Society & Culture Spotlight - Small Grant Scheme 2025-26

Small Grant Scheme 2025/26

The Society & Culture Spotlight is pleased to invite applications to the new small grant scheme, dedicated to supporting Warwick's interdisciplinary research community. We are particularly keen to support research activities of Early Career Researchers, activities which support the development of an inclusive knowledge society, and activities which explore the role of the university and its staff in knowledge production, dissemination, and use.

The award in brief

The Society & Culture Spotlight small grant scheme is intended to support a) small research projects that must involve multi-disciplinary teams, b) organisation and publicity of events and c) training and skills development.

We especially welcome applications aligned with one or more of our research themes, but we also consider submissions spanning any aspect of interdisciplinary culture research. We will prioritise applications from PhD students, post-doctoral fellows and ECRs, and especially those who are not eligible for other sources of internal funding, e.g., IRDF

Awards normally up to a maximum of £1000 and must be spent before 30th June 2026.

Applications requesting more than £1000 may be considered by our review panel. Please contact before submitting an application if you wish to request more.

See examples of previously funded applications here

Key information

Applications are reviewed continuously as they are received. Applicants who are successful will be notified via email on a weekly basis following submission.

Grant period: From the date of award until 30 June 2026.

Research Projects

Priority will be given to early career researchers and to early-stage, interdisciplinary projects that can lead to funding applications, where Spotlight funding can have the highest impact.

Events

Our Spotlight can support costs associated with the organisation and promotion of interdisciplinary events, including cross-discipline/faculty collaboration and/or external partnerships. This includes workshops, seminars, hackathons, and community engagement events.
Beyond actual events, the small grant could also support: engagement efforts or broader ideas of how to promote Warwick's research excellence.

Training

We are looking to support PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and ECRs who have the opportunity to complete new training and to gain new skills in areas that have interdisciplinary approaches.
The small grant could support the applicant in travel and/or fees for attending summer schools, national and international conferences visits, and labs in other institutions. An example includes attendance of an interdisciplinary knowledge exchange/training workshop.

Please refer to the guidance below whilst completing your application, and please ensure you have read the terms and conditions for this call before applying. Please contact with any queries or to discuss the details of your application.

Guidance

Eligibility

The Society & Culture Spotlight interpret interdisciplinarity broadly to include interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research.

According to UKRI, interdisciplinary research involves collaboration between two or more fields to achieve outcomes beyond the reach of one discipline. Multidisciplinary research involves less integration between fields, while transdisciplinary research co-creates knowledge with non-academic stakeholders, such as policymakers or businesses.

Applicants

PhD students, post-doctoral fellows, and ECRs are welcome to apply. We support an inclusive and broad definition of ECR as a research career stage.

For the purposes of this small grant scheme, R1 (First Stage Researcher) and R2 (Recognised Researcher) as defined by the European Commission will be used and can be viewed here.
Undergraduate students are not eligible. Please see the Undergraduate Research Support Scheme and IATL's project support and funding.
Applications from or involving underrepresented groups are especially welcome.

Duration

All costs must be incurred before 30th June 2026. Unused funds will be returned to the central Spotlight budget unless otherwise agreed.
Project/activity end-date must not exceed the applicant’s contract end-date, if applicable.

Eligible Costs

Consumables, travel and accommodation for relevant travel
Research assistance
Experiment costs, participant fees

Ineligible Costs

We do not fund salary costs, or 'buyout' of time of PIs/Co-Is.
We do not fund undergraduate student activities, or activities that form part of any assessed work at any level. Please see the Undergraduate Research Support Scheme and IATL's project support and funding.
Equipment costs

How to apply Application Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by the Society & Culture Spotlight Leadership team. We aim to inform applicants of the outcome on a weekly basis, via direct email.

Applications will be assessed using the following assessment criteria:

Interdisciplinarity: The extent to which the funded activity integrates multiple disciplines and/or cross-departmental collaborations.
Relevance: Alignment of the proposed project with the vision and research themes of the Society & Culture Spotlight, and its contribution to the broader UK research culture.
Clarity: Well-defined objectives and approaches.
Impact: The importance and scope of the activities' benefits for the targeted stakeholders.
Innovation: How the funding will enable the proposed activity to be distinct from existing initiatives.
Feasibility: Practicality of completing the proposed activity within the funding timeframe.

Terms & Conditions

Finance

I confirm that this activity’s end-date does not exceed the end-date of my employment contract (if applicable).

I understand that this funding must be defrayed by the 30th June 2026. A member of the Spotlight's team will be in touch closer to the time to review the use of any remaining budget. If there is any risk of delay to my planned spend activity I will inform idresearch@warwick.ac.uk.

I will use the code and/or reference provided by RIS for making any purchases/orders.

Governance

I confirm that I have completed the full version of the Epigeum research integrity trainingLink opens in a new window, and that I have checked and obtained any relevant ethical approval.Link opens in a new window

I have checked whether this activity requires a risk assessmentLink opens in a new window and obtained this if necessary.

I confirm that I have completed any other due diligenceLink opens in a new window checks if my activity involves collaborators.

I have checked whether this activity requires any contract(s) or agreement(s) and obtained these where necessary. Examples of possible contracts or agreements include for collaboration with external institutions (including other Universities), activities involving a transfer of funds/other resources, sharing of data, or creation of intellectual property (especially if involving external partners) Further information can be found hereLink opens in a new window and here.Link opens in a new window

Reporting

I agree to provide updates during and after the activity for future reporting purposes. A short reporting template will be made available to those who receive funding from the small grant scheme. It will include detail about the use of the funds; achievement of outputs and outcomes from the award; how the activities have contributed to the strategy; future plans to build on the work done and further funding applications made or planned.

If you are successful with your application, we would like to post about your project on the Society & Culture Spotlight website. For events, this could also include publicising about organised activities via calendars on our website, or via email, as well as a follow-up event capture page.

I agree to images from a research project/event/training session being used on Spotlight/research culture webpages.

Any project changes to include changes of team, timeline or other should be communicated to the Spotlight team.

Completing my application

Which of our Spotlight's themes does this project/activity align with? Select all that apply:

Please refer to the information about our themes here and explain which of these your activity aligns with.

Details of the team, including any internal or external collaborators, detailing their track record

Please list all collaborators (including any external partners) with details of their department and faculty, outlining the nature of their involvement and their capability/track record to deliver this activity.

Project/activity description (including how this activity aligns with this Spotlight’s strategy, as well as with the guidance for this particular call)

Please include:

Project/activity description (avoiding or defining any technical terms/concept) -
E.g. We plan to invite researchers from across the University with an interest/experience in AI themes to share best practise and explore opportunities for interdisciplinary approaches to AI, with a view to developing a core team of experts and build capacity to be in a state of readiness for the next funding call.

Plan/project breakdown with dates -

E.g. step 1 - scoping of existing networks, mapping expertise across the Uni (April - May 2025); 2 - produce comms, liaising with relevant comms teams (April 2025), 3 - hire venue, 4 - send invites (June 2025), 5 - finalise agenda for the day, 6 - host event, 7 - follow-up activities and comms)

Methodology, including an explanation of the interdisciplinary component of the activity. For the purposes of this call we use the UKRI definition of interdisciplinarity, meaning a 'collaboration between two or more fields to achieve outcomes beyond the reach of one discipline'

Size and location/platforms -

E.g. We are expecting/targeting approximately 120 delegates, and plan to host the event at The Slate. We will use MS Forms to manage registration.

Intended outcomes, including future funding -

E.g. This activity will establish a critical mass of related researchers, building Warwick's reputation for excellence in this area, and increasing our preparedness for the next funding call, TBA Q4 2025.

Alignment with Spotlight strategy and specific call guidance -

Please refer to the Spotlight webpages for info about strategy, and other sections on this page for specific call guidance, e.g., here.

Which of this Spotlight's theme(s) does this activity align with? -

Please see our research themes. Feel free to attach this information in a separate document if easier.

Financial plan e.g. full amount requested (GBP), breakdown of costs, details of any other funding received. Please also include the contact details for your department’s finance contact

Please include:

Full amount requested in GBP -

E.g. £2000

Breakdown of costs -
E.g. RA hire for preliminary mapping exercise £600; travel and expenses for external speakers £2500; venue hire £400.

Details of any other funding received to support this activity, including from other Spotlights -
I have also obtained funding from my department who have committed £1000, and the Warwick AI Society have pledged to provide £500.

Supporting documents

PhD applicants will be expected to include a short supporting document from a supervisor.

Applicants are welcome to upload any supporting documents they would like to share.