The project should address a gap in existing knowledge. It may be that the topic has been researched before, but by bringing in different expertise and people, you are generating new insights that take the research forward.

Funds are available to undertake early-stage, explorative research pilot projects. 

We expect all research projects to be driven by a research question that is co-created by, and intended to benefit, everyone involved in the project, and so is likely to need a range of disciplines from the University (interdisciplinarity) and expertise from a diverse range of partners from beyond the University. Projects should be collaborative at all stages of the research process – so co-created, co-designed and co-led.

Bringing together people with different knowledge, expertise, skills and ideas. We are particularly interested in bringing University researchers from different schools or faculties together for the first time to use different methods and approaches.

Creative processes and critical making are valued as part of the research process so should be included as part of your approach. These approaches move beyond talking together, to making together as a valued process in the research project.

We encourage project teams to aspire to equity amongst team members throughout the research process, from inception through to delivery. This means everyone’s expertise is respected, and there is trust and open communication across the team.

• Research collaborator time and costsg. artists, community partner, charities (including VAT if they are VAT registered)
• Directly Incurred Staff costs – these are the costs for researchers who do not already work full-time at the University such as research associates and students.
• Directly Allocated Staff costs - for those who do have paid contracts at the university. This will recognize the time spent by those involved on the project who are already employed by the University. Their time can be included but you should seek advice from your Costing Specialist as to whether to include or exclude the actual costs in the ‘cost to funder’ (this will differ for each project and will need Head of School approval)
• Workshops (including catering and payments for research participants)
• Travel (including the travel needed to work together)
• Consumables and resources necessary for the project including team meetings.

• The Brigstow Exploratory Research funding is for research. Whilst a product is acceptable as an output, Exploratory Research funding should not be seen as a source of funding for product development only. We are interested in helping teams work together on co-produced and interdisciplinary research rather than funding the knowledge exchange or impact of existing research, or public engagement activities without a research component.
• We would normally expect a minimum of three researchers to be involved (made up of a mix of University, community and creative researchers) all bringing different knowledge, expertise, ideas and skills to the project.
• At least one of the University researchers must be based at the University of Bristol for the project to be eligible for financial accountability.
• Brigstow encourages applications from all . We particularly welcome applications from colleagues who have not yet been a principal investigator on a research grant. If you are in any doubt about your eligibility, please speak to us first.
• Applications must be in keeping with the topic of Brigstow’s thematic funding cycle.
• Given the focus of Brigstow Institute we expect to see arts/humanities researchers and/or social scientists as key members of interdisciplinary research teams.

The application questions are available to aid you in framing your application.

Whilst everyone on the project team has equal status, a University of Bristol partner will need to be named as a designated budget holder and will need to submit a full financial costing on Worktribe (the University’s finance system for projects).

The University partner’s costing specialist will be able to help, but please follow the Brigstow-specific guidance for worktribe. Please note that you cannot submit your application to Brigstow before the costing and finance approvals within the University are completed. You will need to include your budget breakdown and justification in the application form.

Below are suggested timeframes to ensure the University processes are completed in time for the Brigstow deadline. While there could be some flexibility, these are the usual timescales you should follow:

• Three weeks before submission to Brigstow: the budget holder should have created a project Worktribe and started populating the budget. The budget holder can contact their University costing specialist for help.
• One week before submission to Brigstow: the budget holder should have submitted the costing for review
• Two working days before submission to Brigstow: finance and Head of School should have completed their approvals allow you to finalize your application and submit it via the Brigstow online application form. 

To submit your Exploratory Research Funding application to Brigstow, please visit bristol.ac.uk/brigstow/funding/apply. If you have any problems using the form, please contact hello-brigstow@bristol.ac.uk as soon as possible.

As part of the application process team members are asked to agree to Brigstow’s Terms of Engagement. These set out the principles and also the expectations from both Brigstow and the successful team.

Brigstow is committed to the principles set out in the Charter for Co-production Through an Anti-Racist Lens published in 2024. We encourage all project teams to make themselves aware of these principles and to apply them when considering how they will plan and carry out their research. In the application form you will be asked to confirm that your whole team agrees to the Charter for Co-production through an Anti-Racist lens.

We have developed  Brigstow Institute Toolkits to help aid your discussions. The toolkits could be useful as you:

• develop your ideas and frame your project;
• untangle some of the language and expectations across disciplines and partners;
• think about how to keep people engaged in the project; and
• understand the pressures and tensions each team member might experience