News: research and funding
On this page, we report on the latest news about research and funding in the world of socio-legal studies. This can include information from the major UK funders, launches of research projects or research centres, calls for collaboration, in fact, any aspect of academic research that is of interest to socio-legal scholars.
Items will usually be retained for a period of about three months, or until any significant dates have passed.
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Latest research news . . .
British Academy Talent Development Awards
Criminal Cases Review Commission: call for research proposals
Nuffield Foundation: simplifying the grant application process
Nuffield Foundation: Research, Development and Analysis Fund – deadline extended
Funding bodies and other related organisations
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Legal Education Research Network
National Centre for Research Methods
Science and Technology Select Committee
Sociolegal Model-Making Project
UK Administrative Justice Institute
Women and Leadership International
Academy of Social Sciences
The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) is the voice of social sciences in the UK.
The Academy is composed of over 800 individual academicians and 44 learned societies. Academicians are distinguished scholars and practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors. Most of the learned societies (including the SLSA) in the social sciences in the United Kingdom are represented within the Academy.
Please visit the AcSS website for full details.
AHRC
AHRC Mission: a pilot responsive mode funding opportunity
Mission is a pilot large grants funding opportunity. It aims to transform arts and humanities research agendas, research leadership and research teams, at scale, through a pilot approach to team convening. Projects between £2 million and £3 million will be funded. See website for details. Closing date: 18 July 2024.
AHRC Catalyst Award: round four: open for applications
Applications are invited for these awards to support researchers without prior experience of leading a significant research project to accelerate their trajectory as independent researchers, to unlock their potential, build leadership and convenor experience. See website for details. Closing date: 30 July 2024.
British Academy
British Academy Talent Development Awards
The Talent Development Awards are available to promote the acquisition and advancement of skills in relevant areas by UK-based researchers, promoting innovative research methods, be that through skills development, collaboration or dissemination. These awards are provided to promote the building of skills and capacities for current and future generations, including in core areas like quantitative skills, interdisciplinarity, data science, digital humanities and languages. The awards are up to £10,000 in value, and tenable for a minimum period of 6 months and up to a maximum period of 12 months. See website for details. Closing date: 11 September 2024.
British Academy Visiting Fellowships 2025
This programme enables academics from any country overseas to be based at a UK higher education or other research institution of their choice for up to six months and develop collaborative projects with UK colleagues. See website for details. Closing date: 23 October 2024.
British Academy Global Professorships: open for applications
The British Academy’s Global Professorships are large investigator-led awards to attract internationally recognised established scholars to work in the United Kingdom, to undertake new, coherent and cutting-edge research projects. With the Global Professorships, the Academy is looking to support researchers that are proposing ambitious, beyond the state-of-the-art research that breaks new ground. See website for details. Closing date: 23 October 2024.
British Academy: ODA Global Innovation Fellowships 2024 – open for applications
The objective of the ODA (Official Development Assistance) Global Innovation Fellowships is to provide opportunities to UK-based early- and mid-career researchers from across the humanities and social sciences to develop their skills, networks and careers in the creative and cultural, public, private and policy sectors to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions. See website for details. Closing date: 6 November 2024.
British Academy: ODA Research Management Capacity Strengthening – open for applications
The British Academy is inviting proposals which seek to embed and enhance working practices and systems within and between institutions to support equitable partnerships in international research through support for skills collaboration between research offices and research management functions. See website for details. This call includes a series of online information sharing webinars in June/July. Closing date: 30 October 2024.
BA Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2025 – open for applications
This programme provides UK-based researchers, active in any discipline within the humanities or the social sciences, with the opportunity to develop and lead international and interdisciplinary research projects related to the theme of Just Transitions. See website for details. Call closes: 18 September 2024.
British Academy Additional Needs funding
The British Academy has set aside specific funding to support additional needs that applicants and award holders may require. This funding would be in addition to the amount already requested for research expenses. See website for details.
British Library
Social welfare portal
Please visit the social welfare portal, test the service, and
Criminal Cases Review Commission
Criminal Cases Review Commission: call for research proposals
The body that investigates possible miscarriages of justice is inviting proposals for 2024 research projects. See announcement for details. Closing date: 30 September 2024.
Higher Education Academy
The Higher Education Academy (HEA) provides services to the higher education sector for individual learning and teaching professionals, senior managers in institutions and for subject and discipline groups. Please visit website for further information.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is an endowed charity that funds a large, UK-wide research and development programme. It seeks to understand the root causes of social problems, to identify ways of overcoming then and to show how social needs can be met in practice.
Please visit the website for more information.
Artificial Intelligence for Public Good: new Joseph Rowntree Foundation project
Following on from last year’s Social Justice in a Digital Age work, the JRF is launching a new project on the potential for AI to generate public good. See website for details.
Law and Society Association
The Law and Society Association was set up in the USA in 1964 to support its members in developing theoretical and empirical understandings of law. See the website for full details.
Legal Education Research Network
For information on the Legal Education Research Network (LERN) please see website.
Leverhulme Trust
Leverhulme Trust newsletter
The Trust publishes a newsletter three times per year.
Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowships: open for applications
Applications are invited from well-established, distinguished researchers in the humanities and social sciences to complete a piece of original research. See website for details. Closing date: 10 May 2024.
Leverhulme Research Centres funding: call for applications
In its 2024 call, the Board of the Leverhulme Trust is seeking applications strongly led by the arts, humanities and social sciences. Funding of up tp £10 million for up to 10 years is available. See website for details. Closing date: 7 June 2024.
Leverhulme Trust: Reseach Project Grants
Research Project Grants – outline applications are welcome at any time.
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice: Areas of research interest
The Ministry of Justice has recently published its Areas of Research Interest. This document can be found here. It highlights the Ministry of Justice’s strategic evidence gaps with a focus on long-term and cross-cutting gaps in understanding. The aim is also to engage with the external community to expand and deepen the department’s underpinning evidence base. The Chief Social Researchers at the Ministry of Justice are keen to hear from researchers working on any of the strategic evidence gaps outlined in the Areas of Research Interest. Please do get in touch and describe in a few sentences what you are doing. The email address is:
Court statistics
View the latest court statistics: published quarterly.
National Centre for Research Methods
The National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) is a network of research groups, each conducting research and training in social science research methods. It is co-ordinated from a hub in the University of Southampton and nodes across UK universities. NCRM provides a focal point for research, training and capacity-building activities. These activities are aimed at promoting a step change in the quality and range of methodological skills and techniques used by the UK social science community, and providing support for, and dissemination of, methodological innovation and excellence within the UK.
The NCRM provides regular email bulletins. To register, please visit the subscriptions page. The centre also runs regular training events.
Nuffield Foundation
The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the founder of Morris Motors. Lord Nuffield wanted to contribute to improvements in society, including the expansion of education and the alleviation of disadvantage. He called this the ‘advancement of social well-being’, and emphasised the importance of education, training and research in achieving that goal. Today, the foundation works to improve social well-being by funding research and innovation in education and social policy. the foundation is also increasing the proliferation and quality of research and professional skills – both in science and social sciences – through its capacity-building programmes. See website for further details.
Nuffield Foundation: simplifying the grant application process
The Foundation has created a quicker and easier application process for its Research, Development & Analysis Fund. The deadline for applications to this year's fund has been extended to 14 October 2024. See website for details.
Nuffield Foundation Research, Development & Analysis Fund: deadine extended
These grants are awarded to projects that inform the design and operation of social policy and practice across the Foundations' three core areas of Education, Welfare and Justice. See website for further details. Closing date for outline applications: 14 October 2024.
Nuffield Foundation: Invitation to tender for a young people participation pathway feasibility pilot evaluation
The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory is inviting tenders for a process evaluation of a feasibility pilot delivering a new Young People Participation Pathway enabling 12–18 year olds in public law care proceedings to participate through regular discussions with the judge. See website for details. Closing date: 22 March 2024.
Research Cluster in Law, Justice and Society, Oxford
A new Research Cluster in Law, Justice and Society has been launched at Wolfson College, in collaboration with the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society (FLJS). The research cluster will join several other research clusters created under the guidance of college President, Professor Hermione Lee, which draw on the outstanding scholarly strengths and interests within the college to foster innovative approaches to interdisciplinary research.
Please see flyer for further details or visit the cluster website.
Restorative Justice Council
Access to and experiences of restorative justice for BAME young people
The Restorative Justice Council is embarking on a research project to gain a better understanding of the access to and experiences of restorative justice for BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) young people who have offended. In addition to a lack of research in relation to BAME young people and criminal justice, there is also a perception among some practitioners that there are problems in effectively engaging and delivering restorative interventions with this group. The aim of the research is to develop practical solutions for the restorative field and recommendations for change to future policy development.
For more information please contact the RJC’s senior research officer
Sociolegal Model-Making Project
The Sociolegal Model Making Project explores the risks and rewards of using design-based strategies, and model-making in particular, to enhance socio-legal research – that is, research that interprets law as a social phenomenon.
Please see website for details.
UK Research and Innovation
Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £6 billion, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) brings together the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and Research England. Research England will work closely with its partner organisations in the devolved administrations.
UKRI pre-announcement: UK future internet NetworkPlus
Apply for funding for a UK future internet NetworkPlus which brings together the research community, policymakers and wider stakeholders to make the UK an active leader in the development of the internet and an intelligent customer of internet technologies in the 2030s and 2040s. See website for details. Dates to be confirmed.
UKRI Funding Finder
This UKRI webpage provides a comprehensive list of all UK Research Councils' funding schemes currently open.
UKRI to improve support for research students through new deal
UKRI has published plans to improve support for students studying towards doctorates and other research degrees, through a new deal for postgraduate research. See website for full story.
UKRI Open Access Policy Update
UKRI has published updated information to support funded research organisations and researchers to meet its new open access policy. See website for details.
Other
First 100 Years: Paving the Way – new scheme to support 30 law students
This 10th anniversary scheme aims to support 30 law students across three years of study. See announcement for details.