Sensory Archaeology to Recreate Ancient Sumer | Dr Augusta McMahon, Dr Marie-Françoise Besnier |
| Community Engagement in the Redisplay of Egyptian Objects at the Fitzwilliam Museum | Dr Helen Strudwick |
| Archaeological Heritage Conservation, Stakeholders Forum, and Public engagement | Dr Abidemi Babalola |
| Developing a National Cataloguing Standard for Medieval Religious and Secular Seals | Dr Philippa Hoskin |
| Owned by Everyone: The Cultural and Ecological Importance of Chalk Streams | Dr Mark Wormald |
|
Sonic Accompaniment to Birth in the Jewish Sahara |
Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz, Prof. Katherine Ellis |
|
Love Letters to a Liveable Future: In Digital Performance |
Dr Zoe Svendsen |
|
Marvelous Micromuseums |
Dr Dacia Viejo Rose, Rachel Hooper, Victoria Mitchell |
|
New Digital Framework for Hidden Histories |
Dr Chris Burgess, Dr Lucy Delap, Dr Ben Griffen |
|
2019-2020 Awards |
Project Leads |
|
Secondary Education and Social Change in the UK after 1945Secondary Education and Social Change in UK since 1945 |
Prof. Peter Mandler, Dr Laura Carter, Dr Chris Jeppesen |
|
Jomon Matsuri: Changing Perceptions of the Japenese Past, Contemporary Art and Archaeological Enquiry |
Dr Liliana Janik |
|
Scripture and Violence: Resources to Help Stakeholders in Their Efforts to Change Prevalent Attitudes |
Dr Daniel Weiss, Dr Julia Snyder, Dr Giles Waller |
|
Forma: Vernacular Building for Sustainability |
Dr Wesam Al Asali, Dr Michael Ramage |
|
A Publicly Available Geographical Information System (GIS) Boundary Dataset and Gazetteer for Mapping Data in Historic English Parishes |
Dr Alice Reid, Dr Leigh Shaw-Talyor |
|
Florence 4D: Tailoring Augmented Reality Smartphone Apps for Impact |
Dr Donal Cooper |
|
Building the Indus Civilisation in Minecraft: Digital Heritage, Alternative Pasts, Coding, and Student Imagination |
Dr Adam Green, Dr Cameron Petrie |
|
Arabic Phonics: Development of a Research-led Toolkit for Teachers of Arabic |
Dr Saussan Khalil |
|
Ways of Seeing: Jacopo del Sellaio's story of Cupid and Psyche in Augmented Reality |
Dr Donal Cooper, Dr Kate Noble, Dr Paola Ricciardi, Mr Dan Pett |
|
Rosenöl und Deutscher Geist: The Fortunes of Intellectual History in Germany |
Prof. Richard Bourke |
|
Good Practice in Digital Commemorations of the Holocaust |
Dr Gillian Carr |
|
Recording Decisions and Actions connected with Claims for the Removal/Protection of Statues in UK Civic Spaces during the Summer of 2020 |
Prof. Marie Louise Stig Sorensen |
|
A Good Death? Explorations of Dying Well |
Dr Laura Davies |
|
Life Under The Sun: Amarna Children's Website |
Dr Kate Spence |
|
Learning Together: Introduction to French Literature and Film in HMP Whitemoor |
Dr Emma Gilby |
|
Community Heritage and Education for Sustainable Development in Tanzania |
Prof. Paul Lane |
|
Writing in the Ancient World |
Dr Philippa Steele |
|
2018-2019 Awards |
Project Leads |
|
City Women in the Eighteenth Century |
Dr Amy Erickson |
|
Phish and ChYpPS: Using digital technologies in the heritage sector to engagepatients and participants in health and wellbeing programmes |
Mr Daniel Pett |
|
Hiraeth: An arts outreach programme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Cambridgeshire |
Dr Brechtje Post, Prof. Ianthi Tsimpli |
|
Timber Towers of Tomorrow: Explore the science and engineering of super talltimber from cells to skyscrapers |
Dr Michael Ramage |
|
Children of the ICTY |
Dr Maja Spanu |
|
Firing Like the Romans 2: Construction of a Roman Potter's Workshop |
Dr Simon Stoddart |
|
My Little Enlightenment Plays |
Dr Sophie Seita |
|
An Account of Italy: Audley End and the Grand Tour |
Prof. Abigail Brundin |
|
'A Good Death': Explorations of Dying Well |
Dr Laura Davies, Dr Emma Salgard-Cunha |
|
EAT FEAST FAST: Material Culture and Food Memories in Contemporary Cambridge Communities |
Dr Melissa Calaresu, Dr Victoria Avery |
|
Romeyka: Let's Speak It! |
Dr Ioanna Sitaridou |
|
Women of the Avant-Garde: The American Surrealist Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012) |
Dr Alyce Mahon |
|
Factory of the Future: Producing International Impact of Performance Research |
Dr Zoe Svendsen |
|
Ashurbanipal: the Last Great King of Assyria |
Dr Selena Wisnom, Dr Martin Worthington |
|
Learning Pontic Greek: A Pedagogical Impact Project |
Dr Ioanna Sitaridou |
|
Learning Together: Introduction to French Literature and Film in HMP Whitemoor |
Dr Emma Gilby |
|
Liszt’s Unheard Opera: Sardanapalo |
Dr David Trippett |
|
2017-2018 Awards |
Project Leads |
|
The Pop-Up Museum: Ancient Egyptian Coffins at the Fitzwilliam |
Dr Julia Dawson, Dr Helen Strudwick |
|
Kepler’s Harmonies |
Dr Tim Watts |
|
Scripture and Violence |
Dr Daniel Weiss |
|
Text and Meaning: the Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language as Treasure-Trove |
Prof. Máire Ní Mhaonaigh |
|
Sharing the Amarna Story: Coproducing a Community Learning Resource |
Dr Kate Spence |
|
Early Modern Parisian Soundscapes |
Dr Nick Hammond |
|
Changing Public Perceptions of Ancient Mesopotamia |
Dr Martin Worthington, Dr Selena Wisnom |
|
Materialising the Digital Archive: Multi-Media Tennyson |
Dr Ewan Jones |
|
Restoring Lost Songs |
Dr Sam Barrett |
|
Narrating Climate Change in the Colombian Caribbean |
Dr Rory O'Bryen |
|
An Account of Italy: Audley End and the Grand Tour |
Prof. Abigail Brundin |
|
Electronic Shakespeare |
Prof. Peter deBolla, Mr Scott Mandelbrote |
|
New Light on Newton |
Mr Huw Jones |
|
Mind Your Language: Focus on Valencia |
Prof. Dominic Keown |
|
Scores of Scores |
Dr Mark Gotham |
|
Architecture for Resilience in China |
Dr Emily So |
|
Bruno Munari: The Lightness of Art |
Dr Pierpaolo Antonello |
|
Firing Like the Romans |
Dr Simon Stoddart |
|
Polychromy Matters |
Dr Victoria Avery |
|
Playing Medieval Lives |
Prof. John Robb |
|
Pursuing best Practice in Supporting Muslim Service Users in Community Probation Contexts |
Dr Ryan Williams, Dr Paul Anderson |