Welcome to AHRC’s Theme &
Connected Communities Town
Meetings
Background to AHRC’s Themes
and Connected Communities
Gary Grubb
Associate Director of Programmes
AHRC
G.Grubb@ahrc.ac.uk
Timetable for the Day
10.00am
Registration/coffee – from
10.45–11.30am Overview Presentation/
Background to the Themes &
Connected Communities
11.30am–1.00pm Individual Theme / Connected
Communities Session 1
1.00-2.00 pm
Lunch
2.00-3.30pm
Individual Theme / Connected
Communities Session 2
AHRC Themes: Background
• ‘Future Directions’ consultation with
researchers (Feb-May 2009)
• Advisory Board analysis of outcomes
• Further consultation with key partners &
Subject Associations & via HEI visits
• Development by Advisory Board &
Council
• Themes shaped and refined by Theme
Advisory Groups (on-going process)
• Building on the successes of previous
AHRC ‘strategic programmes’ but different
in nature
Connected Communities: Background
• RCUK review of current cross-Council themes,
gaps & emerging areas for the next Spending
Review period in 2008/9, informed by
Councils’ own emerging strategies &
consultations; ‘Research for the Future’
consultation event, April 2009
• Further consultations (e.g. AHRC Future
Directions & Advisory Board)
• Cross-Council academic workshop in June
2009
• Discussions with a range of stakeholders in
2009/10
• First Research Summit, June 2010, further
summits in 2011 and 2012 (July)
Overview of AHRC’s Thematic
Engagements
Increasingly central role in inter-disciplinary
cross-Council research on societal challenges
Lead new Programme on ‘Connected
Communities’ and establish Centre for
Copyright and New Business Models
Connected
Communities
Living with
Environmental
Change
Provide leadership in developing pathbreaking research in four strategic emerging
challenges for arts and humanities research
Care for the
Future
Build on our world leading strengths through
investing in transformative collaborative
research from across the full range of A&H
disciplines (over 50 in total) addressing our
four core themes
Cultures &
Heritage
Digital Economy
Global
Uncertainties
Translating
Cultures
Languages
&
Literature
Lifelong Health
& well-being
Transformations
Science in
Culture
Creative &
Performing
Arts
History,
thought
& Belief
Digital
Use ‘commissioned’ research funding to respond nimbly/flexibly to strategic priorities, emerging areas,
and cross-disciplinary, partnership or knowledge exchange opportunities
Enhance our international leadership role and re-orientate collaborations to address new strategic, thematic and
other priorities
AHRC’s Themes
• Digital Transformations
• Translating Cultures
• Care for the Future
• Science in Culture
• Connected Communities (with
other RCs)
Connected Communities: Development
• Started with series of small scale reviews and scoping
studies through open calls as well as highlight notices
and workshops to build on current activities. Over 100
small projects funded.
• Piloted ‘research development workshops’ on broad subareas (with open calls for participants) to generate new
cross-disciplinary collaborations. 3 workshops held so far.
3 large grants from first workshop announced early
2012. 4th workshop envisaged in 2013.
• Partnership activities e.g. with RSA, Design Council & HLF
• Joint large grants call with ESRC
• Annual Summits for award holders and partners
Why Themes?
• Higher order issues: beyond individual disciplines,
focus but flexibility, researcher-generated
connective concepts
• Increased narrative possibilities for research
diversity, richness and coherence
• Partnerships beyond academic collaboration
more easily facilitated
• Communities and capacity of researchers
involved
Collective Aims of the Themes
• To support the development of research capability in emerging
research areas identified by Arts and Humanities researchers as
being of increasing importance
• To provide research development opportunities across a range of
Arts and Humanities subject areas
• To support high quality cutting edge research, creativity,
innovation and intellectual leadership
• To stimulate boundary-crossing collaborations and partnerships
• To develop distinctive arts and humanities approaches that can
contribute to broader RCUK / cross-disciplinary programmes
• To provide a focal point for developing pathways and narratives
for the impact of arts and humanities research
Theme Working
• Themes not the same as AHRC strategic programmes
• Collection of adaptable theme activities
• Potential to draw in activities across all AHRC funding
modes (including responsive) , not just activities under
themed calls
• Developing flexibility as appropriate for each theme
• Consideration of international, knowledge exchange,
capacity building and public policy potential
• Emphasis on using current funding mechanisms and on
targeted activities building larger consortia grants and
partnership activities; flexibility rather than large-scale
new research programmes (‘variable geometry’)
11
Theme Evolution:
2012-15 and beyond
• Themes are diverse in nature
• Different funding and support patterns appropriate over future
years
• Represent a longer-term investment in the intellectual landscape
into future Delivery Plan period
• Themes will continue to link to, build on and complement the
majority of AHRC funded research through ‘responsive mode’ and
seek add value to the range of research undertaken, engagements
within, across and outside the academic communities supported
by AHRC
• Themes can help to develop overarching narratives about
evolution of arts and humanities research but remain underpinned
by high quality researcher-led projects
Theme Funding
• Started with fairly open highlight notices & development awards
to stimulate community-generated ideas, interest & capacity
• Theme Leadership Fellowships to provide leadership and support
connectivity across activities
• Larger theme awards only one key part of theme activities
• Consideration of complementary international (e.g. recent AHRCNWO networking call), knowledge exchange, capacity building
(e.g. via skills development calls) and public policy potential
• Potential for partnership activities / calls and other calls (e.g. for
smaller development awards in under-represented or emerging
areas)
• Potential for further highlight notices (e.g. in grants to fill gaps
etc) and continuing potential to draw in new 'responsive mode’
activities
13
Theme Development Awards to Date
Total
Skills
Development
Project
development
Highlight
Fellowships
(standard)
Highlight ECR
Fellowships
Highlight Networking
Science in
Culture
12
3
7
15
0
37
Digital
Transformations
9
3
3
18
3
36
Translating
Cultures
22
17
12
11
7 in
languages
69
Care for the
Future
8
3
2
6*
1 + 4 in
heritage
24
Totals
51
26
24
50
15
166
*6 Researching Environmental Change Network Follow-up Projects. Does not include 34
development awards under Connected Communities identified as also being of relevance to
Care for the Future
Why Include Provision for Theme
Large Grants?
• Allow for more ambitious collaborative projects and potential for
developing a wider range of collaborations and partnership –
across institutions, across disciplines, across sectors and
internationally e.g. potential ‘beacons’ for the themes, and for
international and partner collaborations.
• Offering enhanced capability building opportunities (e.g. building
new communities of scholars, linked students, longer contracts,
development of training programmes)
• Greater opportunity to seek leveraged funding (inside and beyond
institutions) & develop sustainable legacies
• Potential to build in more agility to respond to changing needs
and new research findings that emerge over time, working more
closely with AHRC
• Complement other smaller funding opportunities already offered
under the Themes and available from other funding sources
Theme Large Grants
• Ambitious, transformative potential within the field
• Sum of the whole must be more than the parts
• Potential to make a significant contribution to some of the
bigger cross-cutting questions, issues, sub-themes
• Extending and developing new collaborations across
institutions and disciplines – potential for developing
genuinely inter-disciplinary approaches
• Looking for innovation, opportunity for ‘risk’ taking within the
overall research programme
• Potential to think in creative ways about pathways to impact
drawing across a broader portfolio of research and contacts
• Opportunity to think about broader contributions and
collaborations, e.g. international, capability development etc
Theme Large Grants
The Theme large grants will:
• need to work with each other & work closely with Theme
Leadership Fellows and with AHRC.
• be encouraged to think creativity about themselves as key
‘nodes’ within the Theme and their role with the broader
‘Thematic’ research community
• play an important role in representing and exemplifying the
Theme (Theme ‘beacons’)
• be expected to play a key role in Theme-level activities
• support Theme level engagement activities with non-HEI
stakeholders
• be willing to be flexible to respond to emerging Theme
agendas
Large Theme Grants
• Care for the Future current highlight notice in research grants
(up to £1.5m) and planning for research development call in
autumn 2012 leading to large grants call in 2013.
• The other three themes are planning calls for Theme Large
Grants in autumn 2012.
• Theme Large Grants under this call will start in 2013/2014 and
run for up to 5 years to 2018/2019, expected to be c.£1m £2m fec. Further outline details are on AHRC’s website.
• Town meetings and Theme workshops in summer 2012 are
feeding into the finalisation of details of these calls.
• These major thematic activities will continue beyond current
Delivery Plan and into next Spending Review period
Theme / Connected Communities
Leadership Fellowships
• To enrich the intellectual agenda for the theme /programme
• To take a lead in engaging with broader research communities (UK
and overseas)
• To promote collaboration between projects and across disciplinary,
institutional and other boundaries
• To take on an advocacy role and develop narratives about the
progress of the theme
• To undertake an advisory role – working closely with the theme
advisory groups and AHRC staff / theme leads
• To stimulate and support the development of collaborative, KE,
public engagement and partnership activities beyond academia
• Undertake their own research relevant to the theme
Other Thematic Funding
• Large Grants and Fellowships a core part of themes but only
part of the picture – we are thinking about other
complementary activities e.g. international calls, partnership
activities, targeted calls in under-represented areas and
highlight notices in grants which could supplement the large
grants as appropriate.
• Highlight notice for 4 themes and CC in networking scheme
recently extended to end of October 2012. Fellowships
scheme highlight until end of 2012. Also highlight in current
Collaborative Skills Development call (closes 20 Sept. 2012)
• We will continue to provide opportunities for relevant
projects under other schemes (e.g. ‘responsive mode’) to be
drawn into thematic networks
Questions?
Morning Break-out Sessions
11.30am - 1.00pm
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•
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Connected Communities – this room
Care for the Future – room
Science in Culture Digital Transformations Translating Cultures -