Find a funding opportunity

LSE Annual Fund

As a researcher there are many funding opportunities available to you. Once you have received approval from your head of department to proceed with your research idea, to find a grant to suit you, follow the steps below:

Browse Research Professional - LSE's subscription gives you access to the world's most reliable source of funding opportunities, with a large, easy-to-use database of information about latest calls, prizes and travel grants. Begin your search with Research Professional (log in with your LSE username and password if you're on campus, if off campus you will need to register your own account).
Browse external funding opportunities - Below we have selected and separated relevant external funding for the social sciences into upcoming calls, recurrent calls and annual calls.
Browse internal funding opportunities - A number of LSE departments or divisions offer funding opportunities for research, knowledge exchange and impact, and other purposes. View LSE internal funding opportunities.

Can't find a relevant funding opportunity? Contact the Research Division on +44 (0) 20 7106 1202 or email rescon@lse.ac.uk.

Upcoming calls
Recurrent
Annual calls


Funder	Link and brief abstract	Closing date [sorted by date]
British Academy	Wolfson Research Professorships Scheme	23/11/2016
	These awards provide support for extended research leave to a small number of the most outstanding established scholars to enable them to concentrate on a significant research programme, while freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of award-holders communicating their plans and results to a broad audience. The Professorships are held for three years and provide £50,000 each year to be used primarily to cover the costs of replacement teaching, with any balance available to the award-holder for research expenses.
British Academy	Rising Star Engagement Awards	30/11/2016
	This scheme is designed primarily to enable early career academics employed in a UK institution to actively engage in the work of the British Academy and to enhance their own skills and career development through the organisation of events, training, and mentoring activities for a wide range of other early career researchers. It is not an award to enable a scholar to undertake research. Award value: £15,000.
British Academy	Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellowships for Overseas Researchers	07/12/2016
	This scheme is for researchers in the UK who are at an early stage of their career and wish to conduct research in Japan for a period of 12-24 months. Earliest start date for research: 1 April 2017. The scheme, wholly funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), provides the opportunity for highly qualified young researchers to conduct cooperative research with leading research groups in universities and other Japanese institutions. As a foreign Nominating Authority, the British Academy is entitled to nominate a quota of candidates each year for the scheme. For applicants nominated by the British Academy, the research must be a social sciences and humanities subject.
ESRC-DFID	Development Frontiers Research Fund	15:00 on 08/12/2016
	Funding innovative, strategic and catalytic research with the potential to radically impact on sustainable development concepts or practices, or lead to new thinking and action on poverty reduction, this new funding opportunity aims to place innovation and appetite for risk at the centre of world-class research. Designed to enable researchers to conduct exploratory, small-scale projects with a view to developing ideas, collaboration, and research capacity for future larger grants for other calls, this call will support innovative, interdisciplinary research that is focused on new ways to tackle the challenges at the intersections between poverty, environmental sustainability and conflict/fragility in specific developing country contexts (see the call specification for details). Proposals are invited for projects with a fEC value between £200,000 and £300,000. UK organisations can lead on a maximum of up to two proposals. The deadline for the internal review process is 15.00 on Thursday 8 December 2016. Contact Research Division for more information.
Bloomberg	Data Science Research Grant Program	03/01/2017
	Bloomberg invites faculty worldwide to apply for unrestricted gifts that support research in broadly-construed data science, including natural language processing, machine learning, and data mining. They also invite proposals for creation of, or contributions to, open source software used for data science.

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Funder [listed in alphabetical order]	Link and brief abstract	Closing date
AHRC	Research Networking Scheme	Open call
	To encourage and enable the discussion and development of ideas by researchers either through establishing new research networks or by running a series of workshops, seminars or similar events.
AHRC	Fellowship Scheme	Open call
	AHRC is committed to fund the research time needed to undertake world-leading research with impact and to support the career development of outstanding researchers in the arts and humanities. View details of the Early Career Scheme and details of the Standard Scheme.
AHRC	Research Grants	Various
	The scheme is divided into two routes: standard and early career. The standard awards are designed to enable researchers to collaborate wit, and bring benefits to, individuals and organisations through high-quality research. The early-career stream is intended to assist new researchers at the start of their careers in gaining experience of managing and leading research projects.
AHRC/Sao Paolo Research Foundation	Collaborative Research Grants	Open call
	The Arts and Humanities Research Council, in partnership with the São Paulo Research Foundation, invites applications for its collaborative research grants. These enable transnational British and Brazilian teams to apply for funding for collaborative research projects. UK-based researchers must hold a doctoral degree or equivalent, be actively engaged in postdoctoral research and be employed by, or be scheduled to join, the research organisation before submitting the proposal. Brazil-based researchers must be formally associated with institutions within the São Paulo state. Projects may last for up to 60 months. Standard route grants are worth between £50,000 and £1 million and early-career grants are worth between £50,000 and £250,000 at 80% full economic cost. The São Paulo Research Foundation will provide equivalent to £1m for Brazilian researchers. The overall proposed budget should not exceed £2m.
AHRC/NSF	AHRC/NSF Co-funding Research Projects	Open call
	The Arts and Humanities Research Council, in collaboration with the Social, Behavioural and Economic Sciences Directorate of the US National Science Foundation, invites applications for funding under their lead agency agreement. This supports interdisciplinary research of mutual interest in any area of research that falls within the funders’ remit. Projects between £50,000- £1,000,000 (depending on the applicant’s career level) will be funded according to AHRC’s funding rules. Funding for the US part of the project must comply with NSF’s normal funding rules for unsolicited proposals.
British Academy	Funding for International Activities	Various
	Details of country-specific agreements and special programmes; international collaborative programmes; special Joint Project programmes and other relevant Academy schemes.
British Academy/ Leverhulme Trust	Small Research Grants	Various
	The scheme provides up to £10,000 to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Funds may be used to facilitate initial project planning and development; to support the direct costs of research; and to enable the advancement of research through workshops or conferences, or visits by or to partner scholars. Applications for collaborative or individual projects are equally welcome under this scheme. Applications from international groups of scholars are welcome, provided there is a UK-based scholar as lead applicant.
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation	Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation	Various
	Small Grants (£3k - £7) promote and support interaction between the UK and Japan. Daiwa Foundation Awards (£7 - £15k) focus on collaborative projects that enable British and Japanese partners to work together.
DEFRA	Research Competitions	Various
	All current DEFRA competitions, covering both calls for full proposals and expressions of interest.
EPSRC	First Grant Scheme	Open call
	Help for new academics applying for research funding at the start of their careers. Grants are capped up £125k for a maximum period of two years.
ESRC/Austrian Science Fund	Collaborative Project Grants	Open call
	These are based on a bilateral agreement to facilitate collaborations between social scientists in the UK and Austria. Proposals may be submitted in any area of the social sciences within the remit of both agencies. The grants are worth a minimum of £200,000.
ESRC	Research Grants Scheme	Open call
	A flexible research grants scheme offering awards ranging from £350k to £1m. The choice of topic is yours provided it falls within the ESRC's remit.
ESRC	Training Bursaries for Social Scientists	Open call
	To enable staff in the UK social science community engaged in research, teaching research methods or supervising research to update their research skills. 50 bursaries of up to £1k available. New applications for bursaries will be accepted from 01/04/2014.
ESRC	Urgency Grants Mechanism	Open call
	The fund enables the ESRC to respond to urgent or unforeseen events, where there is a strong case for immediate research.
European Commission	Call for Proposals - FP7 Marie Curie Actions	Various
	The European Commission has launched a number of calls under the Marie Curie Actions as follows: Reintegration Grants (RG); Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (IEF); International Incoming Fellowships (IIF); International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development (IOF); Industry-Academia Partnerships (IAPP). Further information also available from the Research Division. Please contact rescon@lse.ac.uk
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)	Research Networks	Open call
	A unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and to embark on new European perspectives. A continuous open call for proposals is used to attract the best proposals for new COST actions. The support will cover the costs of networking activities such as meetings (e.g. travel, subsistence, local organiser support), conferences, workshops, short-term scientific exchange, training schools, publications and dissemination activities. Funding for up to 4 years.
European Research Council	ERC Advanced Investigators Grants	Various
	Up to €3.5m available for pioneering frontier research in any field of science, engineering and scholarship. Candidates must be scientifically independent and have a recent research track record and profile which identifies them as leaders in their respective field(s) of research.
European Research Council	Proof of Concept	Various
	Existing ERC grant holders can apply for this additional funding to establish the innovation potential of ideas arising from their ERC-funded frontier research projects. Funding of up to €150,000 for a 12-month project is available.
European Science Foundation	Calendar of Events	Various
	A calendar of opportunities within the social sciences and a link to the external announcements page.
Global Innovation Fund	Innovation Projects	Open call
	Supported by the Department for International Development, the US Agency for International Development, the Omidyar Network, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia; the GIF invites proposals for its innovation projects. Funding supports innovative, cost-effective solutions that address any major development challenge in any country or countries in the developing world. Teams from social enterprises, for-profit and non-profit organisations, government agencies, international organisations and individual researchers based in any country may apply. Teams may form consortia, however, they must appoint a lead organisation.
Leverhulme Trust	International Networks	Open call
	Up to £125,000 over up to three years to allow a UK-based researcher to build a new collaborative research project with overseas institutions. First-stage outline applications can be submitted at any time.A significant research theme must be identified at the outset which requires for its successful treatment international collaboration between one or more UK universities, and two or more overseas institutions (up to a maximum of seven institutions in total). Networks must be newly constituted collaborations.
Leverhulme Trust	Research Project Grants	Various
	To provide financial support for innovative and original research projects of high quality ad potential, the choice of theme and the design of the research lying entirely with the applicant. Research Division encourages applicants to submit outline bids six months before the full bid deadline, in order to allow for Leverhulme to assess the outline bid, and for the applicant to prepare a high quality full bid, if encouraged to do so.
London Sustainability Exchange (LSx)	Research Interests and Contact Details for the London Sustainability Exchange (LSx)	Various
	The LSx runs an innovative action research projects with communities and businesses across London.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)	Themed Call: Preventing the Development and Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance	Various
	The call is for research into the evaluation of public health measures, health care interventions and health services to reduce the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance and consequent morbidity.
Nesta	Bright Ideas Research Fund	Open call
	These grants aim to fund good new ideas related to innovation and innovation policy and develop research projects and policy proposals in fields that relate to innovation but where Nesta does not have big programmes already in place. Projects can involve primary research, novel argumentation, or the development of a new idea, or ideally more than one of these things. Up to £10,000 is available per proposal. Fields of particular interest include: understanding the innovative businesses that matter; what do emerging technologies mean for the economy and society; how can we get a financial system better suited to innovation; better government policy for innovation; scaling up social innovation; big and open data for social innovation; and smarter smart cities.
Nuffield Foundation	Social Science Small Grants Scheme	Various
	The scheme makes small grants for social science research expenses. Grants of up to £15k available for projects in line with the Foundation's areas of interest.
Open Society Institute	Open Society Fellowships	Open call
	The fellowship enables innovative professionals to work on projects that inspire meaningful public debate, shape public policy, and generate intellectual ferment within the Open Society Institute.
United States Institute of Peace	Grants and Fellowships	Open call
	Funding for research into conflict prevention, conflict management, and post-conflict peace-building in Columbia, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan; and funding opportunities for projects relating to Iran.
Wellcome Trust	Small Grants	Open call
	Up to £10K can be applied for to support small-scale research projects, scoping exercises or meetings whose subject matter falls within the remit of Wellcome’s interest in improving animal and human health.
Wellcome Trust	Enhancements	Open call
	To provide additional funding during the course of a Wellcome Trust funded award, enabling the grantholder to explore new opportunities or paths of discovery as their work unfolds, or to support unanticipated costs, such as new equipment or access to technologies.
Wenner Gren	Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship	Various
	To support the writing-up of already completed research in anthropology. $40,000 is provided.

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Funder	Link and brief abstract	Expected closing date [sorted by date]
ESRC	Transformative Research Call	January
	To provide a stimulus for genuinely transformative research ideas at the frontiers of the social sciences, enabling research which challenges current thinking to be supported and developed.
ESRC	Research Seminars Competition	January
	For UK research organisations to hold Research Seminars for groups of academic researchers, postgraduate students and non-academic users from different organisations. Seminar groups meet regularly to exchange information and ideas to advance research in their fields.
British Academy	Newton International Fellowships	January
	The Newton International Fellowships aim to attract the most promising early-career post-doctoral researchers from overseas. They enable researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution. The scheme is open to post-doctoral (and equivalent) early-career researchers working outside the UK who do not hold UK citizenship.
ISRF	Mid-Career Research Fellowships	March
	The Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) supports independent-minded researchers to do interdisciplinary work which is unlikely to be funded by existing funding bodies. It is interested in original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
Leverhulme Trust	Early Career Fellowships	March
	Provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position.
Leverhulme Trust	Major Research Fellowships	May
	These awards enable well-established and distinguished researchers in the humanities and social sciences to devote themselves to a single research project of outstanding originality and significance, capable of completion within two or three years.
ESRC	Centres and Large Grants	June
	For experienced researchers requiring longer term support for research groups, inter-institutional research networks, project-linked research programmes, other infrastructure and methodological developments, or any related larger-scale projects.
British Academy	Mid-Career Fellowships	September
	Mid-Career Fellowships call announced July (estimate): aims to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences. It allows successful applicants to obtain time freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments.
ESRC	Future Research Leaders	September
	Aims to support outstanding early career researchers to carry out excellent research and to develop all aspects of their research and knowledge exchange skills.
British Academy	Small Research Grants	October
	Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. The maximum grant is £10,000 over two years. Applications for collaborative or individual research projects are equally welcome. Applications from international groups of scholars are welcome, provided there is a UK-based scholar as lead applicant.
British Academy	Post-Doctoral Fellowships	October
	To foster research capability, promote career development and enhance skills portfolio of recently postdoctoral scholars, cultivate individual creativity, and contribute to future research base of the nation, and to provide an opportunity of supporting endangered and emerging subject areas.
Leverhulme Trust	Research Programme Grants	October
	In one major departure from its policy of operating in the responsive mode, the Trust selects on an annual basis certain themes of research for which bids are invited. The grants provide funds to research teams for up to five years to enable them to explore significant thematic issues up to a scale of £1.75m.
British Academy	British Academy / Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowships	November
	BA/LH Senior Research Fellowships call announced in April(estimate): this enables established scholars to have one year's research leave with funding being provided to cover the costs of replacement teaching. The time bought by the scheme should be devoted to the completion of a major piece of research.