About BDFI  

Our mission is to pioneer transformative approaches to digital innovation, developing in-depth and systematic understanding of sociotechnical futures to drive the creation of digital technologies for inclusive, prosperous and sustainable societies. 

To support this work, we are establishing world-class facilities as part of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, a diverse community of researchers reaching across the University, and a 26-strong partnership ecosystem.  

What’s important to us?  

We’re looking to support ambitious ideas in interesting new areas. That means at this stage, we do not expect you to know the precise outcomes of your project, or exactly what it might lead to. Instead, we are looking for ideas with real scope to grow. Specifically, we ask that your proposal contributes to the BDFI’s mission (Does it deliver or support digital innovation? Does it take a sociotechnical approach? And is there a focus on inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous futures?) 

• is in a compelling and novel research area  
• demonstrates scope to grow the project in the future (it might, for example, lead to future funding bids, build a pilot model for further development, establish new relationships with people and organisations external to the BDFI, provide a basis for working with BDFI partners, and/or opportunities to work with BDFI facilities) 
• draws upon existing (or experiments with new!) sociotechnical methodologies 

NB: You do not need to include a sociotechnical research expert, but you should show a commitment to this way of working, and be clear about how you will draw together insights from social & technical domains to improve digital innovation/ digital futures. 

• includes a multidisciplinary/ multisector team with complementary strengths to bring to the research  
• has a clear and purposeful plan with well-justified resources 

What is available? 

A total fund of £50k is available. Applicants can apply for anything up to £10k for their proposal, though smaller applications are also welcome.  

• Opportunity launches:  23rd May 
• Application deadline: 4th  July  
• Decisions: w/c 8th  July 
• Initial briefing for award holders: 15th  July 
• Project term: 1st September 2024 to 31st August 2025. 

If you would like to speak to someone at BDFI about the application process please contact bdfi-enquiries@bristol.ac.uk 

Why apply through BDFI? 

We will support Seedcorn Fund recipients to:  

• help profile your project and its outcomes/ outputs (including via partner-facing events) 
• discuss the use of BDFI facilities, including the Neutral Lab and its equipment, for example 3D printing and 3D scanning, the BDFI XR facilities. See our short film here. If you know you would like to use a BDFI facility/ piece of equipment, it’s a good idea to contact us before submitting your application.  
• connect to (and be part of) our growing community of academics, partners and collaborators and explore potentially fruitful connections 
• connect to other projects funded via the Seedcorn Fund 
• stay abreast of relevant funding/ opportunities in your area of interest; and 
• explore what additional support from the BDFI team might be possible. 

Applicants may also express an interest in taking on a residency in our beautiful ‘Neutral Lab’ facility – currently a free and completely reconfigurable space designed to allow multi-disciplinary and cross-sector teams to reside together, with access to unique resources.  

Available funding and eligibility 

• Any member of staff who considers themselves research active is welcome to apply. Students may be employed as part of the project team but cannot lead. 
• Funding may be used for:  

• directly incurred research time (i.e. to recruit project researchers who would not be paid without this project) 
• directly allocated time (i.e. to recognise the contribution of staff who already have paid contracts at the university) 

Please note: Every project & team’s circumstances are different. If you wish to exclude Directly Allocated costs, you can contact your Costing Specialist who can remove these from the ‘cost to funder’, with approval from your Head of School. 

• Other costs such as buying-in expertise (e.g. artists/ lawyers/ facilitators/ data visualisation/ XR developers), for equipment, travel, consumables, or to cover partner costs.  

• Applicants should justify the best use of funds.  
• Partners may form part of the application team and their inclusion should be justified in the same way as the academic staff. 
• You must complete a worktribe costing as part of your application. Please see below for guidance on how to complete your submission.   
• Where partner costs are included, we would encourage match/in-kind partner support to cover these where this is practicable (we would not expect this from small/ community-based organisations, for example) 
• The Lead PI should be in post until at least the anticipated project end date. Should the PIs contract end within 4 months of the project end date, another member of the team must be nominated to ensure the legacy of the project. 
• Seedcorn project PIs must agree to take part in the annual BDFI seedcorn project showcase event, 

Guide to using Worktribe 

Full guidance on how to utilise Worktribe is available on the University staff intranet. You can also find a costing specialist in your faculty to help you. However, we hope the following guidance is helpful.  

1. Login to Worktribe here  

2. Choose ‘University of Bristol Internal Funding Calls’ as the funder 

3.Select UoB Internal Bristol Digital Futures Institute 100% DI as the Scheme  

4. Select Bristol Digital Futures Institute under themes 

5. When drafting your budget, please add costs to the following sections (where necessary) 

• Current University of Bristol staff in the Directly Allocated (DA) section 
• Any new staff you intend to recruit (e.g. research students) in the Directly Incurred (DI) section 
• Any fees for partners from outside the University of Bristol in the Directly Incurred (DI) other – non staff section 
• Other costs in the Directly Incurred (DI) other - non staff section 

6. Ensure the ‘cost to funder’ falls within the funding limits. This is the uninflated cost, and is the figure you need to quote in your application to us. 

7. You will need to complete the risk assessment section. 

8. Once finished, submit for approval. This will go to your costing specialist and HoS for approval. Each school has different turnaround times for approval – we recommend you seek approvals at least a week before submission.  

9. Once approved 

• Add the Worktribe project ID to application 
• Quote the ‘cost to funder’ amount in your application