The 2026-2027 funding round for the EDI Small Grants Fund is now open for applications and a total of £80,000 is available to be awarded in this round.

Social science societies can submit bids of between £5,000 and £25,000, either at an individual society level or as a partnership/consortium of learned societies, to support work to pilot or scale up EDI initiatives or interventions. We would particularly welcome bids that encourage collaboration in inclusivity and/or focus on the research and HE pipeline and community.

Eligibility to apply

All current Academy of Social Sciences member social science societies are eligible to apply either individually or as a group, as are other learned societies who are looking to support and advance EDI across the social science disciplines (either individually or in partnership with others). If your organisation is not one of the Academy’s member social science societies, you will need to provide additional supporting evidence of the way in which your proposed initiative will be carried out.

What we’re looking for

We are aware that needs vary across organisations and disciplines and given EDI has many dimensions, we do not wish to be too prescriptive with regards to the types of initiatives or interventions we fund.

However, we are looking to prioritise those that focus on supporting and fostering inclusivity in social science research, training and innovation, rather than those that focus on internal organisational operations, and we would welcome applications that focus on collaboration in EDI (beyond disciplines, organisations and where applicable the social sciences) in the HE community. We are also looking for initiatives and interventions that are innovative, focus on transferability and can showcase how to move EDI among the social science (and beyond) forward.

Key dates and how to apply

Applications open on 5 May 2026. The deadline to apply is 1 September 2026.

If you have any questions on the funding bid process, or if you would like more in depth information, including an application form, please contact us at administrator@acss.org.uk