Funding

External Funding

The Humanities Research Funding opportunities pages contain information about research funding opportunities relevant to SEED.

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SEED Research Stimulation Funds 2025-26

Deadline 30/11/25

• Application Form
• Guidance

SEED Preparation for Large Grant- Application Budget limit £10,000

Open to all academic staff on a T&R contract at any stage of career, except post-doctoral researchers on existing funded projects (see PDRA CPD fund).

The scheme aims are to:

• To encourage interdisciplinary collaborations across faculties, disciplines, and external partners.
• To provide pump-priming support for teams intending to submit a large-scale external funding proposal within the next 12 months.
• To facilitate the development of research concepts, pilot data, and impact pathways that increase the likelihood of success.
• To align institutional strengths with strategic funding priorities.

SEED Impact Fund – Application Budget limit £4,500

The SEED Impact Fund provides financial support to academic staff on T&R and T&S contracts to undertake activities that enhance the non-academic impact of their research. The fund is intended to help translate research findings into wider societal, policy, or practice benefits.

The fund supports activities that increase the impact of research, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Translating research into non-academic outputs;
• Meetings or workshops with policy actors, community groups or other non-academic stakeholders/beneficiaries;
• Public engagement events;
• Reasonable travel to attend meetings or deliver training;
• Further promotion or tracking of research outputs to evidence impact.

PDRA Continuing Professional Development (PDRA CPD) Fund – no deadline – Budget Limit £500/year

• Application form
• Guidance

Supports the career development of an independent research agenda and profile for PDRAs on fixed-term research contracts. Staff on individual funded fellowships, such as British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships, Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships, and Simon and Hallsworth Fellowships are ineligible.

Applicants must explain how the proposed activity supports their research career development beyond what is already planned/funded/supported in the research project that they are contracted to work on.

The funding can be used for training and development opportunities that improve their career prospects, and not for new research projects. This may include the following:

• Attending or presenting papers at conferences and workshops;
• Attending training courses;
• Organising or attending research networking events aimed at future collaboration/grant applications.