AHRC Curiosity Award: applicant-led mode

AHRC Curiosity Award: applicant-led mode is sponsored by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). AHRC Curiosity Award: applicant-led mode. Funding opportunity from Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Apply via the UKRI portal.

AHRC Curiosity Award: applicant-led mode – UKRI Funding opportunity: AHRC Curiosity Award: applicant-led mode Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 23 September 2026 9:00am UK time Apply for funding for flexible awards to fund fundamental research that leads to new research agendas, networking activity and idea generation, which enables the development of further research opportunities and new research agendas.

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 £100,000. AHRC will fund 80% of the FEC.

Projects can be up to five years in duration. 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 . 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.

Who is not eligible to apply We do not support project studentships (funding PhD study) within this funding opportunity International researchers As AHRC is a lead funder for this funding 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.

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. This can include international co-leads as per the guidance below. However, it must be clear that the project lead is responsible for leading the project.

Project co-leads are permitted to have previously led or be currently leading a significant research project and are not required to meet the eligibility criteria above. Other roles that are supported by this funding opportunity are listed in the ‘Core team’ section. You are encouraged to include mentor support.

The role of the mentor is to supervise and support the work of the project lead, answer any queries and help with any problems that may arise during the research. They will not be directly involved in running the project, their role is advisory only. Mentors should not be included in the ‘Core team’ section of the application form, instead their role should be outlined in the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ section.

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: support for people with caring responsibilities alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process. Demand management is not being applied to this funding opportunity.

Curiosity awards support early-stage ambitious and novel fundamental research which has the potential to act as a springboard towards new and exciting research agendas. The funding opportunity celebrates the full diversity of the arts and humanities. It is flexible, and applications are welcomed from teams, networks, and solo researchers.

Projects can be single discipline, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. The majority of the disciplinary focus of the project must fall within our subject remit, see section seven of the AHRC research funding guide for our remit coverage. Practice-based and practice-led research is supported by this funding opportunity.

Partnerships and collaboration are supported. Where partnerships are already established, you should outline how this funding supports novelty in your collaboration. Applications should articulate how collaborative activity will be conducted, considering good practice in creating equitable partnerships.

Further guidance is available in the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) good research resource hub . The funding opportunity is intentionally flexible. An indicative list of examples of the activities we will fund are provided as follows.

You are encouraged to request and justify costs for activities that best meet the aims of your project. This may include: high risk and high potential concepts international collaboration scoping and piloting, for example, early-stage proof of concept for ideas or change of direction pivots in research focus at any career stage mentoring for members of the research team To note, this is not a prescriptive or exhaustive list.

The duration of this award is a maximum of five years The project start date must be at least six months from the point of the application submission to AHRC. The FEC of your project can be up to £100,000. 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 UKRI project co-lead (international) policy for further details on eligibility of these costs. Where mentoring is included for the researchers, salary costs to cover the mentor’s time can be claimed from the grant. They should be entered in the ‘Directly Incurred Other’ or ‘Directly Allocated Other’ categories in the ‘Resources and costs’ section.

We will not fund project studentships (funding PhD study) as part of this funding opportunity. 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.

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. Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. Confirm you are the project lead.

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 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 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 application. Hyperlinks can be used in reference information.

When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that: references are easily identifiable by the assessors references are formatted as appropriate to your research persistent identifiers are used where possible General use of hyperlinks Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information.

You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.

For more information see our policy on the use of generative AI in application and assessment . This funding opportunity is always open, with no closing date, so there is no specific deadline for applications. AHRC will begin processing the application as soon as it is received, ensuring that applicants receive a timely decision.

We are committed to holding regular decision points throughout the year. Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines. Following the submission of your application to this funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and submitted applications will not be amended.

If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected. AHRC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications. We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely.

For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our privacy notice . If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email operations@ahrc. ukri.

org Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].

Typical examples of confidential information include: individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave) additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection the application is an invited resubmission For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read UKRI’s privacy notice .

Institutional matched funding here is no requirement for matched funding from the institutions hosting the project lead, project co-leads or other staff employed on the application, beyond the standard 20% FEC. Expert reviewers and panels assessing UKRI funding applications must not consider levels of institutional matched funding as a factor on which to base recommendations.

Direct and in-kind contributions from third party project partners are encouraged. This policy does not remove the need for support from host organisations who must provide the necessary research environment and infrastructure for award-specific activities funded by UKRI. For example, research facilities, training and development of staff.

AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity on our Board and panel outcomes page . If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.

We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information.

Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example: the wider research community Guidance for writing a summary Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of: the challenge the project addresses potential applications and benefits List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following: project co-lead (UK) (PcL) project co-lead (international) (PcL (I)) professional enabling staff research and innovation associate Only list one individual as project lead Please do not enter mentors in the Core team section.

Instead please outline their name and contribution in the ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’ section. UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.

Find out more about UKRI’s core team roles in funding applications . What are you hoping to achieve with your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how your proposed work: is of excellent quality and importance within or beyond the field(s) or area(s) has the potential to advance current understanding, or generate new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area is timely given current trends, context, and needs impacts world-leading research, society, the economy, or the environment Within the Vision section we also expect you to identify the potential direct or indirect benefits and who the beneficiaries might be.

References may be included within this section. You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

How are you going to deliver your proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Explain how you have designed your approach so that it: is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives is feasible, and comprehensively identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed uses a clearly written and transparent methodology (if applicable) summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon and progressed (if applicable) will maximise translation of outputs into outcomes and impacts describes how your, and if applicable your team’s, research environment (in terms of the place and relevance to the project) will contribute to the success of the work References may be included within this section.

You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Applicant and team capability to deliver Why are you the right individual or team to successfully deliver the proposed work?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Evidence of how you, and if relevant your team, have: the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and your approach to develop others contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. The word limit for this section is 1,650 words: 1,150 words to be used for Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the R4RI format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project lead and project co-leads, researchers, technicians, specialists, partners and so on) have and how this will help deliver the proposed work. You can include individuals’ specific achievements but only choose past contributions that best evidence their ability to deliver this work.

Complete this section using the R4RI module headings listed. Use each heading once and include a response for the whole team, see the UKRI guidance on R4RI .

You should consider how to balance your answer, and emphasise where appropriate the key skills each team member brings: contributions to the generation of new ideas, tools, methodologies, or knowledge the development of others and maintenance of effective working relationships contributions to the wider research and innovation community contributions to broader research or innovation users and audiences and towards wider societal benefit Provide any further details relevant to your application.

This section is optional and can be up to 500 words. You should not use it to describe additional skills, experiences, or outputs, but you can use it to describe any factors that provide context for the rest of your R4RI (for example, details of career breaks if you wish to disclose them). Complete this as a narrative.

Do not format it like a CV. References may be included within this section. The roles in funding applications policy has descriptions of the different project roles.

Resources and cost justification What will you need to deliver your proposed work and how much will it cost?

What the assessors are looking for in your response Justify the application’s more costly resources, in particular: significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences) any equipment that will cost more than £25,000 any consumables beyond typical requirements, or that are required in exceptional quantities all facilities and infrastructure costs all resources that have been costed as ‘Exceptions’ You can request costs associated with reasonable adjustments where they increase as a direct result of working on the project.

For further information see Disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders . Where a funding limit is imposed on the opportunity, requested costs for reasonable adjustments may exceed the maximum funding amount. Assessors are not looking for detailed costs or a line-by-line breakdown of all project resources.

Overall, they want you to demonstrate how the resources you anticipate needing for your proposed work: are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes maximise potential outcomes and impacts Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) What are the ethical and RRI considerations, implications and issues relating to the proposed work?

If you do not think that the proposed work raises any ethical or RRI issues, explain why.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Demonstrate that you have identified and evaluated: the relevant ethical and RRI considerations, including both the research or topic area itself and the design and delivery of the project the wider implications of the proposed work, and how you will maximise the positive societal, environmental, and economic benefits arising from the project, whilst minimising unintended negative impacts, such as research misuse or accidental harm how you will manage these considerations throughout the lifecycle of the project If you are collecting or using data, you should identify: any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing and storing the data (including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies to not preclude further reuse of data) formal information standards that your proposed work will comply with You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.

Further details are provided in the Funding Service. Please refer to the UKRI position statement on funding ethical research and Responsible innovation for more information around our expectations on ethical and responsible research and innovation. Animal involvement and “3Rs” You must complete this section about how your proposed project will involve or impact animals.

If your project does not involve or impact animals, you must confirm this on the next page. what animals you are involving the severity of the procedures you are using where the procedures will take place welfare standards you aim to meet the relevance of your project to the development, validation or dissemination of the 3Rs You may also need to download, complete, and upload at least one set of additional questions.

You will be told how to do this towards the end of this section. To complete this section and check whether your project is in the scope of the questions, refer to the UKRI policy for research and innovation involving animals . UKRI policy relates to all animals in the Kingdom Animalia, including vertebrates and invertebrates.

Genetically modified organisms and biological risk You must complete this section if your project will include genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies. If you project does not involve genetically modified organisms or genetic technologies, you must confirm this on the next page.

the type of organism your project will involve and the procedures your project will include the intended use of the organism or genetic technology the genetic, biological and environmental risks of your project For more information, see UKRI’s guidance on genetic technologies . Human participation in health-related research You must complete this section about whether your project will include human participation.

If your project does not involve human participation, you must confirm this on the next page.

what type of human participation your project includes the project design for human participation the phase of the clinical trial whether the project will be in an NHS setting, if so, how the project will be registered whether diversity and inclusion will be considered For more information, see UKRI’s guidance for human participants in research . Add details about any project partners’ contributions.

If there are no project partners, you can indicate this on the Funding Service. A project partner is a collaborating organisation or individual who will have an integral role in the proposed research. This may include direct contributions for example cash, donated equipment and resources, or staff seconded to the project, or indirect and in-kind contributions for example use of project partner’s equipment, datasets, or facilities.

Project partners may be in industry, academia, third sector or government organisations in the UK or overseas, including partners based in the EU.

Add the following project partner details: the organisation name and address (searchable via a drop-down list or enter the organisation’s details manually, as applicable) the project partner contact name and email address the type of contribution (direct or indirect) and its monetary value If a detail is entered incorrectly and you have saved the entry, remove the specific project partner record and re-add it with the correct information.

For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made. Project partners: letters (or emails) of support Upload a single PDF containing the letters or emails of support from each partner you named in the ‘Project partners’ section. These should be uploaded in English or Welsh only.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Enter the words ‘attachment supplied’ in the text box, or if you do not have any project partners enter ‘N/A’.

Each letter or email you provide should: confirm the partner’s commitment to the project clearly explain the value, relevance, and possible benefits of the work to them describe any additional value that they bring to the project have a page limit of two sides A4 per partner The Funding Service will provide document upload details when you apply.

If you do not have any project partners, you will be able to indicate this in the Funding Service. Ensure you have prior agreement from project partners so that, if you are offered funding, they will support your project as indicated in the ‘Project partners’ section. For audit purposes, UKRI requires formal collaboration agreements to be put in place if an award is made.

Please note we do not require letters of support from host, or project co-lead(s) research organisations, as well as other UK research organisations. Discipline classification: primary Please provide the primary research area of your proposal.

What the assessors are looking for in your response You must select only one of these research disciplines: cultural and museum studies drama and theatre studies information and communication technologies library and information studies political science and international studies theology, divinity and religion This information will be used for the purposes of processing your proposal and in the selection of appropriate assessors.

Discipline classification: secondary Please describe, using keywords, the research area of your application and where relevant the approach, time period or geographical area. What the assessors are looking for in your response This will further help with the selection of appropriate assessors.

Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) Trusted Research and Innovation is the protection of the UK’s intellectual property, sensitive research, people, and infrastructure from potential theft, misuse, and exploitation. Organisations receiving UKRI funding are obliged to act in line with UK government legislation.

They are also expected to undertake appropriate due diligence assessments of organisations involved in research partnerships, collaboration agreements, and commercial contracts. which areas of the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act your project relates to who you intend to collaborate with and how if your project requires an export control licence Your answers may affect the T&Cs of your funding agreement if you are successful.

We may use your answers to determine that our current T&Cs are sufficient or if additional T&Cs are required.

How we will assess your application At the point of application submission, each will be assessed on the following criteria: all applicants and named staff must be eligible under the funding opportunity requirements the application must meet the aims and criteria of the funding opportunity Applications which do not meet these criteria will be rejected with feedback on why it could not proceed.

We will assess your application using the following process, noting that all elements of your application form will be shared with the assessors. Applications will be assessed by an expert panel against the criteria, and each will be graded. Applications will then be assigned to one of three tiers.

Funding will be allocated to the applications in tier one as a priority. Applications in tier two may be recommended for funding using partial randomisation. For more information on how we prioritise applications for funding please visit How we make decisions .

AHRC will make the final funding decision. We aim to complete the assessment process within six months of receiving your application. We support the San Francisco declaration on research assessment and recognise the relationship between research assessment and research integrity.

Find out about the UKRI principles of assessment and decision making . Using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in expert review Generative AI may only be used for the purpose of language refinement during application assessment.

When using generative AI to refine the language of a review, expert reviewers and panellists must ensure that: no part of the application being assessed is entered into a generative AI tool no personal information from the application is disclosed generative AI is not tasked with understanding, summarising or evaluating the application’s content Expert reviewers and panellists must also: comply with relevant intellectual property and data protection legislation not take into account or speculate within their assessment whether generative AI has been used to develop the application For more detail see our policy on the use of generative AI .

We reserve the right to modify the assessment process as needed. The assessment areas we will use are: applicant and team capability to deliver ethics and responsible research and innovation resource and cost justification Find details of assessment questions and criteria under the ‘Application questions’ heading in the ‘How to apply’ section.

Get help with your application If you have a question and the answers aren’t provided on this page The helpdesk is committed to helping users of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service as effectively and as quickly as possible. In order to manage cases at peak volume times, the helpdesk will triage and prioritise those queries with an imminent opportunity deadline or a technical issue.

Enquiries raised where information is available on the Funding finder opportunity page and should be understood early in the application process (for example, regarding eligibility, content or remit of a funding opportunity) will not constitute a priority case and will be addressed as soon as possible.

For help and advice on costings and writing your application please contact your research office in the first instance, allowing sufficient time for your organisation’s submission process. For questions related to this specific funding opportunity please contact enquiries@ahrc. ukri.

org Any queries regarding the system or the submission of applications through the Funding Service should be directed to the helpdesk. Email: support@funding-service. ukri.

org Our phone lines are open: Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5:00pm To help us process queries more efficiently, we request that users highlight the council and opportunity name in the subject title of their email query, include the application reference number, and refrain from contacting more than one mailbox at a time. For further information on submitting an application read How applicants use the Funding Service .

Research and innovation impact Impact can be defined as the long-term intended or unintended effect research and innovation has on society, economy and the environment; to individuals, organisations, and the wider global population.

Webinar for potential applicants The launch of the Curiosity and Catalyst Awards schemes were supported by a webinar for prospective applicants and professional research support staff that presented an overview of the schemes, followed by an opportunity to ask questions. The webinars were recorded, and a copy can be found below. Watch webinar recording from 8 September 2023 (YouTube).

View a transcript of the webinar from 8 September 2023. Note that this webinar is British Sign Language interpreted. This is the website for UKRI: our seven research councils, Research England and Innovate UK.

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