AHRC Responsive Mode: UKRI DFG Research Grants Round Eight (2025 to 2026) is sponsored by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Funding opportunity in collaboration with the German Research Foundation (DFG) for research projects in the humanities and social sciences.

AHRC-DFG Research Grants: Round Eight (2025 to 2026) – UKRI Funding opportunity: AHRC-DFG Research Grants: Round Eight (2025 to 2026) Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) 16 October 2025 9:00am UK time 11 February 2026 4:00pm UK time Last updated: 21 October 2025 - see all updates Apply for funding to conduct arts and humanities research projects with German partners.

proposing research within the remit of Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) based at a research organisation eligible to apply to AHRC working with a German team led by a researcher eligible to apply to DFG Projects must be composed of two highly integrated national teams based in the UK and Germany. All proposals must demonstrate the added value of international collaboration to research objectives.

The full economic cost of the UK-component of your project can be up to £420,000. Your project can last between 24 to 36 months. To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation.

Check if your organisation is eligible . Applicants in the UK must meet AHRC eligibility requirements. Applicants in Germany must meet the eligibility requirements of DFG.

Funding will be distributed among the research partners according to the researchers’ place of work and, in general, according to the funding rules of each individual agency. Each joint research project must consist of two national teams, one based in the UK and one based in Germany. Both teams must have a project lead (PL).

The inclusion of additional team members is optional. The UK team must be led by a researcher who meets AHRC’s individual eligibility criteria, proposing research which falls within the remit of AHRC. They must be based at a research organisation eligible for AHRC funding.

The German team must be led by a researcher eligible to apply to DFG. German researchers from non-university research institutions must comply with their duty to cooperate with a member of a German university (Kooperationspflicht) (PDF, 98. 1KB) .

This duty to cooperate is not met if a researcher from a non-university research institution only cooperates with a UK partner. In line with standard AHRC funding rules, PhD students cannot be funded by UK research team budgets for this funding opportunity.

As all applications to this funding opportunity will involve international applicants, we encourage prospective applicants to visit UKRI’s trusted research and innovation for more information on effective and equitable international collaboration.

If undertaking research and innovation activities outside the UK and Germany, you must recognise and address the possible impact of contextual, societal and cultural differences on the ethical conduct of those activities. You should evidence how partnerships are equitable, ethical, responsible and meaningful.

Researchers should also follow the key principles of equitable partnerships to address inherent power imbalances when working with partners in resource-poor settings. AHRC’s provision to include (where relevant) international project co-leads will apply to the UK component of projects, allowing for the inclusion of eligible researchers not based in the UK or Germany.

Researchers based in Germany cannot be included within the UK budget, as these individuals must be included within the German team under the DFG-supported component of the collaboration. You can include more than one international project co-lead; however, the total costs for all international project co-lead involvement cannot exceed 30% of the overall 100% full economic cost of your application.

Please refer to the AHRC Research Funding Guide for further information on AHRC’s international project co-lead policy and which costs are eligible within a UK budget. Researchers based in Germany can submit a joint proposal to fund domestic (German) and international project costs with colleagues from a developing country.

Further information can be found on the DFG website Immediate resubmission of unsuccessful applications from one funding opportunity to the next is not permitted. As such, resubmission of unsuccessful applications from the seventh round to the eighth round is not permitted.

However, applicants involved in unsuccessful applications under the seventh round may submit, or be involved in, different or new applications for this funding opportunity. Changes should be summarised under the resubmission heading. A resubmission is only allowed once within the AHRC-DFG programme.

If your application has been submitted to any other funding opportunity or funding stream of any other funding agency, this must be clearly stated. You need to also check the respective national agency’s rules regarding submission of a project to more than one funder or scheme. There is no limit on how many applications can be submitted to this funding opportunity from any one research organisation.

Individual researchers may be involved in multiple submissions to this funding opportunity as long as their overall time commitment is supported by their research organisation. 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.

Supporting early career researchers and technicians UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DFG aim to enable a dynamic, diverse and inclusive system of research and innovation in the UK and Germany that is an integral part of society, giving everyone the opportunity to participate and to benefit. We encourage the inclusion of early career researchers and technicians in applications to this funding opportunity.

The suitability of support and management mechanisms for these members of project teams will be specifically considered as part of the assessment criteria for this opportunity as part of the feasibility of the project. UKRI is a signatory to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers , and AHRC has published its own guidance on training and developing early career researchers in the arts and humanities .

UKRI has also published a Technician Commitment Action Plan , which includes guidance on our expectations towards research organisations in recognising and valuing the full diversity of technically skilled people and technical roles working in research teams at all career stages across our remit.

This includes guidance on our expectations towards research organisations in recognising and valuing the full diversity of technically skilled people and technical roles working in research teams at all career stages across our remit. If integrating early career researchers or technicians into your project team, please refer to the documents linked above for more information.

Under this funding opportunity the application of early career researchers on the German side for a temporary position for project lead (Eigene Stelle) (PDF, 91. 6KB) is possible. Both AHRC and DFG are aware that some of the best research can only be achieved by working with the best researchers internationally.

Accordingly, the aims of the funding opportunity are: to support academic research of the highest quality in the humanities undertaken by UK-German teams, whose primary aim is to make fundamental advances in human knowledge to deepen and strengthen cooperation between UK and German researchers in the humanities, and to foster the growth of a transnational UK-German research culture Only applications whose primary aim is to make fundamental advances in human knowledge in the relevant fields may be submitted in response to the funding opportunity.

If you are uncertain as to whether your application would be eligible you should contact AHRC or DFG for clarification. The funding opportunity will be open to applications addressing any research topic where there is significant potential to advance knowledge through collaborative research bringing together UK arts and humanities researchers whose research falls within the remit of AHRC, and humanities researchers in Germany.

For this funding opportunity, the field of humanities is defined by AHRC’s remit, not by the DFG’s classification of humanities. See a full specification of: AHRC’s subject classifications in the Research Funding Guide DFG’s subject classifications (PDF, 87.

9KB) Both single-disciplinary and interdisciplinary applications can be considered provided that the UK component falls within the remit of AHRC and the German component within the remit of the DFG. Applications may also overlap with other disciplines provided that they fall primarily within the remit of AHRC and DFG. Interdisciplinary applications must demonstrate how their project team fulfils the eligibility requirements.

This programme focuses on funding knowledge-driven research projects. However, AHRC also supports practice-led research. As such, the UK component of applications to this funding opportunity can include practice-led research and creative output can be produced, or practice undertaken, as an integral part of a research process as defined in the AHRC Research Funding Guide .

DFG also allows projects to include practice-led research provided that these methods do not exceed one third of the work proposed through the German component of each project. Practice-led research must be accompanied by the documentation of the research process, as well as some form of textual analysis or explanation to support its position and as a record of your critical reflection.

If this is not provided, applications with substantive practice-led research are ineligible for funding through this programme. All projects must focus on substantive research and feature an integrated work programme. Academic infrastructure or networking activities can only be funded within projects with a substantive research focus.

Stand-alone projects, infrastructure or networking projects will not be eligible. If you are in doubt about the eligibility of your research proposal, please contact the respective organisation. You should demonstrate the added value that cross-national collaboration will make to advancing the research topic by bringing together researchers based in the UK and Germany (and, where applicable, other countries).

We expect that each partner substantially contributes to the common project. This also includes taking on organisational responsibilities. This division of responsibilities should also be reflected in the amount of funds requested by each partner.

Please note that impact is not a criterion for this funding opportunity. The maximum duration of this award is 36 months. The minimum duration is 24 months.

UK projects must start by 1 February 2027. German projects are expected to follow a similar schedule. The full economic cost of the UK component of your project can be up to £420,000.

AHRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost (up to £336,000). It is expected that 16 awards will be made under this funding opportunity (subject to applications meeting the criteria and quality standards). Standard AHRC funding requirements apply to the UK component as outlined in AHRC’s research funding guide.

Ineligible costs include funding for PhD students and items of equipment costing over £10,000. UK costs should be approved by an eligible UK research organisation in line with the requirements of full economic costing for applications to UK research councils.

In line with its Individual Research Grants Programme, DFG does not specify a maximum limit to the amount of funding that can be requested for the German component of applications to this funding opportunity. Projects should be integrated but they do not have to be symmetrical. The sums and items requested do not have to be identical on the UK and German sides.

However, we would expect the work packages to be delivered reasonably equally. All budget items must conform to the national rules applicable to each applicant. You must note that AHRC and DFG retain the right to reject applications where they fail to comply with the procedures set out in the guidelines of the respective agency.

If an application is ineligible with one national agency, the whole project will be rejected by both agencies. A detailed justification of the requested budget will be required. For German costs, this should be included in the mandatory DFG budget form located at the bottom of this page.

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 you can find additional support. AHRC is running this funding opportunity in collaboration with DFG.

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. Only the lead UK research organisation can submit an application.

The UK Project Lead (PL) is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but all team members and project partners are expected to contribute to the application. Only the UK project lead needs to register with the Funding Service directly. Project co-leads (both domestic and international) will receive an email notification when the project lead has entered their details into the system.

This email will guide individuals to create an account on the Funding Service by verifying their details. This will allow them to view and read the application. Please note that for administrative purposes, all named researchers from the German team must be listed as ‘project co-lead (international)’.

Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page: Confirm you are the project lead. Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this funding opportunity, that you also create an organisation Administration Account.

This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you. 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.

Save a PDF copy of your application and share this file with the German project lead, who then needs to submit this to DFG via ‘elan’ (instructions below). 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 may 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. AHRC must receive your application by 11 February 2026 4:00pm UK time.

The UK project lead must provide a PDF copy of the Funding Service submission to the German project lead. Once the application has been submitted: Go to the ‘read application’ tab. Send this PDF and any other attachments (including project partner letters and Head of Department letters where applicable) to the German project lead.

The German project lead then needs to upload this PDF to the DFG’s submission portal ‘elan’ by 11:59pm German time on 11 February 2026. You will not be able to apply after this time. Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.

Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. 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 international@ahrc.

ukri. org Include in the subject line: [AHRC-DFG; 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 .

AHRC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity via UKRI’s news page in November 2026. DFG will publish the outcomes for this funding opportunity on their page for the AHRC-DFG funding initiative . You can also find the outcomes from previous rounds on this page.

If your application is successful, AHRC will publish some personal information on the UKRI Gateway to Research . DFG will publish information about funded projects on GEPRIS . 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.

This must be the UK project lead for the purpose of submission. Please note that for administrative purposes, all applicants and co-applicants (Antragstellende und Mitverantwortliche) from the German team must be listed as ‘project co-lead (international)’ in this section. This will not determine the status of researchers within the German team, which must still have a project lead and can optionally include additional team members.

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 advances UK-German academic research collaboration and international collaboration Within the Vision section we also expect you to: give a concise description of your project’s research objectives explain briefly and precisely the research context or state of the art in your field as it relates to your project make clear in which context you situate your own research and in what areas you intend to make a unique and innovative contribution 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 has an integrated approach, maximising the added value of UK-German research collaboration has appropriate management arrangements of the project.

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 Within the Approach section we also expect you to: describe in detail the proposed cooperation between the partners involved and the expected added value of this international working outline the steps which you have taken to ensure that your project team and research are informed, as appropriate, by equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations demonstrate access to the appropriate services, facilities, infrastructure, or equipment to deliver the proposal, including any assistance needed from outside your own group or institute provide a detailed and comprehensive project plan including milestones and timelines in the form of a Gantt chart or similar if proposing cross-disciplinary, practice-led research or both, evidence how your work fulfils the funding opportunity’s eligibility criteria 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 R4RI modules (including references) and, if necessary, a further 500 words for Additions.

Use the Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI) format to showcase the range of relevant skills you and, if relevant, your team (project 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 1,000 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. Ethics and responsible research and innovation (RRI) What are the ethical or RRI 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 or responsible research and innovation considerations the relevant legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing data how you will manage these considerations This set of criteria plays a role in the assessment and can be the deciding factor between otherwise equally strong projects.

Research data are defined for the purpose of this section as information relevant to, or of interest to researchers, either as inputs into or outputs from research. They are research materials resulting from primary data collection or generation, or derived from existing sources intended to be analysed in the course of a research project.

As such, all projects are expected to outline: the types of data which will be used or generated proposed methodology for data management how the data will be stored in the short term how the data will be stored in the long term how the data will be shared any legal and ethical considerations of collecting, releasing or storing the data including consent, confidentiality, anonymisation, security and other ethical considerations and, in particular, strategies taken to not preclude further reuse of data existing standards and data repositories or archives in your disciplines and in UK or German national and international contexts where appropriate formal information standards (within the UK, Germany, and further afield where relevant) with which study will be compliant Please note that, where relevant, German applicants may need to include an ethics committee vote from the institution within which their research will be carried out.

For more information about the conditions under which an ethics committee vote is necessary, please refer to DFG, German Research Foundation frequently asked questions: Humanities and Social Sciences . You may demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant. Further details are provided in the Funding Service.

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 Use the resources and cost summary table to enter the full UK costs only. The German project costs should be outlined and supported in the separate DFG budget document and justification of resources.

This can be downloaded from the Additional information section of this funding opportunity and must be submitted through the ‘DFG budget and justification of resources’ section of the application.

Justify the application’s more costly UK resources, in particular: all project staff (including non-Germany based project co-lead/s (international) where applicable) significant travel for field work or collaboration (but not regular travel between collaborating organisations or to conferences) 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’ any costs related to consultancy, sub-contracting and facilitation of project partner participation Projects should be integrated but do not have to be financially symmetrical.

However, work packages must be delivered reasonably equally. outline your justifications by breaking resources down into the summary fund headings: directly incurred, directly allocated and exceptions do not justify estates and indirect costs AHRC cannot support the funding of individual items of equipment costing more than £10,000 (including VAT). List £0 costs against German research team members.

These costs should be included in your separate DFG budget, with their correct time contribution 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 . 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 Discipline classification: primary Please provide the primary research area of your proposal.

What the assessors are looking for in your response You must select from 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 proposal and where relevant the approach, time period or geographical area. This will further help with the selection of appropriate assessors. DFG budget and justification of resources Outline the budget and financial justifications for the German component of your proposed project.

What the assessors are looking for in your response Complete the DFG budget and justification of resources document (available from the Additional information section) and paste it into the Funding Service application. Assessors are