The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is opening its doors and holding a day-long event/information session on how academics and artists can improve their chances of writing a successful higher education research application. This special event will take place at London’s Business Design Centre on February 3rd 2006.
The event is aimed particularly at practice-led researchers based in creative and performing arts departments who have little or no experience in applying for research funding. The session will offer practical tips on preparing a research proposal. It is hoped, by the end of the day, that all participants will have a deeper understanding of the key issues they need to address in planning and writing a proposal.
What is the AHRC?
The AHRC funds postgraduate training and research in the arts and humanities; from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. The quality and range of research supported provides many social and cultural benefits to the UK. And with a budget of almost £80 million per year, the AHRC provides a portfolio of programmes to support the best of UK arts research.
What subject areas does the AHRC cover?
The AHRC funds postgraduate training and research in diverse subject areas covering the humanities ( history, literature, linguistics, philosphy and classics) and the creative and performing arts ( drama, dance, music, art and design).
AHRC has a strong commitment to creating more research opportunities for practising artists in the UK. As a result creative and performing artists are getting the chance to undertake university-based research, thanks to the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The Council’s Fellowships in the Creative and Performing Arts scheme is being relaunched with a new emphasis on making research more accessible to practising artists. Creative writers, architects, choreographers, visual artists, theatre artists and musicians are among the groups being encouraged to apply.
The scheme will pay the Fellow’s salary costs of between £25,000 and £40,000 pro rata, enabling them to work in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) for up to 3 years full-time or 5 years part-time. Successful applicants will then be eligible to apply to the AHRC’s other schemes for funding for specific research projects during their Fellowship.
Former Fellow, Patrick Keiller, who was based at the Royal College of Art says, “The Fellowship offered me a unique opportunity… to realise a new and exciting project beyond the conventional expectations of art practice or moving image culture.”
James Faure Walker, who has undertaken his Fellowship at Kingston University comments that, “The Fellowship was invaluable because it gave me the confidence to call what I was doing ‘research’ and carry through a difficult undertaking…like this book on painting…knowing that for these three years I was supported both financially and by the kudos of the Fellowship.”
Dr Gail Lambourne, who is leading the one-day event, explains; “We want to give some support to people who don’t have a lot of experience of applying for funding… We want to encourage people not to be daunted by all the paperwork and to go some way towards demystifying the application process.”
Joanna Montgomery, a research panel officer for the AHRC says; “This is the first event of its kind for the AHRC and it is aimed at academics who are currently eligible to apply for funding under the AHRC responsive mode schemes but who may have little or no experience of applying for research funding. It could also be of interest to… first time PhD supervisors or those applying for the first time as part of a collaboration or research team. We are also hoping that the event may be of interest to artists working outside the academic sector who may be interested in applying for funding under the AHRC Fellowships in the Creative and Performing Arts Scheme.”
“The aim of this event is to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the key issues they are required to address in planning and writing a proposal to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, ” says Montgomery.
The one-day AHRC event will cover the following topics:
In the second half of the event participants will be invited to join breakout groups in which they will be asked to discuss the preparation of a research proposal in-depth. This will include framing research questions, defining objectives and aims, outlining methods, preparing timeframes, key milestones, research outputs and dissemination routes.
AHRC will also be inviting senior academics with relevant knowledge to attend the day. They will be on hand to provide advice, give short presentations and to lead the breakout groups.
“We wanted to give practising artists who have an established track record of research an opportunity that is not always available,” explains Chris Millward, AHRC Associate Director of Research. “The changes to our Fellowships scheme should enable the fellows to develop their research capabilities and in turn make it possible for them to bring new insights to the Creative and Performing Arts.
The scheme has been running in a different form since 1999, and has proved both popular and successful, supporting more than 100 projects ranging from a study of French piano repertoire to the production of a number of new poems exploring the public experience of grief.
“The Fellowships in the Creative and Performing Arts scheme aim to support artists who have not previously had the opportunity to carry out a significant programme of research within a Higher Education environment, and who have reached a point in their careers when they would benefit from time to pursue a programme of high-quality research in the creative and performing arts.
By artists, the AHRC is referring to producers of original creative work. This could include: visual artists, performers, musicians, creative writers, architects, poets, choreographers, scenographers, theatre and film directors, designers, those working in the applied arts, fashion, curatorial practice, or film, video and/or other media.
About AHRC funded research: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £80 million to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,500 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute nearly a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector.
The one-day event will be held on February 3rd 2006 at London’s Business Design Centre. Places at the event will be limited and given on a first-come first-served basis. The AHRC requests that you provide: Your subject area of expertise, your level of experience of applying for research funding and what you are hoping to get out of the day.
If you would like to attend, please contact AHRC officers:
Joanna Montgomery at j.montgomery@ahrc.ac.uk. Tel: 0117 987 6677
Jessica Bacon at j.bacon@ahrc.ac.uk. Tel: 0117 987 6538,
More detailed information about the event will be available at www.ahrc.ac.uk early in 2006.
