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Applications are open for the British Academy Talent Development Awards 2025-2026. Click here to learn more about this opportunity and apply for it.
Opportunity Details
The British Academy has been funded by the UK government, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to continue its support for the Talent Development Awards scheme.
The aim of the scheme is to enable researchers to build their skills and capacities in core areas to develop their current and future research. This includes core areas like quantitative skills, data science, digital humanities and languages. This scheme promotes the acquisition and advancement of skills in relevant areas, supporting innovative research methods, be that through skills development, collaboration or dissemination.
It is also designed for researchers who wish to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to their work and seek to advance their skills in a new area that may fall outside the traditional bounds of their subject discipline. It provides Early Career Researchers with the opportunity to develop specialist skills to support the foundations of their career. Additionally, the scheme offers mid and senior-career researchers the chance to diversify their skills and methodological approaches in response to new avenues of research interest. The scheme encourages researchers to champion their newly acquired skills within their wider community, contributing to the ongoing development of skills for future generations.
The overarching aims of the scheme are to invest in UK talent and skills, and as a result, to contribute to the development and delivery of high quality regional, national and international research by:
The scheme is intended for established researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a current long-term appointment at a UK-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Independent Research Organisation (IRO) who wish to explore new opportunities for skills development and knowledge translation. It is also intended for researchers who wish to pilot new methods that speak to the aims of the scheme. The awards will be particularly valuable for researchers wishing to expand the scope of their research with the intention of applying for larger grants in the long term. It also provides the opportunity to develop new partnerships, locally, nationally, or internationally.
Applicants are encouraged to be creative in their thinking about how these awards can help them develop skills and new methods that would advance their research. The awards can be used to support collaborative, partnership working. This scheme is designed to support the career development and skillset of award-holders, and, by extension, to benefit wider groups within and beyond academia through the dissemination of methods and expertise.
Applicants are asked to submit a development plan which should outline the ways in which the applicant intends to develop their own skills or capacities, as well as how they plan to share these skills to wider groups within, and beyond, academia.
For full information about the Talent Development Awards scheme, please view our Scheme Guidance Notes and Frequently Asked Questions.
The maximum grant is £10,000. Awards are to enable engagement activities to take place and are not intended as time buy-out for the award-holder. This scheme is not offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis, and 100 per cent of the awarded funds must be used solely for the purposes outlined in the application and agreed in the award letter.
The awards are for a minimum period of six months and up to a maximum period of 12 months, starting from no earlier than 1 March 2026 and no later than 31 March 2026.
Eligible Lead Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment at a UK-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Independent Research Organisation (IRO), which will continue for the full duration of the proposed award. Applicants for the Talent Development Awards should be intending to pursue original, independent research in any field of study within the humanities or social sciences. There are no quotas for individual subject areas and no thematic priorities within the scheme.
Lead Applicants who do not have a doctorate may have equivalent experience, which they should define in the personal statement section. Co-applicants may be based in the UK or overseas. They may have a doctorate or equivalent experience, or other specialist knowledge as appropriate to the aims of the scheme.
Click on the link to the application website to apply.