This scheme from the BBC and Arts and Humanities Research Council offers five early career researchers the opportunity to be ‘researchers in residence’ where they will work with programme makers at BBC Radio 4 and produce a piece of writing to be recorded for radio.
If selected, you’ll also take part in learning and development opportunities with AHRC around working with the media, engaging the public with research and how to work with policy makers.
You’ll be an up-and-coming early career researcher with a passion for sharing ideas with the largest possible audience.
You must be based at a UK research organisation eligible for this opportunity.
Who can apply?
Before applying for funding, check the Eligibility of your organisation.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has introduced new role types for funding opportunities being run on the new UKRI Funding Service.
For full details, visit Eligibility as an individual.
Who is eligible to apply
To apply for the New Generation Thinkers scheme, you must be:
- a UK resident
- over the age of 18
- currently working or studying at a UK research organisation that is eligible to receive funding from UKRI. See Eligibility of your organisation
- studying a relevant area of research. See ‘Your research history’
You must also be either:
- currently studying for your first PhD and having made considerable progress on your research, for example within one year of submission
- within eight years of the award of your first PhD, excluding any period of career break such as parental leave, caring responsibilities, health reasons, or reasons consequent upon the COVID-19 pandemic
- within six years of your first academic appointment at an organisation that is eligible to receive funding from UKRI, excluding any period of career break such as parental leave, caring responsibilities, health reasons, or reasons consequent upon the COVID-19 pandemic. This must be a paid contract of employment, either full-time or part-time, which lists research or teaching as the primary function, including research assistantships
You do not need to have a permanent contract of employment to be eligible, provided you meet the conditions at the time of your application.
If you have applied to the scheme before, you may apply again provided you have never been selected as a new generation thinker in any given year.
Each person is allowed to submit only one application. The application will ask how your research aligns with one of the programmes or units. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and BBC may then match you to any one of the five programmes or units.
Who is not eligible to apply
You cannot apply if:
- you work for the BBC, AHRC or UKRI
- you are a senior academic
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
- career breaks
- support for people with caring responsibilities
- flexible working
- alternative working patterns
Find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at UKRI.
What we’re looking for?
This scheme offers early career researchers the opportunity to work with programme makers at BBC Radio 4. If selected, you’ll be a ‘researcher in residence’ at a BBC Radio 4 programme or BBC Audio unit where you will develop an understanding of how programmes on BBC Radio 4 are made. Additionally, you will take part in learning and development opportunities with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) around working with the media, engaging the public with research and how to work with policy makers.
We are looking for applications from a diversity of backgrounds, research disciplines and institutions, particularly candidates who can demonstrate:
- how one area of their research could make a strong, clearly expressed and engaging piece of writing for BBC radio. The scheme will match researchers with programmes or BBC units, so we are looking for discussion ideas for those programmes which draw upon your own research or your knowledge of trends in your subject area
- how this research could have the potential to either change public opinion or influence policy
- creativity, originality and the potential to talk and write about other areas within the arts and humanities in an accessible and interesting manner, particularly to a wider audience
- that they are comfortable talking and writing about ideas from beyond their own research area in an accessible and interesting way
- a wide range of interests through their review and description of their current research
- high standards of scholarship: clear explanations in interesting, well-written, jargon-free language, that is editorially and stylistically suitable for a BBC audience
To get a good idea of what we’re looking for, we recommend you listen to work by previous New Generation Thinkers on the BBC website before you apply. You can find more examples in The Essay on Radio 3 and other information about the scheme on AHRC’s New Generation Thinkers web page. You can hear academics discussing their research in themed episodes of the Arts and Ideas podcast and you can find arts reviews on Thursday evening episodes of Front Row on Radio 4.
The programmes or units that will be hosting the ‘researchers in residence’, and the specialisms they are looking for this year (in future years these specialisms will vary), are:
- Free Thinking and Thinking Allowed which cover new research on how society works and welcome researchers who specialise in how the arts and humanities interact with sociology, political science and international studies
- Front Row which covers all areas of the arts but this year welcomes researchers who specialise in film and television
- Woman’s Hour which highlights women’s voices and women’s lives with topical conversations to inform, challenge and inspire. This year they are looking for researchers who specialise in archaeology or history where the work sheds light on the lives of women before the twentieth century. This opportunity is not limited to researchers who identify as women, but the focus of the research should be shedding light on women’s experiences in the past in the UK, around the world or both
- the Science Programmes Unit based in Cardiff produces a series of weekly shows for Radio 4 and the World Service. Programmes include Inside Health on Radio 4 and Health Check on World Service. This unit particularly encourages applications from researchers based in Wales and the South-West of England whose research links the arts with health
- the Arts and Music Unit based in Glasgow make book programmes for Radio 4. This unit particularly encourages applications from researchers based in Scotland and Northern Ireland who focus on research into literature
Your research must have a primary focus in the arts and humanities. Your research could be bringing together arts and humanities research with other non-AHRC funded disciplines, provided you can demonstrate suitable links to the world of arts and humanities and that arts and humanities remains a primary focus.
Your application will be disqualified if the arts and humanities are not a primary focus of your research.
Our main topic areas are:
- archaeology
- classics
- cultural and museum studies
- development studies
- history
- information and communication technologies
- law and legal studies
- library and information studies
- philosophy
- political science and international studies
- theology, divinity and religion
- dance
- design
- drama and theatre studies
- media
- music
- languages and literature
- linguistics
- visual arts
We assess all applications on their own merits against the application criteria.
Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I)
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is committed in ensuring that effective international collaboration in research and innovation takes place with integrity and within strong ethical frameworks. Trusted Research and Innovation (TR&I) is a UKRI work programme designed to help protect all those working in our thriving and collaborative international sector by enabling partnerships to be as open as possible, and as secure as necessary. Our TR&I Principles set out UKRI’s expectations of organisations funded by UKRI in relation to due diligence for international collaboration.
As such, applicants for UKRI funding may be asked to demonstrate how their proposed projects will comply with our approach and expectation towards TR&I, identifying potential risks and the relevant controls you will put in place to help proportionately reduce these risks.
Find further guidance and information about TR&I, including where applicants can find additional support.
Visit funding web page
(https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/new-generation-thinkers-2025/)
