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British Academy ODA Global Innovation Fellowships

Member Institutes and Centres of the School of Advanced Study are inviting proposals from suitably qualified applicants for the first round of the British Academy ODA Global Innovation Fellowship scheme.

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. 

Through the ODA Global Innovation Fellowships, researchers in the SHAPE community will be supported to create new and deeper links beyond academia, so enabling knowledge mobilisation and translation, as well as individual skills development.

The scheme offers opportunities for Global Innovation Fellowship award-holders to embed themselves with a partner organisation, based in Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Türkiye, Thailand, Vietnam and/or Least Developed Countries.

Applicants are invited in any of the following areas:

  • Environment, Sustainability and Nature
  • Transformative Technologies
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Cities and Urbanisation
  • Global Order, Geopolitics and International Affairs

Eligible applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award. You must be an early-career or mid-career researcher based at an institution in the UK.

Value and duration 

Starting period of award: ODA Global Innovation Fellowships are expected to commence by September 2025. An earlier start date of March or April 2025 may be possible, in this case the applicant will need to explain how they will plan and manage their relocation on this faster timeline.

Level of award: These fellowships are offered as awards for up to £150,000 for 12 months in duration (with Full Economic Costing at 80%).

The cost of relocation, visas and any associated costs for the applicant and their dependants are eligible under this programme.

Process: Expressions of interest must be submitted by Friday 30th August to the director of the chosen Institute or Centre, copying [email protected] – using the subject line ‘BA ODA Global Innovation Fellowship EoI’. Descriptions of our Institutes and Centres can be found here. 

The expression of interest must include:

  • Confirm that you are eligible to apply
  • ODA Partner (and confirmation of their Eligibility)
  • Provisional title for research project
  • A 100-word abstract
  • A bullet-point list of suggested Activities and Outputs
  • A description of the potential for engagement, knowledge exchange, and capacity strengthening between academic and non-academic environments. (500 words maximum)

Applicants who are to be supported will be notified by 6th September 2024.

Application process 

Applications must be submitted online using the British Academy's Flexi-Grant.

The funders deadline (for UoL supported applicants) is Wednesday 6 November 2024, 17:00 (GMT).

Further Information

This is the first call for this ODA strand of the programme, offering opportunities for ODA Global Innovation Fellowship award holders to embed themselves with a partner organisation. The partner organisation must be based in any of the following countries: Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Türkiye, and any country from this list of Least Developed Countries. Applications that are not considered ODA-eligible will not be taken forward through the assessment process.

This programme is part of the £337m International Science Partnerships Fund, which is designed to enable potential and foster prosperity. It puts research and innovation at the heart of the UK’s international relationships, supporting UK researchers and innovators to work with peers around the world on the major themes of our time. It is managed by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology and delivered by a consortium of the UK’s leading research and innovation bodies. In the context of this call, funding from the International Science Partnerships Fund is funded by ODA therefore applications for this funding must be ODA-eligible.

Successful candidates will be selected on the basis of the quality and interest of the activity or range of activities and outputs proposed in the application, including engagement with and through their partner organisation with local and/or national community, societal, cultural, creative, business and/or policy stakeholders to design, develop and embed the research findings. Award-holders and their partner organisations will be expected to consider the potential for engagement, knowledge exchange, and capacity strengthening between academic and non-academic environments.