Aims, key objectives and overarching themes

Funding will support the following key objectives:

• Collaborative: Delivered in partnership with at least one non-academic stakeholder.
• Contribute to Responsible AI research and innovation: Broaden available research evidence on key issues/challenges within the ethics and responsible innovation agenda for AI.
• Produce novel research & non-academic impact: Produce novel research outputs with relevance and impact beyond the programme.
• Build new partnerships: Support the establishment of new multi-sectoral partnerships and networks.
• Support new capabilities: Support the development of new skills and capabilities.
• Progress the ecosystem: Take us closer to an arts and humanities-embedded AI ecosystem.

We have developed the following series of overarching workstreams to create coherence and purpose across the BRAID programme and delivery on our objectives. We ask that applicants address one or more of these themes in your proposals:

• Community and capability
• Recourse and repair
• Public media and democracy

While Responsible AI is widely recognised as a necessary aim alongside effective regulation, its meaning in AI development, use and governance remains unclear and contested beyond high-level appeals to ethical principles such as accountability, transparency, safety, justice or trustworthiness. Clarifying and demonstrating its full potential requires more than top-down principles; it requires bottom-up evidence grounded in concrete contexts of AI development and application.

Proposals must clearly speak to this aim for evidential groundwork and consider at least three of the following items:

• the potential for adoption and translation of existing responsible AI research, tools and practices into the project’s particular context (for example, algorithmic audits, impact assessments, red-teaming exercises, model cards, ethics review boards)
• the potential for new responsible AI knowledge, tools or practices to be developed in the context of the project, or adapted for this AI context from other domains or histories
• the barriers, opportunities and incentives to responsible AI in this context
• the network of actors, stakeholders, powers and interests in this context
• achievable goals and action-guiding criteria for responsible AI in this context

Successful proposals will also:

• integrate knowledge and practices from the arts and humanities into any appropriate research methods for achieving their goals and objectives;
• meet the key objectives and address one or more of the overarching work strands outlined in the below section entitled “Who Can Apply”; and
• demonstrate a commitment to public engagement and outreach, which we consider to be an important aspect of building a more robust responsible AI ecosystem in the UK.

In your application, you must clearly demonstrate:

• Broad knowledge of the area of interest and a compelling vision for the excellence and importance of your research project;
• Your own original and ambitious plans and ideas; and
• Alignment between the research proposal and the matters outlined above.

Applicants should set out a clear vision for sustainable legacy beyond the funding period. You are encouraged to consider your career development and support needs, including mentoring and professional training and development, and relevant training courses that will underpin your future career ambitions and learning. We encourage inclusion of a clear programme of skills development in the application so that we are aware of your goals and can support your needs in accordance with the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the Technician Commitment.

We use the term non-academic stakeholder (NAS) to refer to non-academic organisations and businesses from the public, private or third sector that have a demonstrable stake in the UK’s AI ecosystem.  For example, a large multinational technology company developing AI, a governmental body deploying AI in public services, a community group affected by algorithmic bias, or an association working to protect and manage property rights in training data.

BRAID defines Responsible AI as AI technologies being transparent, fair, accountable and beneficial to people and the environment. It includes an interdisciplinary field of research, a corporate governance agenda, a designed standard of AI products, and a broad ecosystem of stakeholders that continue to shape what “responsible” means in practice.

The BRAID fellowships are for researchers working in any arts and humanities discipline who want to work with a NAS partner on a research challenge and want to join a network of colleagues looking to drive developments in Responsible AI across the UK.

Before applying, applicants should check:

• your proposal is suitable for AHRC funding;
• the eligibility of your UK research organisation; and
• your eligibility as an individual.

To receive funding, you must be employed by, or have secured employment with, a UK research organisation eligible for AHRC funding for the duration of the research project.

Funding is available for research projects of up to 12 months in length plus up to an additional 3 months for impact and engagement work with your NAS partner. Projects must start by 1 April 2027 and must complete by 30 June 2028, which includes the additional 3 month impact and engagement period. No extensions are possible.

There is no requirement to hold a permanent position or for fellows to be appointed on a fixed-term basis. This is a matter for their research organisation and not a condition of eligibility. It is the research organisation’s responsibility to ensure that you have adequate time to work on your full submissions.

At least 51% of proposed research must sit within the arts and humanities to be eligible. Please refer to the AHRC Research Funding Guide available on its Remit, programmes and priorities website for information about the Council’s remit.

We have approximately £620,000 in funding to award and anticipate funding around five projects.

Fellowships are not funded under fEC (Full Economic Cost) and only the following costs are eligible:

• Fellows salary, funded at 100% directly incurred
• Travel and subsistence, funded at 100% directly incurred
• Research related expenses, funded at 100% directly incurred
• Accessibility costs, as needed, funded at 100% directly incurred
• Mentor salary, plus estates and indirect costs, if applicable, funded at 80% fEC

N.B. Your research office will need to prepare the costing to attach to the application.

Research proposals may be built around a single project or a portfolio of smaller projects as required to meet your aims and deliverables. All requests must be appropriate to the project, and you must be able to justify the amount you need to meet the objectives of your proposal.

Eligible costs

Your budget should include the costs needed to sustain a working relationship with your NAS partner. Alongside working online, this may involve travel to visit your NAS partner at regular intervals. Your application should set out how the relationship will be managed, both in person and remotely.

Your budget should also include travel and accommodation costs for one trip to Edinburgh to attend a cohort enrichment event. All travel expenditure needs to align with standard university travel policies. See UKRI guidance for Travel Subsistence and Expenses Policy for guidance.

Salary costs are for the fellow’s salary and applicable on-costs (e.g. National Insurance, pension), excluding estates, indirect costs or other overheads.

Research related expenses can include things like software licences, subscription costs, cloud hosting and compute costs, access to third-party datasets, user testing or accessibility auditing, specialist technical or engineering consultancy and subcontracted support such as design and production services. It also includes things like venue hire, materials, AV/IT equipment hire, facilities charges, dissemination, and publication costs. Note that fellowships are primarily intended to build individual capacity. Depending on the project, an appropriate and proportionate allocation for research staff may also be included where clearly justified to complete defined tasks.

Accessibility costs include things like BSL/sign interpreters, live captioning, audio description, accessible formats, access support workers, specialist transport, childcare and carer support for participation.

Please contact braid@ed.ac.uk with any queries you might have in relation to the budget proposal.

Time expectations and buyout

We generally expect fellows to commit 100% of their working time (FTE) to the fellowship but recognise that this is not always possible.

Fellows may request to undertake the fellowship on a reduced-hour basis where this is needed to sustain other career or life commitments. Bear in mind that the fellowship must be completed within the funding period and costs relating to time spent on other commitments cannot be claimed. A minimum of 40% FTE is allowed where circumstances warrant it.

Additional impact and engagement work

To accelerate impact from projects, we will fund an additional 3-month period to the fellowship’s 12-month duration to facilitate additional impact and engagement work after project completion. There is no minimum time commitment or FTE requirement for this extended 3-month impact acceleration period. This additional funding is designed to support specific impact and engagement activities. These should be set out in the Project Plan and milestones section of your Case for Support. Your project plan should include clear and specific milestones for this period reflecting the impact and engagement work you or your NAS partner intend to deliver, even if your own FTE contribution by that point is minimal.

Please email braid@ed.ac.uk if you would like to discuss these arrangements prior to submission.

Early career researchers, mentoring and support

We encourage applications from early career researchers as broadly defined by the AHRC, with permission from your line manager and provided your post outlasts the project. You will need to hold a doctorate by the time you take up the fellowship (and this includes applicants who have submitted a doctoral thesis for viva voce examination before the application deadline) or have equivalent professional training and experience.

Appropriate support and mentoring will need to be put in place to support your professional and career development. Early career researchers should ordinarily be paired with a mentor at your research organisation and mentoring time of up to one hour per month can be included in the budget. Applicants at other stages of their career may also include mentorship if it would benefit the project.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

This call is committed to equality of opportunity and seeks to amplify under-represented voices in Responsible AI. Both the AHRC and the University of Edinburgh have a long-standing commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to promoting a positive culture, which celebrates difference, challenges prejudice and ensures fairness. We welcome applications from research-active staff at all career stages and particularly encourage applications from marginalised and under-represented groups.

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; and
• alternative working patterns.

During both the application and delivery stage, if you require additional support relating to accessibility please contact braid@ed.ac.uk or alternatively our operations manager Tina Donnelly (tina.donnelly@ed.ac.uk) to discuss how we can best support you. Financial support to remove barriers to participation is available via the separate BRAID accessibility fund, rather than being drawn from your project budget. Any request will not affect your assessment and you can write to us at any time pre or post submission

You can find more information at UKRI’s equality, diversity and inclusion pages and at the University of Edinburgh equality, diversity & inclusion pages.

There are two routes to apply:

The academic-led route takes a more traditional academic format, where applicants identify their own Responsible AI challenge and secure the support of an NAS partner to deliver the project.

For the challenge-led route, applicants choose to address one of two Responsible AI challenges set by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Framestore and published on the BRAID website.

All applicants must complete an expression of interest by 5pm (BST) Friday, 9 October 2026. This helps us monitor demand and identify suitable panelists ahead of the full application deadline. For challenge-led applications, it also gives you the opportunity to briefly outline your proposed approach and flag any specific key requirements needed to deliver the project (e.g. access to particular data or resources without which the project is unworkable) so that we can check the feasibility of these things with the NAS partner prior to completing your submission. You can also use this stage to raise any queries around working arrangements or budgetary matters.

The application form must be submitted by 5pm (GMT) Thursday, 5 November 2026.

Attachments to application

All applications are required to include:

1. Letter of Support (LoS) from your research organisation. The LoS must be signed by an authorised signatory (e.g. Head of Research Office, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research, or equivalent) and should confirm: clear statement of support and detail why the proposed work is needed; institutional commitment to hosting the fellowship; agreement to the funding arrangements set out in Section 5, including the non-FEC (100% direct cost) basis of most budget categories; and compliance with the guidance notes. A template for this letter is provided in the Documentation section of the BRAID website.
2. Research Office Costings prepared by your research office.
3. CV. This can but does not need to take the form of a narrative CV.

Academic-led applications are also required to include an additional LoS from their nominated NAS partner. This letter should confirm the stakeholder’s commitment to the project in line with this guidance note, clearly explaining the value, relevance and possible benefits of working together, and describe any additional value that they bring to the project.

Challenge-led applications do not require a LoS from their NAS partner.

To enable successful collaborations, NAS partners must commit to:

• work with you to refine your project plan and agree on shared goals and outcomes, and suitable working arrangements;
• an onboarding process to introduce you to the partner and connect you with relevant people and contexts;
• to jointly deliver at least one project output;
• providing a key point of contact for you to engage with throughout the programme with a time commitment of at least 10% FTE (i.e. half a day each week) with additional contributions and support being welcome and encouraged;
• office space and access to IT facilities as appropriate, with opportunities to meet on site when needed alongside online working arrangements; and
• a collaborative and supportive environment.

Challenge-led applicants should refer to the relevant challenge-specific guidance notes for more information about working arrangements and expectations.

If your application includes an international NAS, the site Trusted Research contains useful information on effective international collaboration.

For successful applicants, a formal collaboration agreement incorporating the NAS partner commitments and agreed project plan must be put in place once an award is made and prior to the project beginning.

Beyond working with your NAS partner, fellows will also be invited by BRAID to join monthly online cohort support meetings and other activities to build networks across the cohort and wider programme, including one in-person cohort event, along with opportunities to promote your work.

Intellectual Property arrangements

We want to ensure that everyone’s intellectual property (IP) is protected and, where possible, that research funded under this call can in time be appropriately commercialised. In line with BRAID and the AHRC’s commitment to open and responsible AI research and innovation, we expect IP arising from the fellowships to be made available to the public domain under free licence for research and teaching.

Parties retain their background IP (the assets and data they bring to the research project, not including things like open-source data sets). IP created by you during the fellowship (foreground IP) will usually rest with the fellow’s research organisation as publicly funded research outputs.

Alongside the publication of research papers, you and your NAS may also work collaboratively on shared outputs to accelerate impact on the field of Responsible AI in the contexts in which the project operates. Where a partner is match-funding a fellowship, a tailored IP approach can be adopted. Please check the additional guidance for challenge-led applications and contact braid@ed.ac.uk if you have any queries.

Appropriate collaborative agreements must be put in place between your research organisation in negotiation with your NAS partner prior to the commencement of the fellowship to enable this work. A copy of the completed collaboration agreement is to be emailed to braid@ed.ac.uk within  the first 8 weeks of the project commencing.

After the fellowship ends and where appropriate, we encourage fellows to work with their research organisation’s commercialisation team, to explore ways of accelerating the impact of your work through commercialisation routes that build on the project outcomes. In collaboration with Edinburgh Innovations at the University of Edinburgh, BRAID seeks to encourage and promote such developments as a way to support leadership and strengthen networks across the private, public and third sectors.

The BRAID team is happy to discuss IP arrangements at any stage. Please contact braid@ed.ac.uk.

Ethical research and innovation, research integrity and responsible innovation are all expected to be core considerations for all proposals. We encourage you to look at the Good research resource hub and the framework for responsible research and innovation published by UKRI in this regard.

By submitting an application, you confirm that you are aware of and will comply with relevant legislation, regulations and ethics guidelines. This includes obtaining ethics approvals from your research organisation, adopting appropriate safety and security measures, running necessary due diligence checks on external project partners, and embedding your research organisation’s equality, diversity and inclusion principles and sustainability practices.

Responsible innovation should be embedded in projects from the earliest stages and throughout the project’s lifetime. Applicants are encouraged to consider the future directions of their proposed research and anticipate societal consequences, regularly reflect on assumptions, and integrate diverse perspectives into strategic decision making. We encourage researchers to engage with end-users to understand their needs and achieve beneficial impact by obtaining a broader understanding of how desirable different impacts will be for different public and stakeholder groups.

Applicants should demonstrate in their application how they will ensure the alignment of intended impact with societal benefit and public interest. Project impacts should be socially desirable and in the public interest, while also accounting for environmental sustainability and social justice.

The application process aims to give applicants the opportunity to refine concepts and ideas into fundable research projects that, if successful, will be delivered in collaboration with NAS partners.

Researchers can submit one application only. The funding call closes at 5pm GMT on Thursday, 5 November 2026. You will not be able to apply after this time.

Before submitting your application:

1. consider opportunities to attend information sessions, review the guidance notes and any additional information on our website, gain the support of an NAS partner (if academic-led), secure the support of your research organisation, and have your research office produce official costings for the budget.
2. complete an expression of interest form by 5pm (BST) on 9 October 2026

We will hold an information session on Thursday 17 September 2026 at 9.30am (BST) and recordings will be made available online. Please see the BRAID website for further details. All pre-submission processes, including Expressions of Interest and attendance at Information Sessions do not form part of the assessment process and simply support the preparation of applications while enabling us to plan for the review process.

Post-submission process

Following an office check stage to ensure each application meets eligibility, funding, and NAS requirements, a selection panel of subject and sector specialists will be put in place, with input from the AHRC and the University of Edinburgh. The panel will convene in mid-December 2026 to collectively review your application against the criteria and rank it alongside other applications. In the case of applications under the challenge-led model this is an additional stage: NAS partners and BRAID will interview top-ranked applicants prior to issuing the award.

We reserve the right to use the funding recommendations to create a balanced portfolio of projects, considering the diversity of teams, research themes, and geographies in that process.

Please note that the decisions of the BRAID Review Panel will not be open to appeal and the University reserves the right to amend the application process.

We intend to communicate outcomes by mid-December 2026. Successful applicants will then be invited to enter contracts between your research organisation and the relevant NAS partner to enable the project to commence.

While participating NAS partners are championing the fellowships scheme, they are independent organisations. These organisations reserve the right not to enter into collaboration agreements where the parties cannot ultimately agree on shared goals and outputs or where issues surrounding access to data and IP arrangements prove unworkable. In the unlikely event that this occurs, we will work with successful applicants to find a suitable replacement organisation where possible, so that the fellowship can proceed.

Governance

The BRAID Review Panel has academic and external representation drawn from the University of Edinburgh, the AHRC’s Peer Review College and our programme partners, and industry representatives. Panelists who are involved in any application or otherwise have a conflict of interest will be required to declare the conflict and will be recused from decision-making.

Successful projects will be expected to provide regular reports, participate in regular cohort support sessions, and update on project budget, progress or any significant changes to the submitted proposal.

Milestone and Responsible Innovation Review Meetings

Each project is to include milestone review meetings, coinciding with project milestones, and one responsible innovation peer learning session. The review meetings will be attended by you, the NAS partner and members of the BRAID team. At these milestone review meetings, you will be expected to disclose data supporting milestone progression and in addition to spending totals to date. The BRAID programme team will confirm milestone progression. The peer learning session on responsible innovation will include presentations and discussions from the cohort about their approaches and relevant considerations and will be required for milestone progression.

Early termination of a project

We reserve the right to terminate projects that have not made sufficient progress, have failed or are judged unlikely to achieve milestones. The decision to terminate a project will only be taken following a full discussion between the BRAID’s programme team and the relevant parties. In the event of a project being terminated early there is an expectation that unspent funds will be returned to the BRAID fund for reallocation in a timely fashion.

Final Review Meeting

Within 1 month of the project concluding you will be expected to have a final review meeting attended by the BRAID programme team and representatives of the AHRC as well as your NAS partner. You will be expected to disclose data supporting the project outcomes in addition to spending totals. You will also be expected to submit a Final Report summarising the data supporting milestone achievement and project outcomes.

Annual Reporting

In keeping with the BRAID programme objectives to build and nurture the development of responsible AI research infrastructure and create a collegiate network of responsible AI researchers, we will expect you to provide project updates when requested and provide data on outcomes annually for up to 5 years after the award has completed. Failure to provide timely reports goes against the ambitions of the programme and would result in you being prejudiced from submitting applications to future programmes.

Privacy and data protection:

We will need to collect some personal information to manage the application process and the registration of your funding applications. We are using this information because by applying you initiate steps to have your research proposal considered for funding and if awarded, personal information will be used to enter into a contract with the University. For successful applications, we will hold the personal data you provide to us for as long as the AHRC requires us to. Unsuccessful applications will be kept for minimum of 2 years from the closing date of 5 November 2026. We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes.

Successful projects will be required to work with BRAID’s Programme Directors, who will:

• connect the funded projects with each other as appropriate;
• enable access to the programme’s network and activities; and
• provide funded applicants with opportunities for broader networking.

The following details of the successful projects may be shared with the wider BRAID network:

• project name and contact email;
• fellow’s name and contact email;
• a contact name and email for the non-academic stakeholder; and
• case for support.

The summary proposal of successful projects may be published on the BRAID website.

How we will use your personal data

Your personal data will be handled in line with UK data protection legislation and managed securely, in accordance with the University of Edinburgh’s data protection policy.

Project data

As data generated during the lifetime of a research project may be required to support future funding applications, IP, legal agreements, regulatory applications or commercial due diligence, it is important to ensure implementation of good data management practices.  You are responsible for ensuring consistency and quality in data capture, storage, management and protection in adherence to your research organisation and UKRI policy. Applicants should outline in their applications how you will comply with the UKRI’s Data Sharing Policy, which contains useful guidance. Further information and advice can be obtained through your research organisation. For example, see the University of Edinburgh’s Research Data Service and the University Research Data Management Policy.

The application process is strictly confidential between the applicants and the funding panel to prevent the disclosure of unprotected concepts. 

We must receive your application by 5pm GMT time on Thursday, 5 November 2026. You will not be able to apply after this time.

You will need to complete all required sections and attach all required supporting documents to the application form. Please ensure that everything is completed in plain English.
For help on writing your application, please contact your research office, who will also need to prepare your costings and Letter of Support.

The application form is an online form available through Jisc, but the offline version of the form to work on prior to submission is provided as well.

The form is divided into 6 main sections. Sections 1, 2 and 4 can be answered directly into the text boxes provided on the online form. You can save your answers and come back to them; however, we recommend working on the offline form in the first instance. Sections 3 and 5 are to be uploaded as PDF files.

Section 1. Applicant and project details

Details of the project lead and their HEI contact; your NAS partner (academic-led or challenge-led as applicable); mentor details, if applicable; and project details, including proposed dates, total funding requested, and the overarching work stream(s) addressed. This information is to be entered directly into the text boxes provided on the online form.

Section 2. Project Summary

Responsible AI challenge (max. 400 words); Areas of interest (max. 150 words); and Alignment with BRAID (max. 200 words).

Section 3. Case for support

Use the template from our application form and upload the completed document. Max. 6 x A4 pages, 11pt Calibri font. Note that this limit excludes the Reference list as well as the Project Plan and Milestones table.

Topics to cover: Research challenge and why it matters now; Approach and methodology; Partnership model; Contingency planning; Impact and legacy; Responsible research and innovation; Mentorship and support; References; Project plan and milestones.

Section 4. IP and Data Management

Outline any background IP the project will rely on or need access to and confirm this can be secured on reasonable terms. Describe what types of data the project will collect or generate and how this will be managed. Outline what new IP you expect to create and how this will be managed. This information is to be entered directly into the text boxes provided on the online form. Max. 500 words

Section 5. Budget

Note that the detailed costings prepared by your Research Office must be attached separately.

The summary table of funds requested should include totals for each budget category only, not a breakdown of individual items. Mentor costs are funded at 80% Full Economic Costing (FEC); all other budget categories are funded at 100% of direct costs (not FEC).

Use the justification of resource section (max. 1,200 words) to detail what resources you will require to carry out your proposed research and how much each resource will cost. All requests should be:

• comprehensive, appropriate, and justified;
• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve intended outcomes; and
• maximise potential outcomes and impact.

For some items, we do not expect you to justify the monetary value but rather the type of resource, such as the amount of time or type of assistance requested. Where you do not provide adequate justification for a resource, we may deduct it from any funding awarded. You should include the following items:

• travel and subsistence costs to enable collaboration with your NAS partner;
• expenses related to research activities and responsible innovation, including support for activities to increase impact, public engagement, knowledge exchange and publications; and
• support needs such as accessibility and mentorship costs.

Section 6. Additional attachments

This section serves as a checklist to ensure all the required attachments to support your application are included in your submission. See ‘How to apply’ above for more information about attachments.

• Letter of support from your Research Organisation.
• Letter of support from your Non-Academic Stakeholder (for academic-led applications only)
• CV
• Research Office Costings

Section 7: Signature

Confirm that the information given in your application is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge, and that you have read and will comply with the guidance notes.

The BRAID Review Panel will consider outline applications against the following criteria:

Vision—Have the applicants demonstrated how the work they are proposing:

• integrates arts and humanities research into the given context and meets the aims, key objectives and overarching themes of BRAID
• makes the case for why their NAS is an appropriate partner (for academic-led applications) or why the project is a good fit to address the challenge posed by the NAS participating in the call (for challenge-led applications)
• is of excellent quality and importance, with potential to advance current understanding, knowledge, or thinking within or beyond the field or domain area
• is timely given current trends, context and needs and will inform future research or interventions in the space of responsible AI
• will impact world-leading research, society, the economy or the environment

Approach—Have the applicants demonstrated that they have designed their approach so that it:

• is effective, appropriate and, where applicable, uses clear and transparent methodology to achieve their objectives
• describes how their research environment (including its fit in the context of their NAS partner) will contribute to the success of the project
• is feasible, identifies risks to delivery and how they will be managed and, where applicable, builds on previous relevant work
• will maximise translation of outputs into relevant outcomes and impacts

Capability to Deliver—Have the applicants provided evidence of how they have:

• the relevant experience (appropriate to career stage) to deliver the proposed work
• the right balance of skills and expertise to cover the proposed work
• have an appropriate NAS partner organisation that has aligning values, capability and expertise to support the fellowship (academic led only)
• the appropriate leadership and management skills to deliver the work and their approach to develop others
• contributed to developing a positive research environment and wider community

Resources and Cost Justification—Have the applicants demonstrated how the resources they anticipate needing for their proposed work:

• are comprehensive, appropriate, and justified
• represent the optimal use of resources to achieve the intended outcomes
• maximise potential outcomes and impacts

Ethics and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)—Have the applicants identified and evaluated:

• the relevant ethical or responsible research and innovation considerations and how they will be managed
• the relevant equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations and how they will be managed