Impact updates

AHRC IAA funding calls for research impact activity. Deadline: 23 January

Academics pursuing impact activities underpinned by their research are invited to apply for one of our three seed-funding calls:

• Impact Builder Fund (up to £10k per project)
• Fast-Track Fund (up to £3k per project)

Closing date for the two larger calls: Friday 23 January 2026

Or,

• Engagement Opportunity Fund (max. £500 per project) - open on a rolling basis.

As with previous IAA calls, we invite a broad range of project proposals, but – for the 2025/26 round – we're particularly interested in proposals that would:

• explore or progress opportunities to commercialise research, and/or
• improve the success of an external research funding bid in development (e.g. strengthen partnership commitments, pilot impact plans/activities).

Eligibility criteria applies - see the IAA webpage, or Sarah Sawyer's email to Mah_acadall (17 November), for further details and how to apply.

Questions? Contact ahrciaa@sussex.ac.uk.

Collaborative conversation-starters with MAH Impact & Industry Board Members

Are you keen to design your next research/impact projects with sector/partner/community needs and opportunities at their core, and seeking ideas for topics?

Are you currently developing your next research/impact project ideas, and keen to involve external partner organisations/communities from the outset?

In our most recent MAH Impact & Industry Advisory Board meeting (6 Nov 2025), Members shared some current reflections and concerns, which they thought might benefit from MAH/Sussex research – see this Word document for details: MAH Impact & Industry Advisory Board - research questions (Nov25) [DOCX 16.18KB]

They also told us they'd be keen to see a list of emerging research ideas from academics, with a view to potentially developing collaborations. 

Please email ahrciaa@sussex.ac.uk by Friday 9 Jan if you are:

A) Interested in exploring one of the Members' topics, please compile a short response (1-2 paragraphs) to one or more of their questions.

And/or

B) Developing research questions/ideas/projects and would like us to circulate a brief summary 'pitch' to the Members, for their potential input/involvement. These do not need to respond to / explore Members’ topics but instead can be driven by your own research plans. The Board have asked to be able to input into researcher-led projects as early as possible, so exploratory / early plans and ideas are very welcome. 

For example, you could: sketch out ideas for exploratory activities, methods for gathering initial data samples, or gaps in existing research that need to be addressed.  

We will then circulate these amongst the Members, support you in developing any potential ‘pitches’ to be presented at our next Board meeting (or future meetings depending on demand / Advisory Board remit suitability), and make email introductions if any mutual interest arises, ahead of our next meeting in Spring 2026 (date TBC).

Participatory methods in arts & humanities research

We held a collaborative in-person workshop on Thu 10 October to facilitate further discussion between MAH researchers and colleagues within the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change Research Cluster at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). In this session, they thought through how MAH researchers use participatory methods in their research and projects, and reflected on any challenges that have been experienced, or anticipated, in using participatory methods.

This session is part of a broader collaborative project between MAH and IDS, funded by the AHRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), in which a key aim is to refresh the content on their Participatory Methods website (a well-established, highly Google-ranked and heavily-used resource for researchers, practitioners and funders) so that it better meets the needs of participatory research in the arts & humanities disciplines (see project flyer). 

So, if you were unable to attend the session, you can also get involved by working with their team to develop a 'case study' for this site, based on your participatory research (see template). This is an opportunity to: 

• benefit from 121 discussion of your project challenges with IDS experts, and strengthen your understanding of these methods for your current and future work;
• build networks with IDS colleagues working in complementary areas, with whom you could develop partnerships for future funding bids; 
• develop a concise communications output from your work, which you can distribute in other contexts, and which non-academic users of the IDS site may learn from and adopt in their work ('impact' from your research).

If you're interested in doing this, please contact Alice Webb at a.webb@ids.ac.uk, who can facilitate an initial discussion with the most relevant IDS colleague(s). 

Keen to find out more?

Please contact us at ahrciaa@sussex.ac.uk with any queries about the AHRC IAA programme.