Applications are now open for the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowships 2026 for outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals

Ednah Carrick 4 weeks ago

0 268 3 minutes read

Closing Date: 26 August 2026

Applications are now open for the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowships 2026 for outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals

Mid-Career Fellowships

The Mid-Career Fellowships are designed both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and social sciences.

Purpose of the Scheme

Through this scheme, the Academy intends to both support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding of and engagement with the humanities and social sciences. The primary rationale of the scheme is, therefore, to free successful applicants from their normal academic and administrative commitments for a period of 6 to 12 months to devote to the completion of a major piece of research. In addition, the Academy will look for evidence of a clear commitment to a strategy of public engagement and communication of the research outcomes during the period of the Fellowship.

Scope of the Award

These awards support outstanding individual researchers and communicators who will promote public engagement and understanding of the humanities and social sciences. Awards will be judged both on the quality of the research proposed and on the capacity of the applicant to communicate with a broad audience. Applicants are invited to indicate ways in which their proposed programme will contribute to advances in understanding, including public understanding, in their subject area and to the identification of appropriate strategic priorities in the social sciences and humanities.

Eligibility

Prospective award holders must be employed at a UK-based university, Higher Education institution or Independent Research Organisation; the Academy is looking particularly to support mid-career scholars. The Academy takes no account of an applicant’s physical age or current status in determining eligibility for these awards.

Rather, these awards are intended primarily to provide opportunities for researchers who have already made an outstanding contribution to their field and have achieved distinction as an excellent communicator and ‘champion’ in their field, and who would usually be within no more than 15 years from the award of their doctorate. In considering eligibility, the Academy will make due allowance for applicants who have had career breaks; and for established researchers who do not have doctorates, who should be within fifteen years of their first academic appointment.

Level of Award

These Fellowships are covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) framework, but the Academy’s contribution is calculated at 80 per cent of this figure, with the Academy’s contribution to the salary of the Mid-Career Fellow capped at an upper limit of £80,000. It is not expected that the total value of an award will exceed £152,000 (80 per cent Academy contribution to FEC). Awards can be held for a minimum of 6 months up to a maximum of 12 months.

Application and Assessment Procedures

Applications are expected to provide full financial details of the Full Economic Costing and research expenses.
Applicants are invited to supply information about their current academic commitments, publications, research proposal and detailed costings.
Applicants are required to nominate one referee (from outside their own employing institution), who is as independent from the applicant as possible. The referee is not intended to be an advocate for the applicant – rather their role is expected to be to help provide a rounded assessment of the proposal indicating both strengths and weaknesses. The applicant should ensure that the supporting statement from their chosen referee is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System
(GMS) as early as possible, to allow enough time for applicants to meet any internal deadlines set by their employing institution.
The deadline for employing institutions to approve applications and submit them to the British Academy is 5pm (BST) 26 August 2026 – this deadline is final, and no late applications can be accepted.
The reference must be submitted before the application can be approved by the host organisation. Any application without a
supporting reference will not be able to be submitted.
Your referee must be drawn from outside your own employing institution, and before listing your referee on your application form you should seek permission that they are happy to provide this before the deadline for the submission of this application in Flexi-Grant