We only provide funding for discrete projects, with specific aims and outcomes. We will not provide additional funding for on-going projects.
You are welcome to build on existing research, but please demonstrate how the project is different from or enhancing any previous work. For example, is the new Creating Safer Space project expanding on an idea explored in a previous project?
All projects must include some elements from the arts and humanities. This can consist, for example, in the involvement of researchers, approaches or methodologies from relevant academic disciplines (like history, social anthropology, law or media studies), the use of arts-based or other creative research methods for data generation and dissemination, or the involvement of project partners with arts and humanities expertise.
Please see the AHRC Research Funding Guide for information about what disciplines are included within the arts and humanities (pp. 86 – 96).
We particularly encourage the use of arts-based and creative research methods, and provide training videos with examples on how to conduct such research. We also advertise training events through our newsletter.
All projects are required to produce one or more outputs, but we do not specify exactly what kind of outputs should be produced, or how these should be disseminated. This depends on the nature of your research.
In deciding what outputs to produce, it helps to think about two questions: who might benefit from your research and how might they benefit?
Academic Outputs
All projects should involve research, and as such, all projects should be of interest to an academic audience. At least one appropriate academic output should be produced. Examples of outputs:
As a project output, you are very welcome to propose to write a Working Paper for the Creating Safer Space network’s forthcoming working paper series on Unarmed Civilian Protection. More information will be available on our website soon.
Outputs for Communities or Policymakers
Think carefully about who might benefit from your research. Will specific communities living in the midst of violent conflict benefit from the research? What about policymakers at different levels, or humanitarian organisations working to protect people from violence? How can you best inform them about your research? Examples of outputs:
Each of these should be developed with your target audience in mind. Think carefully about what languages to use, and whether you need to budget in translation. Think carefully about how you will ensure that your target audience finds out about your research. If you produce a report, how will you ensure that people find out about it?
The Creating Safer Space network encourages the use of creative research methods. Think about whether you could use painting, theatre, poetry, storytelling, photography or filming to encourage participants to reflect on their experiences. The use of such methods can also support your dissemination strategy. For example:
Please consult our training videos on YouTube to learn more about creative research methods.
Please provide a brief summary of the project, focusing on the aims of the research, the contribution to knowledge, and the potential benefits to civilians living in the midst of violent conflict. If the project is awarded funding, this summary will be made publicly available on our website, so please do not include any confidential information.
Please address each of the topics listed on the Application Form. You are welcome to structure your answer in any way you prefer, but it is often helpful to use the topics as subject headings, and to cover each in turn – that way, you are less likely to forget anything important.
The aims of the project.
The principal aims of the project are the overarching purposes of your research (what it is trying to achieve in terms of knowledge and what the potential impacts of this are). Aims are often provided as a short list.
The research question(s) or problems, the research context, and the project’s contribution to knowledge.
What are the research questions, issues or problems that you will be exploring in the course of your research? Why is it important that these questions or issues are explored? What other research has been conducted in this area, and how will you contribute new knowledge? What contribution will your project make to enhancing creativity, insights, knowledge or understanding in your chosen area of study? To whom will the outcomes of your research be of particular interest (academically and practically)?
The UCP database is a user-friendly way of finding the latest research on UCP, including academic research, working papers and NGO documents. You can easily search the database using keywords or specific regions and countries.
The relevance of the project to the Creating Safer Space network, and how it contributes to our understanding of unarmed civilian protection and self-protection in the midst of violent conflict.
We will only fund projects that are directly relevant to the Creating Safer Space network, and specifically, to understanding unarmed civilian protection and self-protection in the midst of violent conflict. Explain the relevance of your project carefully, and explain which of the three research themes listed in the Call Specifications your project will address and how.
The research design and methods.
What research methods will you be using to address the questions or issues that you have set yourself, or solve the problems you have identified? Why have you chosen these methods? Why are they the best way to answer the research questions or problems you have identified?
Please describe the research design and methods in detail. For example, if you have chosen to conduct interviews: How many people are you hoping to interview? How will you select and approach participants? How will you ensure representation of different groups in the community (e.g. different genders, ages, ethnicities, religions)? How will you conduct the interviews? How will you analyse the data?
The role of each team member and project partner.
What will be your role, and what expertise or experience do you bring to the project? What will be the roles of other researchers or project partners, and why are they the appropriate people or organisations to be involved?
How the project will be managed, the work plan and timelines.
How will the project be managed? What is the timetable for the project? Does it include appropriate milestones and is it realistic? When will the outputs of the project be completed?
If a research assistant is to be employed, you should state clearly the nature of the work they will be undertaking and describe the working relationships that are envisaged between all the members of the research team. You should describe fully the arrangements for supervising and managing the research assistant. If the researcher is unknown, you should state the skills and qualifications sought.
If a contracted researcher or consultant is to be hired, please describe the proposed arrangements in detail.
The Creating Safer Space network strongly encourages projects to provide development opportunities for research staff (especially early career researchers). For example, will they receive relevant training, the opportunity to present at conferences, or the opportunity to (co-)author publications? We encourage projects to budget development opportunities for research staff into the proposal.
The project’s planned outputs, dissemination strategy and beneficiaries.
You should address two main questions: who might benefit from the research and how might they benefit?
Please consider both academic and non-academic beneficiaries of your project. Are there researchers within your own research area, or in other academic disciplines, who will benefit from your research? Will specific communities living in the midst of violent conflict benefit from the research? What about policymakers at different levels, or humanitarian organisations working to protect people from violence? What will you do to identify additional potential beneficiaries as the research progresses?
How will these people or organisations benefit from your research? What will you do to engage with them, and what will you do to ensure potential benefits are realised? For example:
Please see Question 13 in these FAQs for detailed guidance.
How the project includes some elements of the arts and humanities.
Our project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and it is a requirement of all projects to include some elements of the arts and humanities. Please describe how your project meets this requirement, and see question 12 for further guidance.
Any other important information in support of the project, which is not covered elsewhere on the application form.
While you are welcome to include additional relevant information, please think carefully about whether the information is relevant and important. For the most part, the questions on the application form will be the questions that interest the Funding Panel.
Please address each of the questions on the Application Form.
What are the ethical challenges and implications arising from the proposed research, and how will they be addressed?
Every project will face unique ethical challenges, so please think carefully about ethics in the context of your own research. Further guidance on research ethics is available on our website in the document ‘Research Projects – Ethics (p. 2-8). Please speak with experienced academic colleagues for advice on how to address ethical challenges in the context of your own project.
How will you ensure that the research undergoes appropriate ethical review?
All projects must secure ethical approval from an appropriate institution before research can begin. For example, universities normally require their researchers to submit an application for ethical approval to an Ethics Officer or Research Director, who reviews the research plans to ensure they conform to internationally and locally accepted ethical guidelines. The reviewer can approve the project, or they can require the research team to adopt different ethical practices. In some circumstances where the research raises high-risk ethical issues, it can be referred to a Research Ethics Panel for approval.
You can apply for ethical approval after the project has been awarded funding, if this is in line with your own organisation’s processes, but the process must be completed before the research begins.
In the application form, you must describe how you will ensure that the project undergoes appropriate ethical review. Will you submit an application at your own organisation for ethical approval, and if so, what are the processes? If the project is awarded funding, we will require evidence to confirm that the ethical review processes are appropriate.
If your own organisation does not have processes for ethical approval, you will need to ensure that the project will be able to undergo ethical review at another organisation. Does your project include Co-Investigators or Project Partners? Would it be possible for the project to undergo ethical review at their organisation?
What measures will you take to ensure the safety and wellbeing of project staff, research participants, or any other people involved in or impacted by the project?
Please think carefully about safety and wellbeing in the context of your own project, and please see the Creating Safer Space Safeguarding Policy (available soon on our website) for potential questions and issues to consider. For advice on how to develop fair and equitable research projects and partnerships, please read the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings.
Please address each of the three questions on the Application Form, and please consult widely with individuals and organisations with experience of working in the relevant region. It is often a good idea to invite organisations with direct experience of working in the region to be Project Partners.
The Creating Safer Space network may offer training workshops on how to undertake risk assessments for conducting research in conflict settings – please subscribe to our newsletter to find out about forthcoming events.
Please address each of the questions on the Application Form. If your organisation has a Data Management officer, please ask them for support and advance on institutional guidelines.
Research data can comprise any supporting material which underpins or otherwise enriches the (written) outputs of research, including both quantitative and qualitative data. Common forms of research data include audio recordings or transcriptions of interviews, spreadsheets with survey data, artwork produced by research participants, or photos and videos of research settings and activities.
Important principles that underpin Data Management include:
Much research data – even sensitive data – can be shared ethically and legally if researchers employ strategies of informed consent, anonymisation and controlling access to data.
Security of data is especially important for research involving human participants. The Creating Safer Space network will offer a training workshop on digital security in June. Please make every effort to attend this workshop.
Data often have a longer lifespan than the research project that creates them. Well organised, well documented, preserved and shared data are invaluable to advance scientific inquiry and to increase opportunities for learning and innovation. Please consider carefully how to ensure long-term storage. Digital research data collected as part of Creating Safer Space projects can normally be stored at Aberystwyth University after the end of the project. Please contact us for further information.
The funding for the Creating Safer Space network forms part of the UK’s foreign aid budget, and each application must demonstrate eligibility for foreign aid funding. There is likely to be some overlap between this section and the Case for Support. Please use this section as an opportunity to elaborate and explain further how the project will benefit people living in an eligible DAC list country or countries. Please answer each of the questions on the Application Form in turn.
The sub-questions refer to ‘development challenges’. One of the key development challenges identified by the Global Challenges Research Fund, which funds the Creating Safer Space network, is “Security, Protracted Conflict, Refugee Crises and Forced Displacement”. It is expected that most Creating Safer Space projects should help to address some aspect of this development challenge. Please contact creating-safer-space@aber.ac.uk in advance if your project is focusing on a different development challenge.
Make sure to provide evidence to show that the development challenge that you are focusing on is a significant problem in your focus country or countries. What is the nature and scale of the problem – for example, how many people would be affected by improvements in this area? Many projects will focus on a specific local community, but might your research also lead to insights that could benefit other conflict-affected communities in the same country or in other countries?
Make clear who will potentially benefit from the project, how they will benefit, and what you will do to ensure these benefits are actually realised. While it is recognized that benefits from research are always uncertain and cannot be guaranteed, it is important to show that you have developed realistic and appropriate plans. For example, if you think local communities in a particular conflict area will benefit from research into new strategies for civilian protection, what will you do to ensure these benefits actually happen? How will you ensure the research is appropriate to the needs of this community and relevant to their circumstances? Will you work with the community at an early stage, to ensure the proposal and the research methods are appropriate to the community? How will you communicate the findings of the research? Will you produce outputs, in local languages, that the community is likely to engage with? Will you work with local community groups to ensure dissemination of the outputs?
Consider using participatory research methods, whereby researchers and participants work together to understand a problematic situation and to change it for the better. The Creating Safer Space network offers training in participatory research methods, and this can be a way to ensure that a community directly benefits from the research within the lifetime of the project. To find out more about participatory research methods, please visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter to find out about forthcoming events.
Building research capacity in DAC list countries is an important potential contribution of the project in its own right (though not sufficient on its own). For example, will early career researchers working on the project be given the opportunity to undertake relevant training, or to present the research at a conference?
Further advice is available in the UKRI ODA Guidance and in these observations by research funders. For advice on how to develop fair and equitable research projects and partnerships, please read the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings.
Please answer each of the questions on the Application Form in turn, and see the following sites for further advice: