Funding opportunities

OPEN Funding schemes

Please see OPEN's funding schemes' scoring definitions in the right-hand column.

OPEN Fellowships - 2024 call now open

Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) Fellowships enable academic and research staff from the University of Oxford to work closely with, or in, an organisation in the policymaking community (Outgoing Fellowship), and for policy professionals to work closely with, or embedded in, a University department or faculty (Incoming Fellowship).

Since 2018, OPEN Fellowships have enabled Oxford researchers with a passion for improving public policy to:

• understand better the relevance of their research to local, regional, national and international policymakers;

• work with policymakers to identify and explore mutual interests;

• and develop and leverage networks and other resources to generate benefits to research, policy and the wider world.

Previous OPEN Fellows have worked on policy challenges ranging from climate change to conservation; from regional development to international maritime security, and from smart energy to smarter healthcare. Their partners have come from local authorities; central government departments in and outside the UK; and intergovernmental organizations. You can meet some of our OPEN Fellows here or watch this video to hear from a past award winner.

Find out more and apply  for an OPEN Fellowship

Deadline: 12:00 BST, 14 October 2024

Public Policy Challenge Fund

Awards of up to £50,000 are available to support researchers with a passion for improving public policy, enabling them to collaborate with policymakers, deepen their understanding of how research can inform policymaking, and improve access to the best available evidence and expertise from across the University. Meet some recipients of this award here. 

Applications for this opportunity are currently closed. Please join OPEN to find out when this opportunity will be available again.  

See the previous call guidance here. 

OPEN Leaders Scheme

The OPEN Leaders scheme offers awards of up to £8,000 to researchers willing and able to help drive an inclusive, supportive culture of policy engagement among staff and students at the University of Oxford. The Award will allow recipients to take a leading role in the development of the OPEN network and advocating for, designing and delivering initiatives that enable one or more departments or faculties to:

1. Improve access for the policymaking community to the best available research evidence and expertise;
2. Deepen understanding of how researchers can contribute to policymaking, and develop skills to do this effectively; or
3. Broaden and deepen relevant networks, creating and developing more opportunities for engagement.

You can meet some of our OPEN Leaders here or watch  this video to hear from a past award winner.

Applications for this opportunity are currently closed. Please join OPEN to find out when this opportunity will be available again. 

OPEN Seed Fund 

In collaboration with the UK Civil Service Policy Profession, the University's Research & Public Policy Partnership Scheme offers awards to support partnerships between researchers at Oxford and policymakers.

This call offers support for partnerships between researchers at any department or faculty at Oxford and policymakers in and outside the UK.

Hear from researcher, Jonathan Menary, about his experience of the OPEN Seed Fund in this video and see what you could do with the funding!

Applications for the Seed Fund are currently closed, however, you can find out more about the fund and view the previous call guidance here. If you have any questions or would like details about future calls, please reach out to our team.

OPEN Workshops

The OPEN Strategy envisages support for members in hosting brief visits to Oxford by policymakers to facilitate sharing of evidence and supporting its use in decision-making. The Policy Engagement Team supports these in a variety of ways, from advising on approach to co-facilitation, as well as funding (up to £2,000) for those that enable participation of members from other departments and faculties.

Examples include:

• A visit by the Cross-Whitehall Languages Group in March 2023, enabling researchers from seven departments and faculties in the Humanities and Social Sciences Divisions to explore a range of challenges relating to UK languages policy
• A visit by policy professionals from UK government and Parliament in June 2023, to explore with members of the Trade and Public Policy Network and other guests where UK trade policy was working more and less well, and identify ways forward.

If you’re an OPEN member and considering hosting such a visit, please contact the Policy Engagement Team at [email protected] to explore how the team may be able to help.

Other internal funding schemes

ESRC Impact Acceleration Account

£1.25 million has been awarded to Oxford University for activities over the period 2023-2028 that translate the university’s social sciences research into social, economic and behavioural impact. Managed by the Social Sciences Division, the IAA will help to address key societal challenges by working with other disciplines and relevant stakeholders, building deeper collaborative partnerships and effective engagement pathways to enable the uptake of research. 

Discover current opportunities from the ESRC IAA

EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account

The EPSRC IAA provides support for activities that will help to accelerate the impact (beyond academia) from past, current or future research that falls within EPSRC’s research areas. EPSRC IAA Funding Calls will be announced on a regular basis, usually once each term, until all of the available funding has been allocated. EPSRC IAA Funding Calls will be announced on a regular basis, usually once each term, until all of the available funding has been allocated.

Discover current opportunities from the EPSRC IAA

KE Seed Fund

This fund is now closed for 2023/24. It is hoped that the fund will open again in Autumn 2024 for the 2024/25 round - HEIF funding allowing.

Visit the KE Seed Fund page

Expression of interest: emergency route for time-critical COVID-19 research

This is a rarely awarded emergency route for exceptional circumstances. Up to £80,000 is available for projects that support short term time-sensitive collection of data or samples or rapid turn-around research or analysis to either: i) inform urgent policy or national decision making, or ii) secure data for future research use. Projects should last between 3 and 6 months.

NB There are strict criteria for this funding call. Only proposals that fully meet all of the criteria will pass the expression of interest stage. For advice and guidance on this call and policy demand please feel free to get in touch with [email protected]

Future calls will be advertised here.