Tagged / Wolfson Foundation

British Academy Wolfson Research Professorships

Thanks to the generosity of the Wolfson Foundation, the British Academy is able to offer four new Research Professorships to be taken up in the autumn of 2013. The purpose of these awards is to give an opportunity for extended research leave to a small number of the most outstanding established scholars to enable them to concentrate on a significant research programme, while freed from normal teaching and administrative commitments. Emphasis is also placed by the Academy and the Foundation on the importance of award-holders communicating their plans and results to a broad audience.

The awards are of a fixed value of £150,000 (£50,000pa for three years). Funding is expected to be used primarily to meet the costs of replacement teaching, with any balance available to the award-holder as research expenses. These awards are not covered under the Full Economic Costing (FEC) regime.

The call is now open and the closing date is on 28 November 2012.

Eligibility: The Academy takes no account of an applicant’s age or current status (eg Professor, Lecturer) in determining eligibility for these awards. Rather, in all cases, award-holders are expected to be established scholars with a significant track record of publication. Any field of study in the humanities and social sciences is suitable for support.


  • Number of Awards: Four Professorships are offered.
  • Method of Application: Applications are submitted via e-GAP2, the Academy’s electronic grant application system.
  • The deadline for applications is 28 November 2012 

The RKE Operations team can help you with your application. Please direct any enquiries to RKE Ops in the first instance. Alternatively, contact the British Academy Research Awards Department for further information.

The Royal Society Wolfson Laboratory Refurbishment Grants Scheme 2012

The Wolfson Foundation has announced a further call for proposals under the Laboratory Refurbishment Grants Scheme. It aims to improve the existing physical infrastructure in UK universities to promote high quality scientific research. Up to £1.5m in funds will be available for the 2012 round.

The scheme has been running for 13 years. To limit the number of applications – and thereby reduce the effort involved in submissions, the scheme has focused on specific research topics, usually for two years at a time. The present focus is on imaging – interpreted widely to include astronomy, materials science, nano structures, biological and medical applications. We are looking for novel research projects which can include both image capture and subsequent interpretation, coupled with an identified opportunity to locate the work in space recovered from previous usage.

This scheme does not support:

– Research on existing imaging equipments for the same application;

– Commercialisation of a proven-concept/prototype into a near-market product;

– Refurbishment of laboratories housing established imaging equipment(s) for research purposes.

– Research into labelling of ‘samples’ including luminescence, chromophore, radio-labelling etc. and ‘sample’ preparation

The scheme note contains more details of the scheme and how to apply. They cannot accept more than one proposal from any department in this round. A statement of support for applications will need to be provided by the PVC.

To discuss this opportunity further, please contact RKE Operations.