Early Career Small Research Grants
If you’re a UK-based member in your early career, this research funding might be for you. We launched the Early Career Small Research Grants (ECSRG) in 2015 in celebration of our 40th anniversary, and provide up to £3,000 per grant. In any one year we give a maximum of three grants.
For the ECSRG, early career means five years maximum between the date showing on your PhD certificate and the application deadline. However we do allow exceptions for career breaks, maternity leave, long-term illness etc. Please just let us know via your application. Your proposed research must be in International Studies or a related sub-field. In addition we expect your research to be complete in a maximum time span of one year. It is essential that you have been a current BISA member for at least six months. You should remain a BISA member for the grant and reporting period.
Please note the following rules on eligible costs. The funds can be used for travel and fieldwork expenses, access to archives, research training, transcription, short-term research assistance, and translation. The funds CANNOT be used to buy out individual staff time, run a conference/workshop(s), or to cover any overheads.
Applications opened on Monday 21 October 2024. The deadline is Monday 25 November at 11.59pm (UK time).
Please download and complete the application form below (which will only show once applications are open). Send your completed application to office@bisa.ac.uk by 11.59pm (UK time) on Monday 25 November. We would be most grateful if, additionally, you would complete our anonymous EDI monitoring form. The purpose of the questionnaire is to gather anonymous data to better understand and address EDI in the BISA funding and grants process. The data collected will only be used for statistical and reporting purposes to improve our practices. The information will not inform funding and grant decision-making.
Your application will be considered by our Executive Committee at its meeting in mid-December. Notification of outcomes will be sent out in January.
Following the conclusion of your award we ask you to submit a report to us, as well as to write an article for our website. More details will be provided with your grant notification.
If you have any questions please contact our office: office@bisa.ac.uk
Downloads
"The Early Career Small Research Grant allowed me to develop my skills and undertake a qualitative research project that otherwise would not have been able to have the same level of access to participants had I not received funding. I’ve formed new networks and the Grant has helped me lay the groundwork for future impact."
Past recipients
2023
- Dr Columba-Isabella Achilleos-Sarll (University of Birmingham) The Visual Politics of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: From the UN Security Council to Civil Society
- Dr Lydia C Cole (University of Sussex) Peace on Display: Examining Peace Knowledge(s) in UK Museums
- Dr Daniel J Feather (Liverpool John Moores University) More than just the ‘‘Bop Lobby’’: Britain and the ‘‘independence’’ of Bophuthatswana
- Dr Alexander Gilder (University of Reading) Militarisation in UN Peace Operations (renamed for publication to Partnerships in the Midst of Robust Peacekeeping)
2022
- Dr Tarela Juliet Ike (Teeside University) Trauma-informed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TiCBT) to aid reintegration of repentant terrorists and their families in Nigeria: A pilot study
- Dr Anna Meier (University of Nottingham) The Idea of Terror: White Supremacist Violence and the Making of Counterterrorism
2021
- No awards due to COVID-19
2020
- Dr Joshua Baker (University of Leicester) Empathic diplomacy in the making of the Iran nuclear deal
- Dr Gemma Bird (University of Liverpool) Failures of the international order: experiences of displacement and their challenge to the nation state
- Dr Hannah Partis-Jennings (Loughborough University) Ireland’s ‘Repeal’ Campaign: Feminist Imaginaries, Solidarities and Change
2019
- Dr Nicholas Bernards (University of Warwick) The Colonial Origins of Policy Failures in Global Development Governance
- Dr Laura Mills (University of St Andrews) The Art of War
- Dr Aisling O'Loghlen (Northumbria University) Integration and instability: the displaced refugees of Mwanza
2018
- Dr Gillian McFadyen (Aberystwyth University) This research project focuses on Refugees in Britain: Practices of Hospitality and Labelling.
- Dr Katharine Wright (Newcastle University) This research project explores Civil society perceptions of NATO: What place for Women, Peace and Security?
2017
- Dr Julia Schmidt (University of Exeter) This research project explores Regional Organisations and the Responsibility to Protect: The Case of the European Union
- Dr Hannes Hansen-Magnusson (Cardiff University) This research project focuses on Discovering Common Ground in International Forums (DISCOINFORM)
- Dr Holly Eva Ryan (Manchester Metropolitan University) This research project examines The Art of International Friendship
2016
- Dr Richard Johnson (University of Strathclyde) This research seeks to investigate arms transfer policies of the United Kingdom and, in turn, compare policy versus practice in arms transfers occurring since the end of World War II.
- Dr Edward Wastnidge (Open University) For the purposes of this pilot study, the question will be how are instruments managed by the Iranian state used to channel its influence among the global Shi’i community?