We are now accepting applications for activities which will take place between 1 August 2023 and 31 July 2024. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until all funds have been allocated or the final deadline of 31 May 2024, whichever is sooner.
BIRCA represents a merging of the previous Bristol International Research Workshops scheme and Bristol International Online Research Collaboration Awards, allowing for a range of online and/or in-person activities in collaboration with international academics.
Bristol International Research Collaboration Activities (BIRCA) awards are designed to stimulate and support collaboration between the University of Bristol and international academics. Activities can either be virtual, in-person, or a combination thereof. Applicants can bid for a single activity or a set of related activities, depending on what best serves their needs and delivers the greatest potential for enhancing the University of Bristol’s international collaborations and outputs. Some examples of suitable activities could include, for example:
These are just illustrative examples and other activities may also be suitable; please contact the International Research Development (IRD) team (ird-office@bristol.ac.uk) to check eligibility if you are unsure. All activities must be co-produced with international academic collaborators and must involve these collaborators in their delivery. Activities should be interactive events which involve two-way knowledge exchange, rather than dissemination events. This funding scheme is therefore not suitable for applications to support conferences. Activities can, however, be live-streamed and/or recorded for sharing publicly, where appropriate.
This scheme is not intended to provide funding for international travel for general collaborative work; the BIRCA scheme is designed to provide funding to facilitate international collaborative activites such as workshops specifically. There are other schemes available which can support extended colalborative work such as the Bristol ‘Next Generation’ Visiting Researcher Programme and the Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorships.
A listing of previous and current BIRCA awards can be viewed here.
Applications will be reviewed on a monthly rolling basis and can be submitted at any time; the final deadline for applications is the 31st May 2024 or when all available funds have been allocated, whichever is sooner; however, all funded activities must be completed by the end of the current academic year (31 July 2024).
The maximum value of a BIRCA award is £3000. Applicants are welcome to seek additional sources of funding to increase the total budget for their activities, and we would expect to see at least some contribution offered from the Collaborator’s institution (financial and/or in-kind).
Please ensure you familiarise yourself with the full requirements and guidance outlined in the call specification document before completing and submitting your application.
Applicants should note that all application forms require sign off from their Head of School before the application can be submitted (Section D: School Declaration and Approval), and that the HoS will also need to give approval in Worktribe. We recommend that applicants contact their HoS with their intention to submit in advance in order to give them prior notification of the above requirements.
For applications for activities taking place between 1 August 2023 and 31 July 2024 please adhere to the following call guidance and submit the following application form:
You may also find it useful to refer to our BIRCA FAQs (Office document, 324kB) where we have listed questions raised by previous applicants.
BIRCA awards can be developed in complement to other activities, such as Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorships or Bristol ‘Next Generation’ Visiting Researcher awards. For example, a BIRCA award could be used to scope a future visit, to enhance the impact during the visit itself, or could be used to develop outputs from a previous visit. Please note, however, that individual applications must be submitted to the respective schemes and will be assessed as two separate applications which may therefore have different outcomes. Please also be aware that the visiting researcher and professor schemes may not be available at certain times; please check our website for up to date advice.
If you have any queries please email ird-office@bristol.ac.uk.
