As of 1 April 2012, all Research Grant proposals to the AHRC must include a Co-Investigator who meets the revised and broadened eligibility criteria for investigators introduced by the AHRC last year.
The AHRC’s justification for this is to ensure that it is supporting projects that are collaborative in nature from their formation.
The AHRC therefore expect a Co-Investigator to have made a significant contribution to both the development of the research proposal and the undertaking of the project. As well as assisting in managing and directing the project, Co-Investigators may also undertake active research on the grant. These changes have been made in consultation with both the AHRC Advisory Board and Council.
You can access the latest version of the AHRC’s Research Funding Guide here: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/Research%20Funding%20Guide.pdf
This is a sensible move, and should improve the already high standard of applications made for research.