The research funding criterion covers competitive grants and fellowships from prestigious funding bodies — AHRC, ESRC, ERC, Leverhulme, and the British Academy's own grant schemes. The wider contribution criterion covers policy impact, public engagement with real reach, and interdisciplinary or cultural institution advisory roles. These two criteria give humanities and social science researchers routes to demonstrate impact that are different from the sciences.
Research funding and fellowships
The British Academy uses the research funding criterion to assess whether prestigious funders have competitively selected your research agenda for support. Not all grants count equally — the key factors are the prestige and selectivity of the funder, the size of the award, and whether you held the grant as Principal Investigator.
Major funding bodies that count for research funding
- AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) — the primary UK funder for humanities. Standard, Leadership, or large project grants as PI are strong evidence. AHRC fellowships (Research Fellowships, Fellowship) also count.
- ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) — the primary UK funder for social sciences. Standard Grants, Responsive Mode, Future Research Leaders scheme (now merged into UKRI FLF).
- ERC (European Research Council) — highly prestigious. Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, and Synergy Grants all carry significant weight.
- Leverhulme Trust — Research Fellowships, Major Research Fellowships, Research Project Grants, Philip Leverhulme Prizes (also counts for peer recognition).
- British Academy grants — BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants, British Academy Research Professorship, BA/DFID Anti-Poverty Fund, BA Global Professorships.
- Wellcome Trust (social science) — for researchers whose work touches health, medicine, or bioethics from a social science or humanities perspective.
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — for humanities researchers, particularly those working on libraries, archives, digital humanities, or art history.
- Nuffield Foundation — for social science research with policy relevance, particularly education, family law, and welfare.
Research fellowships that count for research funding
- Leverhulme Research Fellowship (6 months to 2 years for research leave)
- Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship (3 years — the most prestigious Leverhulme individual award)
- British Academy Research Professorship
- ERC grants (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced) — extremely strong research funding evidence
- UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (cross-discipline)
- Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments visiting fellowships
- Named fellowships at major research institutes (IAS Princeton, All Souls Oxford, Institute for Advanced Study Berlin, etc.) where these are competitively awarded
- AHRC Standard Grant as PI — £200k+ award with competitive peer review
- ERC Starting Grant — world-class evidence of research quality
- Leverhulme Research Fellowship for 12 months
- Two or more smaller grants (BA, Nuffield) showing sustained funder confidence
- Led a multi-institution research consortium with major funding
- Travel grants or conference attendance funding
- Teaching development grants
- Small institutional research funds (your own university's internal grants)
- Grants where you were Co-Investigator with minimal intellectual leadership
- Consultancy contracts rather than academic research grants
Wider contribution
The wider contribution criterion is designed to capture the ways in which humanities and social science research contributes to society beyond academic publications. It is the criterion where a strong public intellectual or policy-engaged researcher can distinguish themselves — but the evidence must show genuine impact, not just activity.
Policy contribution and government engagement
- Written evidence submitted to a parliamentary select committee that was cited or referenced in the committee's report
- Commissioned research report for a government department, Cabinet Office, or equivalent
- Advisory role to a government body, quango, or public policy institute — must be documented and substantive
- Contribution to UN, OECD, World Bank, or equivalent international body reports
- Expert witness roles in legal or policy proceedings
Public engagement with real reach
- Books for general audiences with major trade publishers (not academic presses) — particularly if they have sold broadly or been widely reviewed
- Major national or international press coverage — long-form pieces in The Guardian, New York Times, etc.; featured in international broadcasts
- BBC Radio 3 or Radio 4 programmes, BBC World Service; equivalent in other countries
- Named public lecture series (e.g., British Museum lecture, National Gallery lecture, institution-specific named lecture)
- Podcast, documentary, or media production with documented large audience reach
Cultural institution and interdisciplinary roles
- Advisory board or trustee role at a national museum, gallery, archive, or heritage body (British Museum, National Archives, V&A, Tate, etc.)
- Expert advisory role in major archival or heritage projects
- Significant interdisciplinary collaboration where your humanities or social science perspective contributed to research in another domain
- Knowledge exchange project with documented societal impact — public history project, community archive, oral history initiative at scale
Innovation impact, IP, and commercialisation
Unlike the RAEng route — which primarily assesses engineering and technology innovation — the British Academy occasionally receives applications from social science researchers whose work has generated commercial or institutional innovation. If this applies to you, it can strengthen the wider contribution criterion.
- Patents or licences arising from social science or interdisciplinary research with a commercial application (e.g. behavioural economics insights licensed to financial institutions)
- Spinout company or social enterprise founded on your research, with documented employment or revenue impact
- Intellectual property transferred to a public body or industry partner — curriculum frameworks, clinical protocols, policy instruments with documented uptake
- Named role in a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) or industry collaboration where your academic expertise directly drove a commercial or institutional outcome
- Innovation prizes recognising your research's contribution to practice — not academic prizes, but business, policy, or social innovation awards