Call for Major Project Applications - 2026/27
The IAS supports, promotes and grows new and creative interdisciplinary ideas that transform our perspectives in challenging and provocative ways. We provide time, space, and resources to exchange and integrate ideas, knowledge and skills. We are a home to an inclusive, diverse and supportive community of scholars from Durham University and across the world.
The IAS is now launching its call for 2026/27 Major Projects. We are inviting applications for Major Projects which should be genuinely interdisciplinary, innovative and ambitious. We encourage projects that have the potential to build towards research of the scale and ambition suited to large programme or centre type funding. All projects must be led by two academics in two different faculties with a wider team ideally involving collaboration across a broad range of disciplines.
MAJOR PROJECTS (to run in academic year 2026/27)
These will be ambitious projects working across at least two disciplines and across faculty boundaries. Successful projects will be supported with:
APPLICATIONS
An initial brief project outline/expression of interest should be submitted to the IAS by midday GMT Thursday 16 January 2025 using this online form. All applicants (PIs) will be invited to the IAS on either Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 or Thursday 23 January (see schedule in the above online form for date preferences) to briefly discuss their project and ideas with the IAS Directorate. This affords the opportunity for guidance and support to each project proposal as they go forward to a full application.
Please be aware that Previous Major Project Investigators are ineligible to apply within five years (of their award), though they remain able to be part of the wider research team on a project.
If the application goes forward, the date for full project application is midday GMT Thursday 20 March 2025. The full application process is likely to use an online application form which may be similar to this (though subject to potential change). The full application (open from 27 January) will require more detailed information than the earlier January Expression of Interest submission and applicants will, in addition to providing more detailed information about themselves such as a CV, they will also be asked to outline how the project benefits from an interdisciplinary approach, provide a detailed project description (2 pages), outline the wider research team, and include budgetary details.
All applications will be selected based on the following criteria (these are equally weighted):
Decisions will be relayed to all applicants by 09 April 2025, after which successful applications will be invited to nominate and submit Fellowship nominations. Further details about the nomination process and online form will be made available by the end of 2024. The Nomination deadline is midday 23 May 2025.
ONLINE FORMS, GUIDANCE AND APPLICATION DEADLINES
Form Title
Submission deadline
2026/27 IAS Major Project Outline Form (EOI) - online
midday 16 January 2025
2026/27 IAS Major Project Application Form (example only) - online
midday 20 March 2025
2026/27 IAS Fellowship Nomination Form - online (form available January 2025)
midday 23 May 2025
202627 IAS Major Project Application Guidelines
Information only
202627 IAS Fellowship Nomination Further Particulars
202627 IAS Fellowship Nomination FAQs
ADDITIONAL
Colleagues interested in developing project applications are welcome to contact members of the IAS including:
A drop-in session will be held at the IAS on Monday 03 February between 10am and 12pm in Cosin’s Hall for any colleague who wishes to come along and discuss the call in-person.
Enquiries can also be made to the IAS Manager, Linda Crowe (ias.manager@durham.ac.uk).