The British Sociological Association

As part of its ongoing effort to invest in its membership, SocRel invites applications for seed corn funding to support the development of significant and innovative work in equality, diversity and inclusion in the field of the sociology of religion. We invite applicants to be creative and bring fresh perspectives to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in their research, teaching activities, or any related endeavours.

This competition is open to SocRel members at any stage of their careers who are also members of the British Sociological Association (BSA) and based at a UK university.

We will make one award of up to £2500 to be used from 1 June 2026.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 30^th April 2026. Applicants will be notified of the outcome by end of May 2026.

This award may be spent, in line with the BSA’s terms and conditions, on travel, subsistence, a one-off work package delivered by a third party e.g., event recording, transcription, research expenses e.g., equipment, software, printing, but not salary or indirect costs/overheads/full economic costing (FEC). We are open-minded as to the type of activity the seed corn funding is used for, for example, a writing workshop, pilot fieldwork, but it must be clearly designed to develop further work.[1]

We welcome applications from groups of members. In this instance, there must be a designated lead applicant who is a SocRel and BSA member and all co-applicants must have at least SocRel membership.

Any seed corn activity must be undertaken in line with the (lead) applicant’s university’s codes of ethics and conduct and data protection policies. The BSA will pay the award to the successful (lead) applicant’s institution once an invoice has been received.

The application form (see appendix A), the lead applicant CV, and short CVs for any other co-applicant named (if applicable) must be emailed to the SocRel Co-Convenors, Sharon Jagger s.jagger@yorksj.ac.uk and Tim Hutchings tim.hutchings@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK

A note of support for the proposal from the (lead) applicant’s line manager/head of department/postgraduate supervisor/institutional point of contact should also be emailed separately to Sharon and Tim by the competition closing date.

Criteria:

Applications will be judged by the SocRel Chair, another SocRel committee member, and two independent volunteer SocRel members, using the following criteria, which are ranked in descending order, using the eligibility criteria used by the RCUK.  

1. Eligibility of applicant(s): affiliation to a UK university; SocRel AND BSA membership for the (lead) applicant and at least SocRel membership for any co-applicants

2. Innovation

3. Significance

4. Clarity of pathway to output(s) and/or outcome(s) e.g., a research project proposal, publicly available report, film, journal article, social impact [2]

[1] Any event(s) organised should not clash with any SocRel-run ones or the BSA annual conference (please check the SocRel website or with SocRel Events Officer).

[2] Here we follow the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council’s definition of impact.

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Appendix A

BSA SocRel Seed Corn Competition - Application Form

Eligibility of applicant(s): affiliation to a UK university; SocRel AND BSA membership for the (lead) applicant and at least SocRel membership for any co-applicants.

Proposal of Seed Corn Activity Proposed (please include Title and Description / Summary, include background and rationale and how it is innovative and significant); 2000 words maximum.

1. Innovation; 300 words maximum
2. Significance; 300 words maximum
3. Clarity of pathway to output(s) and/or outcome(s) e.g. a research project proposal, publicly available report, film, journal article, social impact^[1]. 300 words maximum
4. Include a timeline (bullet points accepted) 200 words maximum
5. Applicant background and experience and proposal match; 300 words maximum
6. Benefit to Sociology of Religion in the UK; 300 words maximum
7. Value for money; 300 words maximum

Lead applicant CV, and short CVs for any other co-applicant named (if applicable).

^[1] We follow the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council’s definition of impact, Please visit the link for more information.