Apply for the Ignite Fund 2025

Ignite 2025/6 is open to researchers from across the University of Leeds to develop an impact or research project in partnership with an external cultural, arts or third sector partner organisation in Yorkshire.

The aim of the fund is to support the creation/development of exciting collaborative projects that build strong working relationships between their partners and have potential for future research and impact.

We aim to support projects that are relevant and rewarding to both partners, and which help develop an effective working relationship between them. We will not support projects where the involvement of an external partner is limited to only use as a venue or to support in recruitment to an activity.

You might want to explore a new approach, use research to inform a new creative project, analyse existing data, bring different disciplines together in an original way, or something else entirely. Past projects have included a collaborative workshop series exploring facilitation and social change, a project developed by an arts festival with the Centre for Alternative Proteins and a project developing a research relationship that built artistic methodologies into research about fatigue.

All projects should provide the opportunity to explore ideas and areas for development, and demonstrate how they could lay the foundation for a longer-term collaboration.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the current system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. Impact is one of the measures by which the REF judges institutions’ research. 

In the REF, Impact is defined as an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia. For REF2021, impact was assessed in terms of ‘rigour, reach and significance’. More broadly, universities think about ‘impact’ as making change in the real world that can be demonstrated or proved.

Lead academics may wish to discuss their application with their school’s Director of Impact. 

Applications can be made by a researcher from any faculty or discipline at the University of Leeds, working with a partner from the cultural, arts or third sector in Yorkshire. 

Lead applicants must be academic staff employed by the University until at least 31 July 2026, and cannot be a postgraduate researcher.

The co-applicant/s must be a named lead at a cultural, arts or third sector organisation in Yorkshire and must not be employed by the University of Leeds.

Where the co-applicant is from a third sector (non-arts or culture-based organisation), the project itself must have a focus on culture, creativity or art making. 

Additional partners can be post-graduate researchers, University of Leeds academics or academics from other institutions.

We will give priority to applications in which at least one of the arts/cultural/third sector partners is a constituted organisation.

Some researchers might also be interested in the Sapling Fund, administered by LAHRI and the Cultural Institute. This scheme aims to allow researchers to achieve a step-change in partnership working with at least one non-HE partner through a project rooted in research in arts, humanities and/or culture. Applications will open this summer.

We will not provide continuation of funding for projects funded through Ignite, The Sapling Fund, Sapling Bradford or Bradford Collaborations Fund in 2023/4 or 2024/5. If you also apply to the Sapling Fund in 2025/6 and are successful, your application to this scheme will not be considered further for the same or a similar project.  

Applications will be reviewed against the priorities set out below, so it is important that you explain these aspects of your project in your application.

While we do not expect projects to have all the following elements, we will give priority to projects that include some of the following:

• the possibility of generating or leading to step-change in partnerships between academic researchers and creative and cultural organisations 
• a demonstrable benefit to both partners
• a clear relationship to the applicant/s research and/or the impact of their research
• the possibility of creating change outside the University
• an employability/student opportunity element for undergraduate students or post graduate researchers.

While there is no formal requirement that an external research funding application would be part of or follow an Ignite project, we expect to see activity which has clear potential to lead to substantial future collaboration and impact.

We plan to inform successful applicants by mid-October. Please leave sufficient time for your Head of School to read and approve your application before submission.

The selection panel will comprise an academic representative, professional staff from the Cultural Institute and a representative from a West-Yorkshire based cultural organisation.

If you are successful, you may start your project immediately. Funding will be administered through the School in which the applicant academic is based. 

You will be asked to report on your project 3 months after it has been awarded and on completion. This reporting is light touch, but mandatory.

If your activity includes public facing events or exhibitions, we require grantees to credit the Ignite Fund. Full details of how to do this will be sent to the successful applicants.

Please email the Cultural Institute at culturalinstitute@leeds.ac.uk for further information or guidance.

The funding can cover the full costs of the activity including, but not limited to:

• University internships or research assistant time.  If the proposed work involves engaging project-specific interns and/or research assistants, the academic applicant must liaise with their School professional services team when costing this item.
• Fees for cultural partner organisations; such as to cover their time, expertise or space. If including fees to a partner is not appropriate to your application, please explain why. 
• Recompense to individual participants in activity where appropriate. If this will be administered by the academic applicant, they should liaise with their School professional services team about processes which need to be followed when costing this item.
• Materials.
• Venue and equipment hire.
• UK travel and subsistence – while not ineligible, support to cover international travel is unlikely to be supported by Ignite. A very robust demonstration of value for money must be made for this to be considered.
• Access costs for participants. 

If applicants to this scheme have access needs, please let us know as we may be able to support these in addition to the main fund.

The funding cannot be used to cover:

• IT/ substantial equipment purchase.
• Buying out the time of staff who are already contracted at Leeds.
• Conference attendance.

Sustainability

Please consider and show how you are thinking about sustainability in relation to the attached additional guidance. 

Ethics

• Please ensure that you are recompensing partners and or participants in your project for their involvement appropriately.
• Please consider how equitable your working methods and activities are. Further guidance for academic partners is available here:
  • Research ethics information on the Governance and compliance website
  • Research ethics information on the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute sharepoint site.