Scope and funding

Development is at the core of this scheme; projects must clearly articulate how the funding will contribute to the development of all those involved through the way that the project has been designed and will be managed, with appropriate support structures in place.

The duration of these awards is up to five years. The full economic cost of your project should be between £100,000 and £300,000 and AHRC will fund 80% of the full economic cost.

When to apply

• Round 2 will open on 30 October 2023 and will close on 30 January 2024.
• Round 3 will open in February, details will be published in autumn 2023.

As AHRC transition from using the Joint Electronic Submission (Je-S) system, to the Funding Service (TFS) they will launch consecutive rounds with defined opening and closing dates – please check the AHRC Catalyst Award funding page for more details.

How to apply through the University of Bristol

Some Schools may require you to submit an internal outline application form in order to help them assess your suitability to apply for an AHRC Catalyst grant. In the first instance please contact your School Research Director to confirm that you will need to submit an outline application for consideration. 

If you have been asked to following the internal outline form then please submit the following documents to your School Research Director: 

• Internal Outline Form AHRC Catalyst (Office document, 37kB)
• Summary CV/Publication list (2 sides A4) 

Please be aware that you will require the support of a UoB based mentor in order to apply for this scheme.

Mentors: please consider whether you have the capacity, relevant experience and expertise to support an applicant to this scheme if approached. You will be expected to help set up a Worktribe costing and read draft applications for your applicant.  

Once your outline application has been received, your School Research Director will make a decision whether to approve you to proceed with drafting and submitting a full application based on the following criteria: 

• Whether the application is of sufficient quality to potentially be successful in a competitive funding context 
• If the applicant has sufficient experience relative to their career stage to be considered competitive 
• The originality and value of the project to a non-specialist audience 
• The importance of the application to the host School/Faculty 
• Whether there is an appropriate level of capacity to fully support the applicant 

 Applicants will be notified of the decision within two weeks of submission. 

Eligibility and further details

Find full eligibility guidelines and more information about the scheme on the AHRC Catalyst Award funding page.