Call for Applications: Collaborative Research Awards in the Humanities for Scholars from China to Visit the UK (Deadline: 31 May 2022)

British Council and UK-China Humanities Alliance

Collaborative Research Awards in the Humanities
for Scholars from China to Visit the UK

Purpose and Scope

This scheme will assist Early Career scholars in China to spend 1-6 months in the UK developing a collaborative research project with a UK based scholar. While the primary costs of the visits will need to come from other sources (eg. CSC scholarships, existing research budgets), this scheme, worth up to £2,500, is intended to ‘bridge the gap’ and remove some of the barriers that can sometimes prevent scholars’ mobility.

Visiting scholars will be known as ‘British Council UKCHA Scholars’. Awards are available from the project “(Re-)connecting Research in China”, funded through a British Council Enabling Grant to strengthen UK-China Institutional Partnerships through academic collaboration, awarded to the UK-China Humanities Alliance. For more information about the UKCHA, please see their webpages.

Funding may be used towards bench fees, travel, and accommodation during a stay of 1-6 months in the UK. Research may include any topic in the humanities broadly conceived (not necessarily China-related). The research collaboration should produce an article or equivalent academic output that advances scholarship in the humanities.

Eligibility

• Applications should come from a host scholar based in the UK at a UKCHA member university on behalf of a visiting scholar based in China, whom they will work with.
• Applications are eligible on behalf of visiting scholars based at any university in China. However, preference may be given to visiting scholars based at UKCHA’s China members, including CUHK, or with an academic degree awarded by these institutions.

• Preference will be given to visitors who are early career scholars (within 10 years of receiving their PhD, or equivalent if any career breaks have taken place).
• The host scholar may be at any career stage.

Important dates

• For collaborations taking place in the 2022-23 academic year, the deadline is Tuesday 31^st May 2022. Applicants will be notified of the result by Thursday 30^th June 2022.
• A further application round will follow in Spring 2023 for collaborations taking place in 2023-24.

Selection criteria

Applications will be evaluated first and foremost on their academic merit: the research collaboration’s contribution to scholarship in the humanities. Other criteria include the feasibility of the proposed project, clearly defined output(s), and demonstrable value added to both the visiting scholar from China and the UK host scholar and institution.

Management of funding

• Applicants will be responsible for the administration and management of finances.
• Eligible costs are limited to:
  • UK university bench fee (sometimes called a desk fee) that covers administration costs. Please check with each institution what their charge and policy are.
  • Travel
  • Accommodation

Conditions of Funding

Details of the award may be listed on the UKCHA website and those of its partner members, and used by the British Council to promote its academic and cultural initiatives.

Successful applicants will be required to complete a post-project report confirming how funding was spent and detailing how the activity delivered on the application.

Application information

• Applications should consist of the following:
  • A completed application form (download here)
  • The host scholar’s CV
  • The visiting scholar’s CV

NB. Upon acceptance of the award, successful visiting scholars will additionally be asked to supply a letter of support from their home institution.

• The above documents should be submitted to humanities-global@exeter.ac.uk by Tuesday 31^st May 2022.